Distance - 9 Miles
Geocaches - 2
Pub - Craven Arms, Wadworth 6x
A perfect day to start my next long term challenge - the
Heart of Wales Line Trail. This is a long distance path that follows the stations on the Heart of Wales Railway line - from Craven Arms to Llanelli, South Wales.
The third weekend in 2020 saw gorgeous blues skies and sub zero temperatures that nearly froze the mud. Perfect walking weather.
The trains are infrequent, just two services a day, so it made sense to catch the first train from Craven Arms to Hopton Heath and walk back. It may have been a long wait at Hopton Heath, if I had done it the other way around.
The 9:29am is bang on time and I find the guard to make the request stop at HH. There's a fair number of other Ramblers on the service but its only me getting off in the middle of nowhere.
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| A New Adventure Begins |
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| The Approach Road to Hopton Castle |
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| New Sign Markers to follow |
The trail is picked up at
Hopton Castle - a few farm houses and unsurprisingly, a castle - investigated by the Time Team TV Programme for its Civil War history, where no conclusion was reached as to whether a massacre took place in the cellars.
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| Hopton Castle |
Road walking is left behind, as height is gained to Purslow Woods and the drop down to Clunbury. Black Ice a road hazard for the rambler and the driver.
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| One less Heart of Wales Trail sign - but the kissing gate survived |
Clunbury has little apart from a church and a crossing over the River Clun, which becomes the handrail into Aston on Clun. Refreshment could be found in the form of the Kangaroo Inn but five miles after being dropped off at 9:40am, it's unlikely to be open for anyone doing the route in this direction. Quick Internet based research has proved its the only pub of its name in the country (named after a boat, rather than the animal) and someone had the worst Sunday Lunch of their lives there. I will never know.
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| First pub on the HOWL - the uniquely named Kangaroo Inn |
It's from Aston on Clun that the walking turns spectacular. A climb to Hopesay Hill under crystal clear blue skies, far reaching views and a classic Geocache container is good for the soul.
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| Walking away from Aston on Clun |
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| Hopesay Hill Views |
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| First Cache of the HOWL |
From the hilltop, the meandering Shropshire Way is picked up, through Oldfield Wood and down to Craven Arms at the Valley Floor.
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| Valley Floor to Craven Arms |
A very encouraging start to a new trail.
Craven Arms is an odd little place. Seemingly expanding outwards, with new builds where my elderly OS Map shows fields. Take away the Museum of Lost Content (Closed for the Winter) and the Shropshire Discovery Centre where you can meet a woolly mammoth and you are left with entertainment options of just the one real pub.
The Craven Arms is an imposing former coaching house from 1805, that's valiantly trying to keep going. A menu that contained just three items (fish, steak or gammon) was explained by the landlord as "limited, as its January". A surprisingly decent Wadworth 6x.
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| Its OK - I would have had the Gammon anyway |
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