Earls Hill in the evening sun

24 July 2012

Short evening walk at Earl’s Hill this time. Parked up at the Mytton Arms, Habberley and set off at 19.25. Had to consult the map straight away to locate the footpath which runs down through Lower Farm but from there to Earls Hill it was pretty straightforward if a little slurry-laden. Glad we didn’t do this a week or so ago when the ground was saturated as we’d be swimming in it.

Looking west from side of Earls Hill.

View from Earls Hill.

Some indecision on entering the woods, which later proved to be apposite but for now we carried on, following JP’s map outlines and passed the sign the the Earls Hill reserve at 1.25km. The route then seemed to go uphill to the right to join the ridge path. Seriously uphill. 

Clearly this is not the way, but too late when you’re stranded mid slope so had to carry on to the top and think of the good exercise it was giving us.

Aother view from Earls Hill.

At the summit of Earls Hill. 

Setting sun in the west.

Summit at Earls Hill.

Once on top the trig point was only a short distance and then we saw the route we could have taken which was a proper path. 1.98km. Great views from the top with the sun setting over Wales. Sue photographed a small yellow flower which seemed to resemble a miniature Lady’s bedstraw but we couldn’t identify it fully from the guide book so remains a puzzle for now.

Set of back down at 20.20pm and decided to find the track that leads right off the southern end of the ridge so that we could do it in a loop on the Hike. A clear path down, some steep sections with loose stone led to a stile and into the woods, then turned right to meet the path at the foot that we’d passed earlier. 2.76km

Down the ridge from Earls Hill.

Into the sun.

The stile at the foot of ridge path.

So from the bottom we need to go to the gate with the string, turn right, ignore the first path to the left and take the second left up to the stile and then climb up the hill.

Back in Habberley at 21.10, 4.1km. Pub very busy and tempting but we decided to go home for tea instead and call in for a pint another time. Next section to crack is up to Bank Farm round to Tankerville.

Not getting lost on Corndon

22 July 2012

Another crack at the Corndon route, just to make sure we have it sorted.

Set off from The Bog at 8.46 after seeing the solo red kite flying near Stiperstones car park once again. Shortly after setting off we saw the rabbit and jay - groundhog day in Shropshire.

A walker and a runner and several cars passed, the sun has brought everyone out. Arrived at Shelve at 9.15, 2.6km where there was some harebell and lady’s bedstraw in the hedgerow. Nine swallows spotted on the wire, a bit early for gathering for return to Africa surely.

Harebell and Lady's Bedstraw.

Shelve church.

Forestry Commission track at Shelve reached at 9.29, 

3.6km. No sign of Mr Wellies today. First ravens of the day heard croaking above the woods. Reached the farm alongside A488 after avoiding last week’s detours at 9.43, 4.6km. A488 was a bit treacherous, especially on the bends but at least the verge wasn’t too wet when we had to clamber up to avoid being mown down.

Corndon from Shelve road.

Forestry sign at Shelve.

Looking back at Shelve, Stiperstones in background.

Southern marsh orchid.

Arrived in Powys at 10.02, 6.01km. Hadn’t noticed last week that the Powys sign displayed a red kite. Stopped for coffee and sandwich at the church again, but noticed that it now had a next service scheduled that evening, so not just a tombola hall after all.

Church at White Grit.

Entering Powys, land of the Red Kite.

Old mine building.

Old mine building by A488 

Yes they do have services.

Lovely aroma of meadowsweet on the lane up to Corndon from White Grit. Sun now beating down and makes climb up Corndon much tougher. Reached summit after twenty minutes at 10.52, 8.57km, which means we have gained at least half an hour on last week already. Surprising to see no-one here though. In last week’s greyness there were several bands of walkers but not one today.

Corndon hill sign.

Gate at foot of Corndon.

Looking back to path from Corndon.

Woodgate Farm sign.

Kestrel hovering as we set off along the ridge. Found the downward pointing arrow again round the corner and set off down the track which was a good deal drier this time. Reached the gate at the foot of Corndon at 11.21, 10.00km, then found way to Woodgate Farm with ease by 11.37, 10.86km. Easy when you know the way!

Straight on through Little Cefn Farm and then following the yellow arrows until the woods. Still boggy here but not quite as bad and the pig trough stile appeared after a very short time making us realise how much time and energy we wasted last week. After crossing the stile, had lunch on the bank. Sue’s flapjacks are the best yet. 12.13, 12.68km. Only Black Rhadley to go now.

Follow the yellow arrows.

Giant hogweed.

Old farm building near A488.

On the way to the A488.

