Bredon Hill and Evesham

Sunday 21st April - sunny first thing this morning, then increasingly cloudy. Colder than yesterday and still cold for time of year. Cold in wind. 

On Bredon Hill

Walked up Bredon Hill from Ashton under Hill on east side. Up hill via a path near the church, around back gardens. Further up from here, a field of sheep, the ewes and their lambs numbered. Angular oolite pebbles in the ploughed / sewn fields nearer the top. The larger trees were still  bare and looked wintry.  View east back to main Cotswold limestone (Jurassic oolite) escarpment, the top  at about 300m. Bredon Hill just under 300m, 294m. An outlier, surrounded by older (early Jurassic) Lias.

Still wintry trees on Bredon Hill

Higher up, the path followed a drystone wall on our right, cyclists racing down hill  - a ding-ding bell or hooter would have been good here, particularly when hurtling down from behind, as they were when we came back down. Cloud was coming in by the time we got to the top, near the tower and the big lumps of limestone nearby, the Banbury Stone. Views across the plain to the Malverns. In the middle distance, the River Avon meandered around Pershore, Birlingham and Eckington. A white dome and radio dish stood out to the west - Madeley?

Too cold in wind to hang round long on the top - just as it had been when we were last here in 2010 – and that was December. The hills then were above thick fog in the Severn and Avon plains below. Walked along the southerly rampart of the fort and headed back down the way we came. 

Got back down to Ashton under Hill just before 2pm and headed into Evesham. There, we bought some sandwiches for a late lunch. Sat on one of the benches near the River Avon in Abbey Park. Again, rather cold. Again, the tall trees across the river were still bare and looked wintry.  It was cold the last time I was here, too, in  2005 – and that was late February.  

A very quick sketch here, then, before following the River Avon around the meander wrapping round the town. As at Shrewsbury, Evesham all started sensibly, on the hill presumably starting with the Abbey, but then spilled onto the flood plain. I couldn't see any floodmarks today,  but  the first one exceeded 17 feet (17.2ft, 5.23m  above the normal river level. The 2007 flood went even higher - 18.1ft (5.52m). This didn't surprise me: recall footage of a caravan being rammed into the town bridge (the more northerly stone one). In an account of these floods in Weather (published by Ian Currie et al’s Frosted Earth, late 2007 or early 2008),  this quote from Evesham, "I reckon it [the Avon] was flowing at 4 metres per second.". That's nearly 9 miles per hour.

Environment Agency - 2007 floods, Evesham 

http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/research/library/publications/40587.aspx

River Avon, Evesham

The river was gentle enough looking today, much slower moving than the Severn recently, though again debris from higher water levels during the winter, caught in riverside branches and fences. 

There were major bridge works on the main A44-A4184 road bridge, to strengthen it. As we followed the diverted riverside path under it, the concrete did indeed look tired and worryingly weak, from pounding by heavy traffic over decades. Saw as we crossed on the way out of town, Severn Bore Piling were there with their big steel borer, as they had been near along the Solent at the Osborne View, Hill Head after a landslip there a while back. This bridge extends across the floodplain, with  gaps underneath for any excess water. 

Major bridge work, Evesham

A new leisure centre on hill in the middle of the meander. We walked as far as the westerly railway bridge. This stretch of the Avon wasn't as inviting as our recent Severn walks.  It’s the same along the Severn as well, but there’s been a proliferation of mobile home parks at both ends of the meander around Evesham:  one opposite Hampton ferry, the other near the town bridge to the east. The stretch between the ferry and railway looked generally untidy towards the back of the town. By the time we got to the railway, we felt uncomfortable about walking on any further. Signs of someone sleeping rough beneath remnants of stone bridge which once carried branch line.  On way back, short circuited the meander and went up hill to town centre, towards the “award winning toilets”, according to the signpost. This brought us back into old town opposite the Abbey. Turned left into the wide main street. Back from here about 4pm to the B&B for a cuppa.

The Severn valley above Bewdley

The Severn above Arley

Saturday 20th April - warmest, sunniest day of the trip, though very hazy first thing in the morning. Left the cottage at Richard’s Castle about half-eight and headed over to Bewdley to revisit the River Severn and  walk north from here towards Arley. Took the road which goes up the south side of Clee Hill,  passing close to the quarry to the south of the top of Titterstone Clee Hill. Pity that it was too hazy to fully appreciate the view from here.

Got to Bewdley by about half-nine, but already very busy, the car park near the river filling up.  Good to get away from the crowds, along the quieter stretches of the river. Walked to Arley, then about another mile north from there, along the west side of the river. The riverside paths ran close to the Severn Valley Railway. Don’t know if there was anything special on, but there seemed to be quite a few trains chugging up and down the line. CC.Eng took quite a few photos. 

