The first walk!

Sat 9 June

We’re setting off on first practice leg taking in first four checkpoints - Old Cardington lane, Caer Caradoc, The Lawley and High Park. Planned departure at 8am sharp - failed on first objective; pets, lunch and hanging out washing conspire to make us 30 minutes late - at least it’s still morning.

First people were encountered in the meadow by A49, man and woman trying to train a dog to fetch sticks. Across the A49 and we are immediately faced with a new housing development. “It didn’t look like this last time”. The track up to Caradoc is now a little less obvious but we found it without delay.

First photo, foot of Caradoc looking towards Hazler.

On to the woods below Caradoc and we realise that the last time we had set out on a long walk was 21 years ago when Megan was two and left her in Watford while we back-packed on Exmoor. And the last time we climbed Caradoc was when Francis was in reception class and we had the class teddy bear for the weekend and took a photo of him on the summit for the show-and-tell.

From Caradoc looking east.

It was obvious how long it had been since we’d been up Caradoc as we had forgotten which path to take to the summit and chose to carry on the track and somehow missed out Three Fingers Rock.

Steep climb up the path and wind began to be an issue - something we noticed on all the high spots during the walk. Sue had packed a woolly hat and realised that she should have brought a cap with a peak to keep hair in check.

So having practised a similar trick at countless meals out - the one where men have to order something that their wife might fancy in case their own choice is not good enough - we swapped hats. I ended up with a very small and itchy woolly hat, but we could at least carry on and not bail out on the first climb.

Higher up Caradoc, path from Three Fingers.

Soon after we stopped for the first photo looking back towards Helmeth and Hazler. Buzzards soaring overhead and the remains of one of its earlier hunts by our feet, as we managed to avoid the rabbit skeleton on the path. First skylark also seen and heard.

Arrived on the summit of Caer Caradoc - second checkpoint - at 9.45am to find the remains of the previous week’s Jubilee beacon. First ravens heard croaking overhead.

Remains of Jubilee beacon on Caer Caradoc.

At the foot of Caer Caradoc we were confronted with the delightful aroma of wild garlic and found our way fairly easily to the track up to The Lawley. On the way we had to pass a field where a bull was fiercely and noisily guarding his harem and a number of calves. Quite glad Dill wasn’t with us since a barking dog might have demonstrated that a small electric fence is not really an adequate defence to a charging bull.

First coffee and sandwich break of the day at 10.30am near Sunnyside farm and a field full of what seemed to be orphan lambs. The sound of a cuckoo rang out and we saw our first rider on the bridleway which runs along the foot of the hill.

Bull protecting his harem.

Short trek up to the summit of The Lawley. Watch pedometer showed 8.4km at 11.11am. Not only could we do this walk from our house, we could also just about make out our house from both summits so far.

Back down the same track as there didn’t seem to be a better way apart from adding a long detour around the far end of the hill, which is not really practical for the Hike itself. At the bottom of the Lawley, pedometer registered 10km at 11.33am, might be slightly optimistic and need to check calibration later. The Lawley proved to be a popular spot for walkers with six passing us, three of them in shorts which was a tad optimistic given the fairly cool day.

Approaching summit of The Lawley.

The Lawley summit.

Not really sure of the best route up to the next checkpoint at High Peak, and in hindsight, still need to have another look at this. We planned a route through Comley Farm and on towards the A49 at Brownhills.

Found the track through the farm fairly easily and passed a very healthy looking pond with flag iris and bullrushes and a splendid looking mascot made of used car parts outside a cottage by the Old Roman Road. The track to Brownhills was a splendid green lane and just before emerging on to the A49 we came across someone manually shearing a sheep.

Sheap shearing by hand.

Wriggling sheep.

He was happy to pose for a photograph although the sheep was less so. Emerging on to the A49 demonstrated that this wasn’t really the best route as we had to negotiate a narrow verge with traffic rushing close to our ears until we picked up the path that crossed the railway and the footpath over the (nameless) stream.

Footbridge over stream.

Sheep on Long Mynd near Spring Cottage.

Next stop, lunch at 12.30pm by the roadside near Lower Wood, less noise from the A49 on this side of the valley. We decided to walk up the lanes to High Park, there is probably a better route but the single track roads are fine for walking with very little traffic. Went through Lower Wood and on to Womerton. It’s only about three miles from home but we’d never heard of this village/hamlet/settlement. Spotted a male and female black redstart close to Spring Cottage and a swallow on the telephone wire. Just ahead was the cattle grid marking the start of the Long Mynd and National Trust land, reached at 1.04pm. Again there were alternative paths to the left which may have been a more direct route albeit more undulating.

Sign post at High Park.

From Long Mynd, Wrekin in distance.

Reached High Park checkpoint at 1.24pm with pedometer reading 15.75km. A group of five ponies were on the track just beyond this point followed by a group of eight who were lounging nearby, including one with a distinctly ginger mane.

We saw two others shortly afterwards,
making a total pony count of 15.

Long Mynd ponies.

Ponies in the road.

Close up of ponies.

Ginger-maned pony.

Post at High Park.

At the memorial post to a former hill walker and winner of the ladies prize for the Hike on ten occasions, we were overtaken by a couple of lads we’d passed earlier on The Lawley. If they were following the same route we were surprised they had taken that long to catch up with us.

The trek up the Long Mynd was fairly steady and although we’d concluded that we probably hadn’t packed quite enough coffee and food, we were sustained by the promise of tea and cake at the NT cafe in Carding Mill.

Reached the top of Motts Road at 2.20pm, 19km reading and strolled down to the sound of the veritable raging torrent in the stream which runs alongside the path. Lots of people as expected on the way down to Carding Mill which we reached at 21.24km for tea, bara brith and bread pudding.

Sue on the Long Mynd.

Home reading was 22.2km. Still think this is slightly optimistic but probably not far off 20km anyway.

Onward to the next section ...