Walking 8.25 to 5.45pm
Distance walked today 18 miles
Distance walked so far 121 miles
Distance left 462 miles
I enjoyed my stay at Wilderhope. I only recently rejoined the YHA after several years absence. It annoys me that school parties book exclusive use of hostels regardless of whether they use all accommodation so that, for example, an individual walker wanting a bed for the night is turned away.
The day didn't start well as I missed a footpath sign due to not paying attention and chose to walk a bit further rather than retrace my steps. Not a great problem though. The was a mile or so of B road walking through Longville in the Dale before easy field walking, leading to a long ascent to Cardington Moor and skirting the foot of Willstone Hill. The weather was dry and quite clear so the views were good. This was very hilly country and I had it to myself.
Approaching Church Stretton I had a decision to make. Yesterday's pork pie came from there and I was tempted but the diversion would add a couple of miles and a couple of hours to the day so I was just left with the wish that I'd bought two pies yesterday.
Therefore, from Willstone Hill I took a route to Comley, at the southern tip of The Lawley, a long whale backed hill and used the bridleway at the foot of it which was easy walking apart from the muddy bits which were easily avoided by going up on the bank on the hillside. Then through Longnor and a path through a paddock with a very frisky horse running circles round me and kicking its hind legs.
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| Longnor |
Crossing the Ludlow to Shrewsbury railway line, I passed through Dorrington. I'm pitched a mile beyond the village in a grassy enclosure right in the corner. I thought that it was well out of the way of any farm traffic but a tractor came through from a nearby field only about fifty feet away but I wasn't seen. In the fading light my grey tarp is very unobtrusive.
Not a particularly interesting day but pleasant enough nonetheless. The expected rain came as I was pitching but hasn't come to much so far.
If you keep hurrying on like that I won't have a chance to waylay you next Thursday coming from Manchester Airport ;)
ReplyDeleteGeoff,
ReplyDeleteYou can leave my 'bodies' alone, now you have your own crusade 'pork pies' be nice if you found some tomatoes & mustard to accompany!
Magic still with you in tractor blindness and least said about Frisky the better!
Stride on!
Kevin
On our E2W walk there was a night when we walked further than intended to find a discrete place to pitch. Having finally left a vehicle track and got into open fields, we selected a suitable dip, which hid us quite well, and hadn't even got the fly sheet on the tent when an engine was heard and a landrover drove straight up the middle of the field. It turned before it reached us, and returned via the same route about half an hour later, not acknowledging us in any way in either direction. I struggled, at the time, to believe that he hadn't seen us, but after other experiences of not being seen in perfectly visible positions, I've theorised that people often don't see a tent if it's somewhere that they don't expect to see one.
ReplyDelete