Former railway crossing over the Severn above Bewdley

Leaving Bewdley,  we passed the pillars of the old railway bridge, the the eastern edge of the Wyre Forest on our left. On the farside of the river, the EA’s flow gauge. Don’t know how many cubic metres per second were running through here today, but the current was strong. Not running as fast as in Ironbridge Gorge yesterday, but it still looked stronger than usual for the time of year. Again quite a bit of debris along the banks from the winter floods, particularly near Seckley Wood, opposite the Trimpley Reservoir.

Flood debris along the Severn, Seckley Wood

On the far side of the river here, a man was throwing sticks in the water for his Labradors. He threw one out into the middle of the river. Though it was shallow here, the dog struggled against the current, before drifting with it a few metres downstream and managing to clamber back up onto the bank.  There were landslips on the steep slope here, too, with quite a few trees down. Had to clamber over the trunk of one which had blown across the path. There were a few muddy bits of path in places, but despite all the flooding, the path was generally drier, certainly drier than anything closer to home over the winter. Just before the woods, went under the aqueduct carrying the pipes taking water to Birmingham from the Elan Valley reservoirs in mid-Wales. Then, after the woods, under the Victoria Railway Bridge. Saw from inscription this iron bridge was built by the Coalbrokedale Company in 1861, two years before the Edward Albert Bridge at Buildwas, with the same design / construction.

Arley

At Arley, crossed the bridge to the village shop, confusing the lady, new there, by buying bananas. Fairly busy here as well. Then crossed back over to the west side of river and carried on upriver for about another mile. Here, the path ran above the river, on a sloping bank. There was a bit very close to the railway, enabling train photos. I meanwhile, sketched the view upriver through the trees, then the fields and red soil on the hillside across the river. Geology here mostly Permian and upper Carboniferous. Complicated outcrop of sediments shown on the BGS online map viewer. After a lunch stop here, walked back to the Arley bridge, crossed it and continued back to Bewdley on the east side of the river. Went back under the Victoria Bridge, the area on this side wooded and walked up the hill to view Trimpley Reservoir. A sailing club, several yachts on the water beyond the tower. A sign on the waters edge near us took no chances, warning of hazards in various weather conditions, urging people not to “jump into the unknown”, i.e. unknown hazards when jumping in the water.  Warnings, too of algal blooms in hot weather, ice in winter. The water here is extracted from the River Severn.

Reflections in the Severn near Victoria Bridge

From here on, much of the path went away from the river. Passed over the aqueduct this time, where the covered pipes disappeared into the hillside. Then through the chalet park. 

Back in Bewdley, we crossed the road bridge. Now very busy here, with stalls along the river, as well as the funfair in the car park. After a quick ice cream, headed over to our B&B on the edge of the Cotswolds, near Evesham and Broadway. The drive was fiddly, involving several backroads and no direct route. This was partly to avoid Saturday afternoon busyness in places such as Stourport and Kidderminster, though  we accidentally found ourselves going through Worcester. 

Links

National river Flow Archive - flow data from the Bewdley gauge, to 2011
http://www.ceh.ac.uk/data/nrfa/ | accessed 24/04/13

Environment Agency
http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/default.aspx

Shropshire April 2013 - Ironbridge Gorge

The Ironbridge, Ironbridge

Friday 19th April  - dry, with quite a bit of sunshine, though more so later in the day. Cloudier where we were, in Ironbridge Gorge. Still too cold in wind to hanging around too long.

Our journey to Ironbridge was via the B'road to Bridgnorth between the Clee Hills. Red soil in fields here - Old Red Sandstone (late Silurian / Devonian). On our right, Titterstone Clee Hill, with the white radar dome sitting on a narrower darker building base, which made it look very like a golf ball. On our left, Brown Clee Hill, with the two prominent masts on top. Views of Long Mynd, Wenlock Edge and hills to the south and east, into the West Midlands, the Malverns.  Brown Clee Hill did look browner overall than Titterstone Clee Hill with the fields / hedges. The road climbed steadily, then down on the east side to Bridgnorth, though not right down to the River Severn. the higher town was busy. Got held up in a narrow road behind bin lorries, vans coming the other way. From Bridgnorth, continued north along road to Broseley, over higher ground. Views back towards Wenlock Edge, Brown Clee Hill very prominent, the Titterstone Clee Hill wedge poking above surrounding hills in middle distance. At Broseley (now a  pipe museum here, one of  the  Ironbridge Gorge museums collective, though I don't know whether the pipes here were for plumbing,  conduit or smoking). From there, the  road descended steeply down into the Gorge. This brought us to the large car park close to the Iron Bridge and Tollhouse.

