If someone says walking 50 miles can be fun, they might just be right ...

6-7 October 2012

The day finally arrived and what glorious weather for the Long Mynd Hike. We had some lovely texts and emails wishing us luck which got us off to a good start.

 After a hearty porridge breakfast we got the final bits of kit ready, including making the sandwiches and night-time snacks, and set off for kit check at the school. Although it’s a bit frustrating having to jump through the hoops of the prescribed kit list - I reckon there were enough dressings and triangular bandages in the Hikers’ backpacks to patch up half of Shropshire - it does at least mean that someone else takes responsibility for making sure you have everything you need.

My kit checker was a lot more forensic than Sue’s but we both passed it OK and were presented with a ticket to exchange for our Tally at the start. Then a final adjustment to kit, including a finely balanced decision about whether to take two half-bottles of water or one full and one half - you can get very obsessed with the weight of your pack at times like this - we had an early lunch of pasta to get us on our way.

We set off for the start at Old Cardington Lane just after midday and at the end of the road met up with a fellow Hiker, more accurately a Runner, who was staying in the Arden B&B (very nice, he says). A visitor from the Peak District, it was his first time as well and he’d wisely set himself separate gold, silver and bronze targets for finishing times depending on how his day went.

Sue ready for the off. 

At Old Cardington Lane.

Gathering for the start at Old Cardington Lane.

Sue’s mum and dad were waiting for us at the entrance to the field to get a photograph and wave us off. After picking up our Tally we all assembled half way up the field until the hooter signalled the start. And we’re off!

The mud was evident immediately and was a sign of things to come during the day/night. We saw quite a few familiar faces including Rob on the way up to Caradoc, which proved to be as tough a summit as we’d expected. It was a different experience walking in a procession though, and there was no opportunity to take a breather so we got to the first checkpoint in just over 30 minutes. On the way down the other side we quickened the pace and followed the long line of Hikers bypassing Little Caradoc, just as the first fell runners could be seen going up The Lawley. The route went to the right of the one we had used before and emerged closer to The Lawley, shaving a few valuable minutes.

We realised that we were being sucked along a good deal faster than our training walks; obviously we hadn’t allowed for the competitive spirit of the event. As a consequence we got to The Lawley checkpoint at 2.11pm and back down by 2.24, over half an hour ahead of our previous times. (Sent off the first of a number of 'tweets' around here; glad to know that some were following our progress on twitter, although we couldn't even see if messages were sent because of the patchy mobile signal.) The route down to Gogbatch had a couple of muddy stretches - although there was much worse to come - and we passed the 2-hour mark on the lane out of the valley and arrived at the checkpoint at High Park just after 3.15. We were now an hour ahead of what we’d expected. 

Although we didn’t feel particularly hungry, we thought we should eat something here, and that proved to be a good decision as we hadn’t realised until we set off again that we had started to flag a bit. On the trek up towards Pole Bank we were being overtaken a lot and after the third or fourth group went past, I decided to try and keep pace and not let them get further away. The food then kicked in and we managed to maintain contact with the group in front and then go past two groups by the time we got to the Shooting Box. The brilliant weather helped us along and it was really noticeable how every passer-by took time to wish us luck and say ‘well done’ to all the Hikers. The only thing that was missing was the Mynd ponies who clearly had advance warning of the Hike and decided to take themselves of to a hidden valley somewhere to avoid all those noisy walkers and runners.

We reached Pole Bank at 4.20pm and did a sharp about-turn to get back to the path down to Coates. We passed Rob again here and chatted for a while before hitting the downhill part where we stretched our legs and broke into a jog for some of the way down to Bridges. A lot of well-wishers had gathered at the pub, which we hit at 5.05pm. We got a welcome mug of tea at the drinks station outside and Sue joined the queue for the Ladies inside. 

After some more food, we set off for Stiperstones with the objective of getting there before the grouping started, which we had been told could be from 6pm. We managed to get past the checkpoint at 6.10, probably only a few minutes before grouping, which also ensured that we were negotiating the infamous stony track at Stiperstones in the light which we had really hoped for, but not believed we could manage. A beautiful sunset added to our warm feeling on the ridge as we headed towards Habberley and Earl’s Hill. 

