Shropshire Hills 2013 Day 2

Day 2 Wednesday 21^st August 2013

After breakfast I went to the co-op to purchase items for lunch.  I wanted to use the internet, but the library/info centre was not yet open, so I waited around.  I used the internet to check my lists of Malcolm Saville books I did not have, then went to the bookshop and purchased one.

Today I wanted to climb up Caer Caradoc, so headed in that direction.  Once at the southern end, I did not see any easily visible path up, so followed a wide, clear farm track, pausing initially to place 2 cans of cider in a stream so they cooled until I could return to them for later consumption.

Realise, at this point of my LDWs, I was not too keen on going, what I perceived as, off-route as I felt the land was private and I might get into trouble if I walked across it.  That being said, whenever I have gotten lost, I sometimes have no choice but to walk across fields without footpaths.  I circumnavigated Caer Caradoc, with it off, teasingly, to my left the entire time.  Okay, I admit it.  I got lost again.  Soon I was wading through seas of bracken, trying to follow a path that should have been there, according to my map, but wasn’t. I passed an old cottage with a tree growing through it.

Somehow, I walked around 3/4s of the hill before finding a path that ascended (from the West initially, and then the North).  I’ve climbed it 4 or 5 times since, and can not for the life of me understand how I missed at least 3 other access paths, nor can I now find the “path” on the map that I thought was there.  All I can say is that my map reading and navigation skills have improved dramatically since those first few weeks.

Another thing that changed over my years of walking, is that when climbing the North side of Caer Caradoc, I thought it very steep and narrow, causing my head to spin and my heart to leap every time I dared look back down.  Now it hardly seems steep at all (likely as a result of my becoming more used to heights after walking the South West Coastal path 2 years later).

At the top, I found a sheltered area where the hillfort would have once been, along with a small pond.   

The views were astounding in all directions.  I strode down the rolling hills of the southern part of the hill, thinking it might have been an easier ascent had I known about this path.

However, once past the outcrop known as Three Fingers rock, I realised it would have likely been harder, as the descent was much steeper on this end.

Retrieving one of my ciders from the stream, I stopped to have lunch.  Post lunch, I circumnavigated Hope Bowdler, clockwise. 

I did not get to the summit, which was probably a good thing as my legs were feeling a little weary.  I returned to the stream to drink the second cider as a celebration of a good day’s walking.

Back in Church Stretton I went to the sweet shop (sadly no longer there) to purchase some sweets aka lollies aka candies and an ice cream.  Then it was time to consider what to have for dinner.  Wanna hazard a guess?

Yep, fish ‘n’ chips for the 3^rd night running, albeit this time with a sausage, pineapple fritter, and mushy pea (what the hell?) sauce.  I admit, I now enjoy a mushy pea sauce when in the U.K. having fish ‘n’ chips.

Day 3