The Iron Bridge from the quay

From there, we took a stroll along the gorge. A bit chilly and too time constrained to sketch for long, but we both took plenty of photos and I came with plenty of potential painting ideas . Since my father first brought me here in 1985,  staying at the youth hostel in Coalbrookdale,  I've made I've drawn to the Gorge repeatedly.  Lots to explore in the way of the old buildings, workings, the museums and, of course the famous Iron Bridge.  The river here is striking.  The estuary excepted, this is the roughest, fastest flowing, most ominous stretch of the River Severn. This is because, the flow of the river is constrained in the gorge, the channel narrowed. Walking along it at Jackfield today, I detected a hint of a downhill gradient towards its exit from the gorge to the east . It was particularly turbulent and rough here, even though it didn't look particularly high (or low either) today. At Ironbridge, near the quay, the ducks were clinging close to the banks. There was lots of plant debris caught in the trees along the banks, some of it several metres above the present river level, put there by recent floods  - more on that later.

First, we crossed the Iron Bridge to the village. Busy around the bridge itself, though it quietened down as we walked up the river towards the quay, Gorge Museum, Ironbridge brewery, through Dale End Park, under the Albert Edward iron Bridge (Coalbrookdale Co. 1863) with the Power Station on the far side. On the  Brewery wall adjoining the riverside path were two short sections of wrought iron fencing topped with gold painted teddy bear heads. The Chief Chartered Engineer (note 1)thought they looked a bit macabre. His photo included sign tied on the railings saying, Warning Unstable Wall please do not attempt to lean on, sit on or climb the wall. I didn't think these bears were grisly, they just looked like teddy bears to me.

Ironbridge Power Station

I've always thought that there was something ugly-beautiful and surreal about the four cooling towers at this power station: their setting near the northern entrance to the Gorge at Buildwas, the reddish tinge to the concrete, their proximity to a tonally dark moody, fast flowing river. Today, the cloud looked quite low above them, the steam merging with it. A bird hovered above the southernmost tower. The contrast against the darker cloud to the north as the top part of one of the middle towers caught the light, as the sun peeped through was striking - ideas for another moody painting of the Severn? This is Ironbridge B,  which has been generating electricity for the National Grid since 1969, with a capacity of 1000MW.  It is now owned by E.ON UK.  There's been a power station here since construction of its predecessor began in 1929. For now, the power station still appears to be operating, though I don't know for how much longer - Wikipedia say 2015. Many coal-fired power stations are around the UK are being closed, coming to the end of their lives. Coal is also a very dirty fuel and the worst kind of fossil fuel in terms of greenhouse gas (particularly carbon dioxide) emissions.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ironbridge_Power_Station | accessed 24/04/13

Albert Edward Bridge

We Followed the narrow, rather precarious path along the riverbank, underneath the Albert Edward Bridge, before turning round and walking back upriver towards Coalport - back along the road along the riverbank through Ironbridge, across the Iron Bridge, through the car park and along the cycle path above the river to Jackfield.

Here, there'd been the decorative tileworks, now the Tile museum and Maws craft centre / studios. Both took lots of photos of the lettering on the outside of the tileworks and staining on the brickwork. Quite a few newer shops / studios have sprung up around the tileworks, including a specialist cycle store, various studios in the modern Fusion building behind the Tile Musuem. Then came to the Half Moon pub, with its large riverside garden. Recalled this was where I'd photographed CC.Eng having a beer by the Severn nearly 5 years ago. Pity it was too cold to sit outside here today.  There were some tantalising moments when it warmed up as the sun came out, or we came to a more sheltered area out of the wind, only for it to cloud over again and the wind get up.

Tileworks, Jackfield

A bit further upriver was The Boat Inn - sometimes occupied by the Severn -see Flood notes. Across the Coalport and Jackfield Memorial Bridge  footbridge (built in 1922) was  was the  Coalport Canal and base of the Hay Incline Plane. Crossed the Memorial  Bridge to Coalport, where we had quick lunch stop by the river. We then walked along the short stretch of canal, past the kiln chimneys of the china works, now another museum and Coalport youth hostel.

Hay Incline Plane, Coalport

Coalport Canal and China Works

Walked back to Ironbridge on the Jackfield side of the river, stopping to look across the river to the remains by the roadside of the Bedlam Furnaces. In the woods above our side of the river was some sculpture: three rusty looking shallow bowls seemingly blending in with the woodland,  two near the main path, a smaller one in a stream / spring of rusty, iron stained water  - David Griffiths, Wrekin New Milestones  - Spiral Bowls, 1996.

