Started out more promisingly then the previous days walk and I drove to Wilderhope Manor to meet Vy and Mike, i then drove us to Church Stretton and we left their car there. A en mile walk, we expected it to take us about 3/3.5 hours so I had minimal snacks and the others left theirs in the car (!). Rookie mistake. I spent some time navigating and as the route was unfamiliar felt like I was on my phone quite a lot. It was good to be able to make a couple of route decisions together and discuss things to work things out- as a couple of times we were confused. At one point we strode around one of the biggest fields I have ever seen trying to find the correct exit for our route.
Before all that, coming down off misty Ragleth Hill I fell right in the mud- absolutely covered! probably a mile in. Very slapstick- I think the others enjoyed it. We went through so much deep mud and many waterlogged fields we started calling ourselves the bog people. Over lots of confusing farmland (i never cease to be amazed at how bad signposting is at times) I relied on Maps.me again and we eventually (after an uphill climb through a wood on a path that was basically wet leaves and a stream) made it to a fingerpost saying that Wilderhope was 6 miles away.
I took this as a sign to have my coffee and rejoice. A few more minor confusions about the route (mostly about which side of the fence we should be on going through ploughed crop fields of solid clay) and we walked through numerous coppices and woods before reaching Wenlock Edge.
The mist was very heavy so we missed what would have been a lot of gorgeous Shropshire views. Although we laughed the whole way it was definitely a bit of an endurance mission and we couldn’t understand how ten miles took us five and a half hours. We put it down to the slow going through mud and water, steep uphill sections and navigation/confusion time.
As we joyfully strolled down the driveway back to Wilderhope Manor some absolutely huge cows (one a bull?) appeared out of the mist right by the drive. I realised we’d just taken the driveway as a shortcut and didn’t use the designated walking route…maybe there’s a reason people walk the proper route! The cows (bull?) didn’t move an inch so we kept walking and chatting and not making eye contact. Safely over the cattle grid I laughed and said to the others ‘what if they get in the way of the car and don’t move’. Well… that’s exactly what they did. They didn’t seem worried when we tooted or anything and one feisty one seemed about the charge at the car….we got out of there eventually. An eventful, fun and tiring day, I was glad of a bath and a glass of wine later. Not many pictures due to lack of views/needing my phone for the map.
#46- ten miles of army training style fun.
1Year/52Hikes 2019 