Stunning Spring Walk in the Shropshire Hills

On our way down for a few days in Cardiff in late March we stopped off with friends and took the opportunity of the beautiful spring sunshine for this walk in the Shropshire Hills. This is an overlooked part of the country for holidays, but this Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty is an excellent base for a walking holiday.

Some of my favourite poems are A.E Houseman’s “Shropshire Lad” and so this area with Wenlock Edge, The Wrekin, Clee and Bredon Hill have always been familiar to me. I could still imagine the team ploughing and the cherry in blossom. In reality this is chocolate-box England: country lanes, pretty villages, churches, quaint pubs, thatched roofs and, in spring, lambs and daffodils.

Walk up Caer Caradoc

Our route was to go up Caer Caradoc from the pretty village of Cardington. Caer Caradoc is a volcanic hill and quite prominent in the area - it is also a popular walk up from Church Stretton. We parked in the village hall car park. After admiring the church tower we followed the road left until a red arrow sent us left onto the Cardington circuit route. The path is obvious across the field and then turn left at the hedge following the field boundary up the hill. A kissing gate takes you onto a lane and you just need to continue on the obvious route over the fields, at this time of year the fields were full of lambs, so please keep dogs on leads.

Spring Bird Song

Listen out for the birds too – the hedges were full of birdsong, newly arrived chiffchaff, wrens and song thrushes in full voice. Great tits and chaffinches calling out warnings.

By following the red arrows you eventually come to a stile into a lane next to a very nice house. Turn right up the lane and then left at the holiday lodges. The next turning on your left is the start of your ascent up the hill. The first field is quite a steady climb and I think I spotted some orchid rosettes.

The soundscape changes as you climb, with the soaring skylark song filling the air. Go over quite a high stile and the climb starts for real. Take your time and enjoy the views as this is a calf-burning few hundred metres. Turn around to look north and you can see Wrekin Hill in the distance, to the east is Wenlock Edge. As you climb further the view opens out more to the west across Church Stretton and The Mynd beyond it. Although we had beautiful spring sunshine it was quite hazy, so we could not see as far as the Brecon Beacons.

Sheltered Picnic Spot

Once at the top we got the brew kit out and enjoyed the picnic – there are plenty of sheltered spots up there as it is the site of an iron age hillfort and the earthworks provide some shelter. After enjoying the views and the refreshments we carried on and started descending, going through a gap in the earthworks on the left and following a lovely grassy track. This would be a joy if you were running the route. We kept on going straight down, going through another kissing gate and across the field onto a sandy track. Turning left onto this track all we had to do now was follow this track, which eventually becomes tarmac and takes you through a ford into Cardington.

The banks of this track are lovely, with violets, primroses and wild strawberries already in bloom. Leaves and buds indicate that stitchwort, red campion and cranesbill will not be far behind.

Arriving back in the village we had a very nice beer in The Crown, making the most of the suntrap at the front.

This walk was easy to navigate, but did require a good level of fitness for the hill. Some of the stiles were not dog friendly.