David Griffiths - Spiral Bowls

Back in Ironbridge, we had tea and scones / toasted teacake at the cafe across the road from the bridge. Out of the wind, so we sat outside. I then went back to the quay to sketch the view down river towards the bridge, while CC.Eng explored up the hill in Ironbridge.

We headed back just before 4pm, this time via Much Wenlock. I enjoyed the views, roads quieter than down our way and, for the passenger less nerve wracking than busy motorways / dual carriageways. For the driver, though, frequently slow going on the single carriageways with pushy people behind.

Note 1 - in case anyone's wondering, Cycling Man, Munros Man and the Chief Chartered Engineer (CC.Eng)  is the same person, my other half. I switch between these names according to context: usually Munros Man if we're out walking, Cycling Man if he's cycling while I'm walking / anything to do with cycling; Chief Chartered Engineer if, as in Ironbridge, anything to do with engineering / buildings / bridges.

Ironbridge Gorge geology notes

Along the Gorge, the Silurian shales (Coalbrookdale Formation) and limestone (Much Wenlock Limestone) found along the Wenlock Edge escarpment. Above this, the Carboniferous Coal Measures, containing mainly shales with coal, siltstones and sandstones.  There is a big geological time gap in between (an unconformity). These sediments provided everything needed here for the iron industry, tile making and porcelian industries from the eighteenth century onwards.

The Gorge was formed during the Quarternary period, probably at towards the end of the last glaciation (the Devensian). Before then, the upper River Severn flowed north from the Welsh hills, taking the Dee as a tributary and presumably flowing into the Irish Sea where Dee estuary is now. Rather than the Lake Lapworth theory (big lake surrounded by the Shropshire and Welsh Hills, with an ice sheet to the north coming in from the Irish Sea, the Gorge formed by the lake overflowing),  geologists now believe that gorge was cut by meltwater towards the end of the last glaciation. This meltwater flowed beneath a glacier, therefore it was under enough pressure to cut a deep trench into pre-existing glacial deposits and the bedrock - the Severn Trench - and also flow up hill.  Therefore, it could then have flowed uphill over  ice abutting the Wenlock Limestone and cut the Ironbridge Gorge. Indeed a deep, buried channel (the Severn Trench) has been identified about 100m below the present ground level, between Melverley and Ironbridge, running beneath Shrewsbury.

Ref - Peter Towgill, Geology of Shropshire , 2nd Edition, Crowood (2006)

BGS online geological map viewer http://www.bgs.ac.uk/data/mapViewers/home.html | accessed 24/04/13.

 The gorge is prone to landslips, with a particularly notable one at Buildwas at the western end of the Gorge in 1773, a few years before Abraham Darby III built the Iron Bridge.

Flood notes

As the The Boat was closed at lunchtime, I got a good look at the floodmarks painted on the door next to the main entrance  - all the way to the top of it and so many marks that, if many more floods, they'll need a new door. The highest mark - at nearly 20ft (19'6") - was in November 2000 -I remember hearing all about those floods well. 2000 is still the wettest year in the UK  since records began in 1910, though pipped to the post by 2012 by just a few millimetres (http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/news/releases/archive/2013/2012-weather-statistics).  Much of the 2000 sog came at the end of October / start of November. The last Sunday night in October was very wet and windy. At home in Hampshire, we had a power cut for several hours. On the Monday, rivers were rising in most parts of the country, most notoriously on the Ouse through York and all along the Severn, including Ironbridge Gorge. Heavy rain continued for about a week after the storm and there was renewed flooding in the December.

High water marks at The Boat Inn, Jackfield

The next highest mark was 1946 (19'5'), then March 1947 (19'1').

This may reflect the present landlord / pub goers being particularly enthusiastic about high water marks, but  recently there have been a lot of floods:  21/01/08 - 17'2", 05/01/98 - 15'8", 08/02/11 - 15'7" - there was me thinking 2011 had been an overly dry year, though wetter in Jan, Feb, before a too far too fast early, very warm, dry spring. 21/11/09 - 14'10".

The most recent run of floodmarks was last winter - 25/12/12 - 15'1", 01/01/13 - 16'2",  29/01/13- 16'6". This might imply a steady rise between Christmas and late January, but it was probably up and down January.  The first half of January was fairly dry, certainly  compared to December. Later in January, there would have probably been the added effect of melting snow. Indeed it was a very soggy spell just before Christmas. On the Environment Agency's Flood Warnings webpages, I noted numerous warnings and alerts all the way along the Severn,  and not the only time last year either.

