What are your favourite towns, villages and places in Shropshire (other than Shrewsbury of course :P )?

I really like the towns and villages of South Shropshire, which are set in the most beautiful and perfectly "English" countryside. Ludlow, Clun, Church Stretton and Cleobury Mortimer.

Down there we have England's second and third highest pubs - the Kremlin in Clee Hill (390m above sea level) and the Anchor in erm, Anchor (380m above sea level). Anchor, the hamlet (though as it's the only settlement in miles around it's on most maps), is nothing more than the pub, a farm and two cottages. Real ale and the landlord is a proper squire!

Getting to South Shropshire by train is easy. First there's the Shrewsbury-Ludlow line, with stops at Church Stretton and Craven Arms. Then there's the Craven Arms-"Heart of Wales" line which has regular stops at many villages on the way through the Shropshire/Herefordshire borderland, before going into Wales at Knighton.

Some roads (even the A roads) can be tricky down there - drive carefully please!

So here's to South Shropshire! :D

Oi, you missed Bridgnorth out of the south Shropshire towns list (okay, south-south-east, I admit...).

Very picturesque, especially in summer and with a kind of olde-worlde Victoriana air to the place in less clement weather. Notable for the start of the Severn Valley Railway to Kidderminster; the steepest railway incline in Britain (the Cliff Railway); the only electrical funicular railway in Britain (ditto); the county's biggest winner of Britain in Bloom awards, by a long long margin, not to mention the best in the whole country for five years running & second-best in the European awards at least once; and you can still see the caves between High Town and Low Town where people actually lived up until the 1950s or thereabouts.

And it's where I was born, too. :)

South Shropshire is also my favourite part of the county too. Bishops Castle is a real gem of a place.
I'd go down to "BC" quite a bit with a few mates when I was younger - I haven't visted the place in a while, so it might of changed a bit since then - Not too much I hope .

Mitchel's Fold and the Long Mynd I reckon, must be two of the finest places in Britain.The scenery is just stunning.

South Shropshire get my vote, I visit both Church Stretton and Ludlow often.

I also like Ironbrige visiting there a few times a year. One place I have never been and its something I really want to do it walk to the top of the Wrekin to take in the views.

Well here's a theoretical computer generated view of what you could expect from the top of the Wrekin on a very clear day...

http://www.viewfinderpanoramas.org/%5Cpano...NG%5CWrekin.gif

Of course, it has to be South Shropshire. Especially Clun. Oh, and Anchor :D

I used to work in Birmingham city centre and well remember catching the 192 to Ludlow some Friday evenings and being struck by the peace and beauty of the surroundings in Castle Square.

There are so many bits of South Shropshire (and North Herefordshire too) which seem as if they are so quiet as to be relatively undiscovered, such as Downton Gorge between Ludlow and Leintwardine.

I like Clee Hill too - not because it's particularly scenic (although the views are great) but because it's so bleak, haunting and other-wordly, especially when the fog comes down. It is like a little bit of the Pennines that has been stranded in the south.

There are no votes for North Shropshire yet! I grant you that bits of it are extremely boring, but the remaining meres and mosses (especially Whixall Moss) are really interesting. Wem Moss is another gem.

The Shrewsbury/Bishops Castle run is a really enjoyable bus journey - mmm, that might sound a bit mad to anyone who doesn't know South Shropshire :rolleyes:

A good run in the car is Shrewsbury-Bishop's Castle-Clun-Anchor-Newtown-Welshpool-Shrewsbury (though that's quite a long journey!)

Stop off at the Anchor pub on the way of course! ;)

Apart from visiting Ellesmere and attending the Wem carnival and of course passing through the area I've not spent much time in North Shropshire.

If you watch any of the daytime house hunting programmes like "to buy or not to buy", "escape to the country" or "trading up" quite often they are looking for properties in South Shropshire.

Thanks for the link to the map Proud Salopian, very interesting I will make it my mission to take a wonder up the Wrekin in the next month or two hopefully on fine day. They say with a pair of binoculars you can see the planes stacking at Manchester when its clear!

I heard somewhere that you can sometimes see ships on the Mersey from the Breiddens. Is this true? Where is this from? I have a vague idea it's got something to do with a Shropshire-based Mersey-shipping magnate.

I think that you must be referring to Flounders Folly which is one of the many delights to be found in and around Craven Arms.

P.S. did I mention the Roman fort that was just outside Craven Arms?

for more about the folly:

www.floundersfolly.org.uk

You're right, I've somehow confused Flounder's Folly with Rodney's Pillar.