Stiperstones at sunset.

Sun setting as we went over Stiperstones.

The light was fading fast by the time we got to Eastridge Woods and the final stretch of road into Habberley where we stopped outside the pub, again full with well-wishers, some of whom had obviously travelled from Bridges - perhaps there is a parallel pub crawl on Hike day for non-walkers? While having a quick bite of Sue’s special pasty, we met Ali and Ruth who asked if we could team up for the Earl’s Hill section as they had not had a chance to do that on their recces.

We found out that whilst they hadn’t done the Long Mynd Hike before, they were experienced at long distances with at least one 100-miler under their belts and we seemed to quickly find a comfortable pace between us as we sloshed up the mudbath on the lane up to Earl’s Hill. The final climb was a real killer and I was passed by dozens of people who seemed to have no difficulty and this was definitely my low point on the Hike. Sue, Ali and Ruth seemed to skip up the hill though and had a good ten minute wait for me at the checkpoint which I reached at 8.15pm.

Descending was much easier though and not quite as slippy as we’d feared and after hacking through the mud we made it up to the Bank Farm checkpoint by 9pm, now frighteningly ahead of schedule. This was the first grouping point after Stiperstones and after tea and a sandwich we agreed to stay together as a group of four, but quickly became six by gathering up the two Lees who had been waiting for a group to join.

More mud on the path back into Eastridge but there was a long line of Hikers ahead, many of whom decided to go on the higher path through the woods but we persuaded our group to stick to the route around the perimeter as it was fairly level and good-going. We emerged at Snailbeach and then picked up the track along the old mine railway but missed the second section of this path and came out on the road still in Snailbeach, although it wasn’t really a problem. The road was thankfully pretty quiet so we made fairly good progress up to Stiperstones where the pub had another soft drinks station outside and welcomed everyone to use their toilets. The group who had taken the higher path through Eastridge arrived just as we were leaving, vindicating our earlier decision. Sue and I donned fleeces for the first time here and we didn’t wear a jacket at all all night.

There were now plenty of stars out with a very clear Plough and the moon emerged over Stiperstones as we continued on the road to Tankerville. We then took a right turn down a path that was new to me and Sue but presumably known to the group in front of us. There’s always a slight niggling doubt that you might be following people who don’t really know the way, but we checked with Ruth and Ali who said they had tried it out so off we went. It was probably slightly shorter across the fields but was pretty muddy and it may not have been any quicker than the road and track past Nant Isa. In fact as we emerged on the road near Shelve, after crossing a curious double stile, we met a couple of groups coming up the lane who had clearly taken the tarmac route. 

The Shelve checkpoint was a bit further than Sue and I expected with both of us flagging a bit and in need of food. It was in the forest layby beyond the village and was a really splendid and welcome sight, decked in fairy lights and with a stock of custard creams which went down very well with the tea. The six of us were still feeling pretty good, so we didn’t hang around long and then set off down another new path for Sue and I. This left the road a bit earlier than we had on our training walks and kept to the left edge of the woods emerging into the next field. It was very muddy indeed and both Ruth and Ali managed to slip in several piles of cow dung on one of the slopes, but to be honest we were all so muddy by this stage that it didn’t matter as much. On the upside, the route did cut off most of the nasty road section on the A488.

At White Grit there was more evidence of the local involvement and support for the Hike with a table outside one of the bungalows sporting a box of glacier mints for hikers. We all gratefully took one and waved to the kind owners inside and set off for what we knew to be one of the toughest bits of the walk, Corndon.

I found the climb really tough again and the other five had a good rest at the top waiting for me since the grouping rules mean you can’t pass a checkpoint without accounting for everyone in the group. Once on the top though, I felt fine as I had convinced myself that if we could get to Corndon, there was no stopping us. It was now half past midnight as we set off at a good pace along the ridge and down to Woodgate Farm, the next checkpoint. We arrived at 1am, 12 hours into the walk. We now realised that we were going to get back to Church Stretton well before our target of the presentations at 11am.