 I wonder if there are any plans for flood defences here. Though there aren't many low lying  areas in the steep sided gorge, there's not much room for the river to spill, making the measured peaks higher than they probably would be  on a more open floodplain. Near the Memorial Bridge and Boat, there were people working with a digger like machine looking as if they might be drilling / boring into the ground (as they were at Littlehampton last September, where flood defences have since had the go-ahead).

Shropshire April 2013 - Circular Walk from Clun

Ducks at Clun

Hills to the south of Clun

Thursday 18th April - both needed a walk, after two days in towns. Despite the unsettled, showery forecast, then, we went out, anyway. Actually, the weather was much better than expected, rain on the way to Clun, but the showers died out just as we were left Clun to begin our walk.  Again,  cold in wind.

View over the Clun valley looking south

From Clun, we did a circular walk, taking in the Shropshire Way, part of the Offa's Dyke path to Newcastle-on-Clun on the hills on the north side of the Clun valley. Then, uphill on the south side to a farm with several woofers and quite a few lambs at Spoad. Then along the Jack Mytton Way, following the lane down the hill into Clun. Nearly 11 miles. Felt further and harder going than the Longmynd walk earlier in the week, being very undulating, with more surprise hills on the way back, just as I'd thought we'd got that over with. Some steep bits along the Offa's Dyke path.

Enroute to Three Gates Farm

Parked in the car park near River Clun, bridge and Castle on far side. Various ducks here, along with musical loos, too  - entering the cubicle, tunes from songs by The Carpenters, played. As with similar, though non-musical facilities in Ludlow, a worrying message on locking the door, " "...protected by a security system. Your time in this facility is limited. You will be advised when to leave...". Pity the anyone doing their business too slowly, then...

View of Newcastle-on-Clun

Crossed over the footbridge over the Clun and followed the river around the foot of the Castle mound to the outlet of its tributary stream called the Unk - Clunk. Then over the Unk, across the field and uphill on the Shropshire Way. Continued onwards and mostly upwards to Three Gates farm, then around Hergen to the Offa's Dyke. Indeed here, it did look like a dyke. Views across the Clun valley and, from the higher ground, we could see the Longmynd and some of the hills we saw from there the other day  - Corndon Hill to the north. 

Near Three Gates Farm, looking south

The Offa's Dyke north of Newcastle-on-Clun

The first bit of the Offa's Dyke Path came down to a lane about a mile north of Newcastle-on-Clun. A couple of guys working here with a digger  - there are worse, less peaceful secluded places to do roadworks. 

"We're making good progress  - lunch by the river at this rate. ", said my Munros Man, just beyond the digger. 

I took this to mean, not too far to go now, to Newcastle-on-Clun and our lunchstop. This turned out to be was deceptive and a bit premature. Though only about a mile or so south to the Clun valley, much of it involved a long climb up a steep hill, then down an even steeper one along the Dyke. Passed a sign marking the half way point of the Offa's Dyke Path  - 88.5 miles each way, south to Chepstow and  north to Prestatyn. 

Tree shadows on the River Clun near Newcastle-on-Clun

At last on the flat, in the valley, just east of Newcastle-on-Clun, we had a quick lunch stop by the River Clun, just after passing the dilapidated farmhouse / adjoining buildings at the foot of the hill. 

Assumed from here, it would be an easy walk along the valley back into to Clun (if it had been, it would have been along the road, so a bit tedious). No such luck -  another long climb up hill on the south side of the valley, up to 400m, the highest point on the walk,  still following the Offa's Dyke Path, to the farm at Spoad. The dogs at the lane crossing here were woofers, rather than biters, but I was nervous because there were four or five of them and they came running up from the house and barn to the right. Leaving the woofers, and the Offa's Dyke Path here, we took the footpath across the field and downhill to join the track and the Jack Mytton Way. For the last couple of miles, this was along the lane which came out onto the main road, near the bridge in Clun.

River Clun near Newcastle-on-Clun

After tea and scones in the Maltings Cafe  - next to The Sun Inn, which used to be called The Sun at Clun. The village looked different how I'd remembered it from our visits in the mid to late 1990s. After our tea, a quick look round the Castle ruins. I didn't spend long here as the Castle was very exposed to the wind. Felt cold, despite the sun being out, making it look - as the lady in the cafe said - warmer from the indoors than it actually was.

Memories associated with Clun 

During his early 1980s cycle tour of  Shropshire and the Midlands, my now Cycling Man approached Clun,  racing down the long hill on the south side of the village towards the bridge, he was going so fast  by gravity that he broke the 30mph speed limit.

