27/10/12 - Your Stiperstone

Distance - 5.0 Miles
Geocaches - 3
Walk from - Times Xmas Walks 2010
Pubs Visited - Two

The Times on Saturday has to be the finest paper available.  It takes me an hour to read it on a good day and four times a year it has a walking supplement that I cut out and keep.  Searching my database of walks for somewhere to go up the Stiperstones, it revealed this perfectly sized amble that tempted Sonia away from asking strangers questions.

I last came here six years ago.  Where does the time go?  I remember that you could park almost at the summit which made it even more tempting for Sonia who commented as we gained altitude on the drive "that she liked the fact we have nearly driven to the top".

Quick park up and gain the remainder of the height to reach Cranberry Rock.  It's a stunning day - after a week of grim weather, the winds have moved in to leave perfect blues skies.  It is, however, very cold.  I can hear Sonia's teeth chattering as I find the first cache of the day.

Windswept and cold

Unfortunately, all the caches on this walk are on the ridge.  Even though she engages in conversation with a couple of ladies about the dog, I can tell that she is less than pleased that I have crawled into a gap in the rocks to retrieve Cache Number 2.

Decide to park the caching

The ridge walk is superb.  There are stunning views in all directions.  Only pause from now on to break the ice so that the dog can get a drink from the puddles and to setup the timer on the camera.

Only 10 seconds to get across the rocks

We meet an army of goretex glad pensioners at the Devil's Chair and then avoid the cache at Shepherd's rock to make a great westerly descent down to the village of Stiperstone.  Sonia muses about what sort of cake shop they have.  I am forearmed with the knowledge that there is a pub, as I can see it on the OS Map.

The Stiperstone Inn is the focal point of the village.  We know this as there is a wedding party in the back room and the non invited locals are settling down to watch the football.  With real ale and two fires at either end, it makes a fine place to spend a Saturday Lunch. 

Yes, they have semi skimmed milk.  The pint is mine.

We avoid eating anything more than the complemenary biscuit, as we know that what goes down must go back up.  Sure enough, we have a very steep climb once we leave the village.

In all my years walking, something extraordinary happens next.  Now the Japanese have often commented that my hound looks like a sheep, but it seems that she is good enough looking to get a Ram interested in putting on his Barry White CD.  First he came to me for permission and then the wooing commenced.

Love is in the air.  Big Cojones.

Molly fluttered her eyelashes, but we dragged up the hill to avoid whatever mutant offspring would be the production of this union.

Leave Randy the Ram behind

The walk levels out.  We can either lose height and drop down to the Field Centre or take a short cut back to Manstone Rock.  No contest really, there is a cache left at the rock and Sonia wants lunch.

We get back to the car and the Sat Nav takes us on a precarious drive over Long Mynd, with Sonia going quiet as she spies the drops on the left of the car.  No pubs between Church Stretton and Cravan Arms.

We consider fish and chips.  The queue in the first chipper is out the door, but I know of another one around the corner.   We are concerned by the lack of punters and all is revealed when I enter and ask for fish and chips twice...."no fish, only sausage" is the response.  My suggestion to changing his shop name to Sausage and Chips falls on deaf ears, so we head over to the Craven Arms.  For steak and ale pie twice.

So this is two Saturday's running that I have had company.  Place you bets on a hatrick blogfans.... next week I am off to the first battlefied off the English Civil War.