The checkpoint at Woodgate was really welcoming, complete with straw bales and a great cup of tea. Sue and I tucked into our bag of nuts and raisins and some grapes which really picked us up. After following yet another new path beyond Little Cefn, we went into another bogfest in the woods where the pig trough stile lurks. I was the only one who took the higher path and watched as everyone else wallowed through the deep slime just before the stile. We followed the group in front out of the next field on another new route which again cut off some of the A488 stretch, emerging only a short distance from the turn up to Nind. This next road section can be a grind so I decided to target the group in front of us up the hill and picked up the pace, clearly fortified by the nuts and fruit. Ali then kept us going on the steeper parts and we managed to pass three groups on the road section. The two extra checkpoints here were minimal affairs with just two tally clippers, although the pair on the higher one had managed to drape a canopy across the lane and deck it out with lights and disco music from their car stereo to brighten it up.

We got up to the summit checkpoint at Black Rhadley at 2.39am and another quick walk/jog down saw us on our way quickly up on the lane towards The Bog where we kept pace with one of the other groups up to the turn into Nipstone. Then there was a short section of the Shropshire Way onto the lane back to Stiperstones with Ali, Ruth and the two Lees arriving a couple of minutes ahead of Sue and I at around 3.30am. The tea was being served by ‘melodeon’ Terry, who struggled to place me in walking gear, but served a very good cuppa. There was a minibus parked outside which we later discovered was the escape taxi, and in fact one group which arrived around the same time had abandoned the Hike en masse leaving one lone walker, Dave, who then joined us for the final stretch, making what Ruth later dubbed the Magnificent Seven.

The next section was an easy downhill jaunt to Bridges, and Dave seemed to drop into our pace straight away in the same way that the two Lees had earlier. We passed what was now a silent Bridges pub and on the road up to Coates, Ruth thought she could detect the first signs of the sky lightening although we were still a couple of hours from dawn and the sky was full of interest, including Orion ahead of us and a bright planet rising in the east, possibly Venus. From Medlicott, the track through the heather was as boggy as we had feared and although you would have thought that there would be a really clear track given the number of fell runners ahead of us, there were still patches where it simply disappeared only to somehow re-emerge some yards on. 

Another fine group of volunteers awaited at Pole Cottage including a couple of local leaders from Francis’ time in the scouts. It was now 5.30am and we were just eight miles from home, so there really was no stopping us. Fired up by more food and tea we hacked across the track to Minton and caught up a group in front of us just before the checkpoint which is unstaffed so you clip your own tally here. 

The Magnificent Seven head for home.

The final beast conquered - Ragleth.

It was now 6.30am and beginning to get light. Just one more hill to go, although it is a bit of a pig. Ragleth did indeed prove tough for all of us I think, although I was again the last to reach the top, but the view from the top with a fantastic early morning sun to the east and mist below in the valleys was a really magical sight. It was 7.30am and breakfast awaited at the final checkpoint at the school. We didn’t hurry from here though as I think we were all probably basking in the glory of the beauty of the morning and perhaps warmed by the inner glow of satisfaction from knowing we only had to amble downhill to the finish.

Sue urged Ali and Ruth to walk on ahead to get back quicker but they wouldn’t hear of it, and we stayed together to arrive at the school at 8.23am as the Magnificent Seven. Breakfast has never been so welcome!

We brought plenty of Long Mynd mud home with us.

We really hadn’t expected to enjoy the event so much. We knew it would be tough, and it was, but we were so lucky to have brilliant weather and a fantastic group to walk with that it made it such a pleasure. The welcome and good luck wishes from everyone we passed was really heartening, but the extraordinary effort put into the Hike by so many volunteers at all the checkpoints and throughout the route is what makes the event so special. 

Propping each other up back home.

Will we do it again? Well, Sue has already set aside some of the kit for ‘next year’, but the one thing that might make us think hard is the fact that this year was so perfect that it would be difficult to match. Plenty of time to decide.

*We’re waiting for a final total from the Shropshire Wildlife Trust, but it looks as if our fantastic sponsors have raised a sum of around £700. The Trust is absolutely delighted and thanks everyone very much.