The Cluns - I pictured Hobbit (Tolkien) or  Diddy Men ( Ken Dodd ) like folk with orange-white striped road cones on heads. The Cluns have a good Teme spirit, or so Dad told me in his letter to me during the autumn term of my 2nd year at university, now over 25 years ago. The Clun flows into the Teme. We crossed the bridge close to the confluence at Leintwardine on Sunday. Dad illustrated these letters with black pen drawings. This one was all about my parents' trip to Shropshire. There was the Ironbridge iron bridge, a dip stick in the Severn here, high after October storms. There was  King Offa on his bicycle - "Remember Offa's Bike?". That started during the my early childhood Whitemead Park camping holidays, near the southern end of Offa's Dyke. I called it I called it Offa's Bike when I was five or six. Dad then ran with the image of Offa, King of Mercia, cycling the Welsh Border country, sounding his bell, similar to the ones we had on our kid cycles in the 1970s. His first letter a year before, had our pet labrador trailing loo roll, like the puppy in those Andrex  adverts, "Beware of the Pink Paper Brigade". The PPB  thing started with the letters I wrote to Grandad from university. I wrote a lot of letters to my two surviving grandparents. I didn't do phones well, particularly with no mobiles back in the late 1980s, unless you were very upwardly mobile in The City and thought walking around carrying a heavy brick made you look important. There was about one payphone between a student hall if about 600 people, so there was usually a queue in the evenings. Money saving incoming calls from parents etc also restricted.

Clun Castle

Clun Castle

Shropshire April 2013 - Shrewsbury

Darwin Memorial and Welsh Bridge

Tuesday 16th April - dry, brightest later in the day and during the evening.

Slow journey along A49 to Shrewsbury. Before bypass, cut through residential Bayston Hill to avoid queue on A49 downhill to join bypass. Back on the main road in from the south, turned into retail park for park & ride into town centre. Got off in the main shopping area near the square. Into the seen-better days shopping mall / Riverside Mall (most of the shops empty) to find toilets. Shopping area / town centre otherwise very busy. 

Old town / town centre, built within a tight meander along the River Severn, presumably starting with the Castle, built out of local red sandstone (Permian). All very sensibly on a hill above the river. The floody trouble started when the town grew outside the confines of the meander and on to the floodplain. Repeated major flooding incidents between the 1940s and early 2000s. Some new flood defences - walls / floodgates protecting the new development on the west side of the Welsh Bridge, built within the last ten years, but couldn't see anything anywhere else between the English and Welsh Bridges. 

Welsh Bridge

Our time in the town and along the river went very quickly. Walked round the bend between the Welsh Bridge and English Bridge, starting near the latter on the west side. In the old town, numerous alleyways. Some unusual shops,  most notably CR Birch & Son hardware, on our way down the river near the Welsh Bridge shortly after we arrived. This looked like something from another time. Numerous useful goods hanging on the white painted outside wall: all sorts of shovels, brooms, dusters, sink plungers. On the floor near the entrance, plastic buckets of several different colours, galvanised buckets. Near the entrance facing towards the river, Welcome mats, English and Welsh, and Oh No Not You Again.

English Bridge

Keystone on the English Bridge

Quite a bit of new development along the river since my last visit in 2002. As well as the usual, predictable appartment blocks, a new theatre near the Welsh Bridge, Theatre Severn. Also near the Welsh Bridge a new sculpture: Quantum Leap, a memorial to Charles Darwin, made in 2009, to mark the bicentenary of his birth. He was born in Shrewsbury. Around it, in the little garden by the river, a geological timeline, illustrated with various fossils, including trilobites, Ichthyosaur skeleton, sabre tooth cat, crinoid, very near the end of it, near the gate, evolving humans. The other end of the timeline was at the Cambrian, not enough space for the Precambrian, earlier than about 550Ma. The sculpture depicted a backbone, the rib bones coming off it, presumably a dinosaur skeleton. I liked the interplay of abstract shapes, though it was easier to photograph than to draw. I made two attempts, sitting on one of the benches, looking underneath the arch of the spine towards the Welsh Bridge. but really it needed much more time and less of the cold wind. It was a highly complex subject in form, perspective, interplay of positive and negative shape between the rib bones, which all curved round. 

Stonework on the English Bridge

Walking round the bend towards the English Bridge, took the wrong side, outer bend. Not so much because this was further round, but had to detour round more obstacles - fenced off section near Welsh Bridge where people were working. Further round, after the school, had to go up to the road, around the old brewery  - oh so predictably being converted into luxury apartments. Back across the footbridge here and round to English Bridge. In the Quarry Park, the Moscow State Circus were setting up, here until 21st. A big top tent and numerous yellow lorries, though unlike things like the flower show, they weren't taking over the whole park area. 