After a tiny uncertainty we found the route fairly easily down to the A488 and along to Welsh Lodge. Fortunately not too far on the road which was again pretty busy. Arrived at Welsh Lodge at 12.30, now nearly two hours up on last week.

Buzzard spotted again as we passed Nind, although a solo bird this time. The lane up to Black Rhadley was a real trudge in the heat, broken by a final coffee and flapjack stop, but the path up to the summit was easy going as long as we avoided the inquisitive cows with their calves. Reached summit at 1.55, 17.94km. Not quite fast enough to make it in five hours then, but a lot better than last week. 

Corndon seen form Black Rhadley summit.

Cow blocks Black Rhadley path.

Cows and calves.

Rock formation from Black Rhadley.

It’s a surprisingly long trek back up to The Bog, wonder if we might consider a path across the hill during the Hike, although keeping to the road is likely to be safer in the dark. Arrived at The Bog at 2.32, 21.00km, accompanied by some swifts, and had a look in the visitor centre where the cafe was doing a roaring trade. Some useful interpretation boards inside explaining the mining history of the area and a good selection of local books.

And having finally cracked this section we retired to The Bridges for the ritual pint and a half.

Pint and a half at The Bridges.

Getting lost after Corndon

15 July 2012

Although we haven’t yet done the Earl’s Hill stretch, we decided have a go at Corndon. It’s been such a looming presence on our walks so far that we thought we should crack it sooner rather than later.

Had some great help recently from our friend JP who gave us copies of his routes. He offered some really good practical advice on preparations and on food and drink on the Hike. And his detailed notes proved to be something of a lifesaver on this walk.

The Bog Visitor Centre.

Corndon from The Bog.

After parking the car at The Bog we set off at 08.56. didn’t get far before Sue’s first photo stop at the visitor centre. It’s open 10-5 so with a bit of luck we’ll get back there at the end of the walk for tea. The first part of the route was on tarmac with lanes to Shelve. First wildlife spotted was a rabbit on the run, possibly hastened by the buzzard circling overhead. The buzzard signalled its presence with its characteristic mewing; made us wonder why these predators advertise their presence and not just sneak up on their prey?

After going 1.6km at 10.19 we joined the route of the Hike where the path emerges from Tankerville onto the lane to Shelve. Dark clouds overhead now, could be rain after all. Another photo near here, this time an interesting vetch - later identified as probably Sainfoin. Lots of housemartins and a few swallows swooping over the fields as the lane winds upwards towards the Forestry Commission woodland.

Sainfoin.

Shelve FC gate.

Southern Marsh Orchid.

Woodland footpath,

At 3.7km we turned left into the Forestry land setting off down the wide track. A helpful Mr Wellies with three excitable springer spaniels appeared on the scene as Sue was photographing an orchid - possibly a marsh orchid. He said that the path ahead was very muddy and directed us down a smaller but decent footpath which followed the edge of the woodland. In fact this is probably the line of the route marked by JP, but when we emerged at the end we were met again by Mr Wellies who insisted we turn left to meet the stile at the bottom of the initial track. We were heading down to Foxholes farm and the A488 which we could see but finding our way out of the field we’d been forced into wasn’t obvious. Having clambered over a gate we realised that we should have ignored Mr Wellies’ second suggestion and gone diagonally across the field and straight out through the farm onto the road. Reached here at 4.73km at 10.07.

A short walk along the A488 then right up the road marked towards a stone circle, although we didn’t see that. We now really needed a coffee break and found a decent spot, just after the sign to show we’d stepped into Powys, on the steps of a curious church at The Marsh built of corrugated metal.

Boot maintenance.

Church at White Grit.

Entering Powys.

Old mine building alongside A488.

Clearly the believers in this part of Shropshire had a different approach to their churches than somewhere like Toledo. No sign of any services anytime soon and it doesn’t appear to offer anything more than tombola sales now but it is an interesting building which we should find out more about. 6.50km at 10.39 and stopped for 7 minutes - well within JP’s suggestion of maximum ten minute stops. Sue’s flapjacks were very tasty if lacking a bit on the stickiness front. More honey next time.

Turned right onto lane to White Grit with several new bungalows here. Took a track to the right as per JP’s lines on his map although no footpath signs. At the end of the track a gate took us into a field and up past the last house before the hill, also called Corndon. At the entrance to Corndon Hill there was a signpost from Powis Castle Estate about access to the summit. It had fallen over and its state of neglect was matched by most of the signage on the hill. Not sure what Powis Castle Estate is since the castle itself is now owned by the National Trust who are clearly not responsible for Corndon. More research needed.

Summit bench at Corndon.

View from side of Cordon.

