ahead and book the accommodation in chronological (ie stage) order. The stages between Ludlow and Wilderhope are particularly difficult and may involve a taxi ride to and from your stage ending. I have provided a selective list of taxis in Appendix C.
The 15 stages in the book (see the route summary table in Appendix A) make a relatively easy itinerary for anything outside the winter months but the fittest walkers could probably manage to do Ludlow to Wilderhope in one day. Clun to Ludlow would also be a possibility. This would reduce the route to 12 days, which would mean fitting the walk within a two-week holiday.
Being a circular route, walkers could start anywhere but transport links favour Shrewsbury, the book’s main starting point. That said, Ludlow, Wellington and Whitchurch have railway stations and reasonable bus routes. The last-mentioned would make a good choice for those who want to undertake the complete circular route plus the Whitchurch leg. The Whitchurch leg has been written in both directions to facilitate this.
If holidays are limited the route can be done stage by stage using public transport – check Appendix C for more information. If you’re parking a car at one end it is better to take the bus, train or taxi ride at the beginning and walk back to the car. Shropshire has a good network of footpaths and bridleways so it does lend itself to circular walks. It would be feasible to walk half a section of the Shropshire Way and return using an alternative route: for instance, you could walk north on the Shropshire Way over Brown Clee Hill and return on the Jack Mytton Way. In the north, you could discover more of those meres and mosses around Ellesmere.
Safety
Although nowhere in Shropshire is really remote it is extremely important that all walkers are fully equipped and practised in the use of map and compass. If bad weather such as a blizzard comes in quickly then trouble can occur in a matter of minutes.
Make sure to take enough food and water and keep additional emergency rations in the corner of the rucksack. Not taking enough food is the quickest way of becoming tired; being tired is the quickest way of sustaining an injury. Good breathable waterproofs are essential, as getting cold and wet will render the walker vulnerable to hypothermia.
It is important to wear good walking boots, for shoes have insufficient grip and ankle support on difficult terrain. Even the lower-level sections can become slippery after rainfall. It is a good idea to pack some emergency medical supplies (plasters, bandages, etc): there are plenty of good kits available.
What to take
What you take depends on how you’re going to tackle the Shropshire Way. If you’re camping you’ll need additional gear: a tent, sleeping bags, a carry mat, cooking stove and utensils; if you’re hostelling you may need a sleeping bag.
The basics
a quality rucksack: 35 litre or more if staying in B&Bs, and 55 litre or more for backpacking
liner or plastic carrier bags to keep your gear dry inside the rucksack
breathable waterproofs, both jackets and trousers
good proven waterproof boots
walking socks
fleece jacket or warm sweater
changes of clothes for evening wear
sun hat and sun cream (outside winter months)
first-aid kit (including plasters for blisters)
whistle and torch in case of emergencies
mobile phone (but be aware that there are many ‘no reception’ areas in rural Shropshire)
food and plenty of fluids for the day
maps and guidebook.
Optional
a GPS unit or GPS app and maps for your smartphone.
Using GPS
In recent years GPS units such as Garmin, Memory Map and Satmap have become quite sophisticated and now they usually include OS mapping for the UK. They are a very useful addition to your equipment, especially if you’re caught out in hill fog on the mountains.
In addition to the dedicated GPS units there are apps for iPhones, Android and Blackberry smartphones and tablets too. Viewranger and Memory Map are the best known and their maps are stored on your phone rather than being ‘in the cloud’ (like Trailzilla maps). The obvious drawback being that if the maps are in the cloud and you don’t have a phone signal, then you don’t have a map.
Most dedicated GPS units come with map packages. Some come with complete OS Landranger 1:50,000 maps for the UK, while others just include national parks. OS Explorer maps are better and you can buy DVDs or USB sticks with the complete UK, although they are more expensive. The other way of doing this is by going online and downloading and paying for the exact area you want (Memory Map and Viewranger both enable this). You can always add to the area you bought later.
All units will need charging at the end of the day. Dedicated GPS units can usually last at least eight hours and most have facilities to attach battery cases to keep them topped up.
The batteries in smartphones are smaller and most won’t last all day when used as a GPS – you’ll need at least a 5000mAh battery for all-day use. Otherwise, you may need at least one spare battery or you’ll have to use the one you have sparingly, ie, when you’re unsure of where to go next. Tablets such as the iPad Mini and Android 7-inch ones usually have larger batteries and can be kept in waterproof cases that can hang around your neck, in the same way as map cases do. Aquapac do a fine range of such cases. The tablets have the advantage of showing you large areas of the map at once.
If you cannot get to a power source to recharge your unit you can buy portable chargers. A 12000mAh EasyAcc, for example, will recharge an iPhone three or four times or an iPad Mini twice before it needs recharging itself. To clarify things mAh stands for milli-Ampere hour, a measure of a battery’s energy storage capacity – the higher the mAh figure the better. A word of caution here: these units should be used as a supplement to the maps – the battery may lose power unexpectedly.
Waymarking
The Shropshire Way is well-signed throughout, with orange waymarkers featuring a buzzard and small black arrowhead pointing in the direction of travel. More historical black and white waymarkers can still be seen in places, including the ones marking old alternative loops. In a very few places these appear to contradict the new waymarkers. In such cases always follow the line marked by the orange waymarkers.
Shropshire Way waymarker
Using this guide
The Shropshire Way can be completed in one large circular route but by using the Haughmond to Shrewsbury link route described in Section 10A it can be split into both southern and northern circulars. To these ends, the link route has been described in both directions.
All places mentioned in the text are shown in bold if they appear on the maps. The box at the start of each walk lists information such as: the distance of