Reaching the English Bridge, carried on round as far as the railway bridge before turning round and having lunch on a bench. From here, sketched the English Bridgeas we had lunch. Noticed notices in this area about paths not being treated when icy. Near the steps down from the road, a water depth gauge on the rounded brick wall of the building facing the bridge. At road level, a sign warning - in case not obvious - people not to go down there / path impassable during flooding. Everywhere high and dry today, though the Severn still had a good flow, with a definite current.  Where the path ran under the nearside arch, a sizeable sandbank presumably dumped by receding flood waters, vegetation now beginning to grow on it. Quite a bit of other flood transported / deposited debris  all along the river here: several sizeable chunks of trees, branches still growing, buds about to burst. Two swans nesting on the one of the chunks below the English Bridge. Quite a bit of sand, mainly on the inner part of the big bend, grassy debris caught in fences and overhanging branches.

Artwork near the English Bridge

After the river walk and more sketching, had a cuppa in town then walked round some of the alleyways in the old town at the top of the hill. Caught bus back to P&R about 3.30pm, journey fairly slow in town centre traffic. Queues /congestion at A5-A49 roundabout and initial stretch of A49 past accidents on roundabout and roadworks. Back at cottage about 5pm. Sunny evening, sun on Clee Hill, rabbits in field next to garden.

Shropshire April 2013 - The Longmynd

Callow Hollow

Monday brighter and warmer than Sunday , though enough cloud and breeze for it to be generally comfortable walking. Cool in wind on hills.

A49, busy single carriageway - slow horse boxes, lots of lorries. On the way back school minibuses.

Church Stretton- flat valley , Church Stretton Fault on hillside to east, above the valley.

Lingering snow patches

Leaving the main road through Church Stretton, we parked in the lower car park at Carding Mill Valley. Followed the stream up valley path on to ridge, the valley became steeper and narrower. Still a few patches of snow above about 400m, on north facing slopes. Also noticed a few patches near the top of the Clee Hills on Sunday.

Climbing up to the Longmynd from Carding Mill

View west towards the Stiperstons

At the top of the valley path, we came out onto the ridge and turned left to head west, following the path over heather moorland, crossing a narrow road. A mound (Tumulus) on our left. From there, on to the trig point and view marker at the top (516m). Though there was a fair bit of cloud about, visibility was good. Could see all the Shropshire Hills and west to the Welsh Marches. Immediately to the west of Longmynd was the Stiperstones Ridge and the highest point here, the Devil's Chair. Further west, into the Welsh Marches, a valley, Corridon Hill and Heath Mynd. In the north, the Wrekin (Neoproterozoic volcanics). Beyond Wenlock Edge to the east, the Clee Hills.  Between Wenlock Edge and Church Stretton, some smaller hills around the 400m mark, including Caer Caradoc, with the hill fort.

View west towards Corridon Hill

From the top of Longmynd, we carried on along the ridge, to the tree lined border of Pole Cottage - more like corrugated iron garage than a cottage - and took a path to our left, just beyond the car park here. After a brief sandwich stop, this took us eastwards, above Callow Hollow and Round Hill. In Callow Hollow flat sheets of rock and small trees, gullies on the slopes down to the hollow, rivulet in the hollow formed pleasing abstract patterns. Continued on down the hill towards Little Stretton, coming out near the campsite and a ford. Took a path left and up a bit again, through woods, above the road. This came into Church Stretton behind the ostentatious looking hotel on the slopes of the steep sided valley. Lots of large Victorian / Edwardian houses. The roads on the steep slopes looked  tricky to negotiate in winter snow /ice.

Callow Hollow

By the time we got down to the village centre, taking the road parallel to the main road past the church, we were both well in need of a cuppa. Found one - also scones - in the Acorn Cafe, down an alleyway and upstairs, once inside. After our cuppa, we walked the last bit back to Carding Mill Valley and the car park, sheep with lambs now grazing around the stream.

Geology notes

Near Lower Stretton, looking NW towards Caer Caradoc

BGS 1:625000 Solid Geology, South Sheet (2002) has a useful cross-section, running from Anglesey to Beachy Head, via London, passing through the Longmynd and Brown Clee Hill. Longmynd is an inlier - older rock (Neoproterozoic ) surrounded by younger rocks - Stiperstones and Wenlock Edge ridges both Ordovician. Also some Neoproterozoic volcanics close to the Church Stretton Fault to the east of Longmynd and the Pontesford-Linley Fault to the west. The sedimentary rocks comprising the Longmynd ridge form a steeply folded syncline.