The path to the summit wasn’t that obvious but we took a hunch that JP meant veer right first and this proved to be correct. Lots of bracken on the lower slopes; wonder what the bracken will be like in October?  The climb seemed reasonable at first but it is quite a long climb with several occasions thinking you’re there only to find another incline. Will certainly be tough in the middle of the night on the Hike. Met three groups of walkers coming down and two more groups on the top. A very handy bench was a welcome spot for coffee however with great views westwards into the Welsh mountains and across to Stiperstones. 8.26km at the summit at 11.30am.

Arrow points the way down Corndon.

Checking the map.

Descending Corndon.

Wild thyme on Corndon.

The next target was Whitegates Farm and we had been warned that the path could prove tricky to locate. The first detour was caused by a closure of the path off Corndon with a delapidated sign on the gate. Instead we kept to the edge of the hill and shortly after meeting the path again found a clear route going straight down the hill. 9.32km at 11.58. Steep and full of bracken with plenty of waterlogging at the bottom and some wild thyme on the hillside. 

Reached the foot and then went badly wrong. We first went through the gate straight ahead but seeing the electric-looking fences thought we must instead stay inside the hill estate. A muddy walk down the hill took us nowhere and we now found ourselves below the old quarry with the farm ahead being Corndon not Whitegates, according to the map. So retraced our steps and through the gate but no obvious way to cross the field. This is where binoculars become essential as we spotted a gate in the top left corner and made our way their by a circuitous route include lifting the ‘electric’ fence to find it wasn’t after all. Having fumbled the route here we continued in the same vein, first turning left before realising this was completely the wrong orientation and went back to the right and through a gate to see Woodgate Farm at the bottom of the field. 11.89km at 12.51

Across the stile at Little Cefn Farm.

Angry geese at Little Cefn Farm.

Looking back at Little Cefn Farm.

Left onto the lane then right before taking a left into Little Cefn Farm. A very small yellow arrow showed it was the right way and then we found JP’s ‘route through a garden’ with another yellow arrow taking us right through the farm buildings. A phalanx of geese greeted us. They are going to get pretty fed up on the hike with 500+ coming through here in the dark.

Another coffee, roll and flapjack break here before continuing to follow the helpful yellow arrows which we had now learnt offered a good orientation for the path as long as you followed the angle they were pointing in. We arrived at a stretch of woodland and hopped over a gate into a mudbath. The path seemed to follow the edge of the wood but it was seriously waterlogged so we guessed that we could take a slightly higher route and meet it later. Wrong.

Lost in the undergrowth.

Ouch, on the stile.

Pig trough stile.

Off into the woods.

After a fruitless ten minutes thinking we were never going to find our way out of the field, and with the A488 in spitting distance, we had to retrace our steps to follow the path along the edge. And lo and behold there was JP’s stile dressed up as a pig trough. We would simply never have found that if he hadn’t told us this valuable snippet before. Very muddy over the stile but we were now confident we were back on track. 

A bit too confident as we lost our orientation once again and veered to the right too early and ended up in another field with a wall of hedges. Backwards again and realised that if we had just continued on a few minutes earlier we would have found the lane running down to the A488. Pedometer had stopped around this point so readings were probably 1 or 2km light.

A short section on the road then left towards Nind and the final stretch up Black Rhadley. It is around here that the Hike route has had to be altered. Assume that the path that is now not available is the one past Welsh Lodge which is a lovely looking route along the valley floor. Great shame that it is now out of bounds as you are forced around, up and down the road, but at least you can’t get lost on this section. 13.6km on the now-restarted pedometer at 14.30.

Bridge over stream at Welsh Lodge.

Flooded lane on way to Black Rhadley.

Parasol mushroom.

Stopped for final coffee and flapjack near Nind at 14.45 with three buzzards doing an aerial display overhead. Parasol mushroom on the verge forced another photo stop then a tough climb up the road which was pretty flooded in parts, forcing one car to reverse for several hundred yards in fear of the water, although don’t think it was actually more than boot-high.

Ascending Black Rhadley.

Black Rhadley sign.

Corndon from Black Rhadley.

On the cairn at Black Rhadley.

Unknown stone near The Rock.

Reached foot of Black Rhadley at 17.58km (plus whatever it missed) at 15.32. Nice easy walk to the summit where there where five ravens appearing to dive-bomb a woman taking photographs. Perhaps they objected to copyright theft. 18.14km at 15.7 then dropped back down and a light trudge up the road to The Bog. arrived at 16.27, 21.1km which with the missing distance meant this was the longest training walk so far. Great satisfaction that we had actually completed it and managed to get up both summits.

Final stop of course was The Bridges for the ritual pint and a half and along the way we spotted a red kite close to Stiperstones car park.

Alpacas near The Bog.

Pint and a half of Solstice.