Nicholas Crane is the Map Man. This would have been my Geocaching handle, if only it hadnt already have gone. Last year, he had a new series on the development of towns, which I sky plussed and this led to much child related derision. They claimed the umbrella carrying cartographer was my all time favorite hero and I wanted to be him. They weren't far wrong and visiting the subject of one of the episodes has been on my to do list for some time.
Awoken at 8am by a cheery Sonia and we head off and park up at Whitecliffe Road, where there are fantastic views over the town.
Great place to start
We do the walk in reverse order, to save the town (and best bit) to last. This is a good choice. A stiff climb up on the Mortimer Trail into the forest sets the theme for the early part of the walk.
We soon arrive at Mary Knolls house. She has the whole valley named after her and I would love to tell you why she is so famous, but info is sketchy.
Coming down into Mary's house
The dog is tiring herself out by chasing squirrels and we let go her blatant thievery,
She thought she got away with it.
All the height has been gained, and we have a steep drop down through farmland. Some great views - snow on top of Long Mynd and the Clee hills, all the lambs out. We have quite a discussion about whether three of them are triplets. I claim that they must be, as they are identical.
Snow. In April.
Walk through the grounds of Hilton Hill and Lady Hilton Farms before walkng through parkland on the tree lined avenues to Bromfield. Here is the only cache of the day and its a whopper.
We have our first break of the day at the Ludlow Food Centre where I buy provisions. Sonia checks in on face book and tells the world that I have purchased a pork pie that is the size of my head. She is not far wrong and Country Walking magazine should test jackets to see if you can get a 1lb pie inside. My trusty Rab soft shell passes the test, but it is touch and go whether the vine tomatoes are going to make it back in one piece.
Ages to set up the camera and oldie just comes marching out the cafe
Bit of walking alongside the A46. Noisy, but we do see a herd of deer. Well, at last I do. Sonia is too busy checking her FB status to see if she has any ROFLs about my head sized savoury delight. Soon on the Shropshire Way, with the town in view. We know that real refreshements are soon to be had. The castle reminds me of Monty Python's holy grail.
Ludlow is a silly place.
Across Burway Bridge and a climb into the town proper. Where shall we lunch? How about the Castle Buttery? No real ale but tables outside and a decent pasta bake.
Two stop walk
A walk around the castle and then down to to Dinham Bridge. Lovely down here, some great views, which I try and preserve through photography, missing a swimming labrador getting dive bombed by a swan.
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