Shropshire April 2013 - Ludlow

Ludlow Castle and Dinham Bridge from Whitcliffe Common

During our week in Shropshire, based at Richard's Castle, we made two trips to Ludlow, on the Sunday and Wednesday.

A showery start on the Sunday, with some heavy showers, though still better than we’d expected from the forecast - cloudy but dry until about 2pm, instead of midday. Then wet, before clearing in the late afternoon. Wednesday was again showery and unsettled, though brighter during the afternoon.  Milder than recently.

View down the Teme from Whitcliffe

Ludlow and Titterstone Clee Hill from Whitcliffe

In Ludlow, there were a markets in the town square, at the top of the hill near the Castle. Walked down from here to River Teme, across Dinham Bridge and up onto Whitcliffe Common.  The fine grain rock was slippery underfoot. There seemed to be a clearer view from the Whitcliffe than those I’d remembered from our last visit in late 1990s. I think some trees had been cut back or cleared, but, as we saw everywhere this week, the larger trees were still weren’t in leaf. The paths seemed to have been improved, too, particularly the lower one along the river, the Bread Walk. This was repaired after being washed away by the July 2007 floods.  Coming down the steps to the river, I also noticed sign inscribed in rock about this path here being destroyed during an earlier flood, in 1886. Along the Bread Walk were concrete replicas of some of the fossils occurring in the Silurian limestones and shales of the Whitcliffe, amid a shallow tropical sea - trilobites, cephalopods with long pointy shells, brachiopods, sea scorpions, gastropods, crinoids and corals. Above the Whitcliffe Formation was the Ludlow Bone Bed, which had fossils of early fish. Views from top of the Whitcliffe, down to River Teme – the mill, weir, Dinham Bridge; and across to the town and Castle. There were also views over the Shropshire Hills. To the NW were the Longmynd and hills either side to towards Church Stretton. To the east were the Clee Hills. Titterstone Clee Hill (533m) wasthe prominent one to the south, with the wedge on top formed of a dolerite sill intruded into Carboniferous Coal Measures overlying Carboniferous Limestone and the long gentle slope of Devonian Old Red Sandstone. A white golf ball radar station near top. Also a quarry to the south, presumably dolerite. The more rounded, more distant hill to the north was Brown Clee Hill (540m), the highest hill in Shropshire. Again Old Red Sandstone on the lower slopes, overlying the Silurian nearer Ludlow. Above the ORS on Brown Clee Hill, Coal Measures and limestones as before, though less dolerite on top. On both TCH and BCH, the layers are folded into a syncline.

River Teme from Whitcliffe

Ludlow Castle wall

Back in the town, I bought some rhubarb and ginger jam from the market – the stall holder recommended having it with plain vanilla ice cream. Then looked round Ludlow Museum. 

Some glass cases in entrance hall containing a few fossils, stuffed birds and mammals of various sizes, including vole, otter, cormorant, woodpecker. In main museum, my attention mostly in gallery 3 – Ludlow / Shropshire Geology:

Murchison section - cross-section of strata, forming an anticline, to north and south of Ludlow. All Silurian age.

Wider Shrops geology: Church Stretton area – Longmynd - Neoproterozoic mudstone, sandstone, conglomerate. Sits between two faults, including Church Stretton Fault to SE. On either side of faults, Ordovician, Silurian. Wenlock Edge to SE, Stiperstones to NW.

The author on Ludford Bridge, with the former Ludlow youth hostel in the background

When returned to Ludlow on the Wednesday, I bought Peter Towgill’s Geology of Shropshire (2nd Edition, 2006). A comprehensive overview, spanning over 550 million years of geological time, from the late Precambrian (Neoprotozoic to the current Holocene period.  Good diagrams. We had another look round the town, river, Castle area and the Whitcliffe.  We had a cup of tea in a bar next to The Feathers Hotel. We also went down to Ludford Bridge. Near here, on the south side of the river, opposite the town we recognised the building which had once been Ludlow Youth Hostel. We both stayed here during the 1980s - my Cycling Man during a cycle tour of Shropshire in the early 1980s,  me during the summer recess after my second year at university in the late 1980s. I was sorry that the YHA subsequently closed this hostel during their big sell-off in the 1990s. Following another cull during the 2000s, the choice of hostels in the Shropshire, Worcestershire, Severn and Wye valleys is now much diminished. Neither of us would be able to repeat the trips we did during the 1980s, except at considerably greater expense.