A man after my own heart Karl,The Six Bells,The Three Tuns,The Castle,Boars Head,we will have to meet there for a drink in the spring /summer.We go to all the festivals there,each one is great.When possible we used to go on the bus to the Castle,now that Minserley Motors have got these new buses its not so much fun as when they ran those old crash gearbox buses,i always chose the service that went via Bentlawnt,the driver had to know his stuff,crunching down the box into 1st if he had to stop by the post office,then revving the guts out of it to get up the hill,you should have seen all the bus spotters on that hill on the last day they ran them.There are some great walks from the Castle where you can chill out and listen to NOTHING,Bury Ditches is one such place.
The Crown and Anchor is a good place to discuss whats going on in the country, got some some pics of me and Fred Dibnar having a pint when he was there at the Michalmas Fair a couple of years ago.We will start at Big Nevs and work our way up town,and what about inviting other regulars off these forums?

Ahh yes, the 'classic' Minsterly motors bus journey. I tell you what though, when my head was throbing and my throat felt like sandpaper, after a night on the lash in BC - a Minsterley Motors bus journey back home to Shrewsbury, felt like travelling first class on the Orient Express.

I've even wound up walking back from Biishops Castle (all 22 miles) to Shrewbury after a session -I was alot younger, fitter and madder then.

I went to a couple of biker do's down there too - even though I'm not a biker myself, they were always good for the music and beer. It's such a nice, laid back place, isn't it ? I'm suprised how many Shropshire people say they've never been there.
I'd say the only bad experience I ever had down there, was when I played a gig in the Boars Head -We had a 'few' jars before hand -just to steady the old nerves.Our singer, who wasn't a great one for holding his beer- and by the time we started playing, he was all over the place.We bombed like Rick Waller in concrete underpants.

I've heard one or two rock stars have got homes /retreats nearby -Eric Clapton and Robert Plant -I think.

Fred Dibnar was a real charactor.The man had such a passion for his craft and came across as such a friendly, down to earth bloke. I sometimes watch the repeats of his programme on Sky.
Yeah, what about a forum member meet up one day/night - sounds good.

Srewth! how long did it take you to walk back from the Castle?

About six bloody hours! I think it was the second time I'd ever been down there (December 1988) me and a mate had got the bus down with the intention of getting the bus back the same night.One pint led to another -.. you know the rest!
We first thought about kipping rough to start with - but with half a foot of snow on the ground ,that was never going to happen - so we took the shanks pony home -absolutley, freezing and feeling half dead before we even started.Dawn was just breaking by the time we got back to Shrewsbury- oh to be young and mad again!

please explain the leaf emblem Karl

Of the choice of avatar on the forum's list, I thought the leaf image was the closest thing connected with "Red Squirrel" -not very good, I know - but it's better than the melon image I suppose - Then again that one might be more befitting!

What's "avronb" about mate? It sounds like one of those deadly chemicals al qaeda are trying to get their hands on.

Ok Karl, here goes,My wifes name is Avril,my middle name is Ronald,my dads Christian name.hence Avron.

Brian, can I be a nosey sod? - Do you have any relatives who live in Meole village?

Not to my knowledge Karl,most of my kin come from the Ratlinghope area.

Reason I asked Brian is because like mine, your surname isn't really that common - and there's a family of the same name that live not far from us.

do they refer to it as "Ratchup"?

s.g.d.

Correct

I would like to put forward Aston on Clun as a favourite.

two round houses
the Kangaroo pub - 18th century coaching inn
Forge Garage
the village shop
the Arbor tree day - www.arbortreeday.co.uk
food fayre
the disused baptist chapel- now a farm shed
the village green
the church at Hopesay

you can catch a train to Broome and then walk to Aston on Clun,make sure that you leave enough time to pop into the Engine and Tender for a swift half on the way back.

s.g.d.

Aston on Clun! Another Shropshire location visited by David (Proud Salopian) and myself. And here is a picture of the "Uber Clun Sign" (as I call it) that can be found in Aston on Clun:

And here's us with the Aston on Clun sign:

Typical Clunshire weather too... everytime we go there it rains. Everytime!!

And no, I don't know what the hell I was doing in that photo!! :blink:

went to the Arbor Tree Day and also to yesterdays food fayre and the weather was glorious both times
also went to the Sun at Clun for a birthday lunch on Friday,again glorious it is all in the timing ;)
s.g.d.

I think you'll find that it was glorious-blue-sky-hot-sunshine across the UK past few days... so it doesn't count ;)

But what Neil and I have found out is that when the weather is, let's say, more "normal", Clunshire is always a bit wetter and cooler than the rest of Shropshire.

And the fog... oh the fog! :o

I'm interested to know where you draw the boundaries of 'Clunshire'. Do you count only the course of the Clun, where many settlements have the word 'Clun' in their names, or the larger area of Clun Forest (which includes the uplands to the south and west of the Clun valley)?

Clunshire is basically the SW corner of Shropshire (which is surprisingly large in terms of area). Anywhere West of Craven Arms and South of Bishop's Castle.

Since 2005, Shropshire County Council have an electoral division (their version of a ward) which covers the exact area I would call "Clunshire" and its official name is simply "Clun" (despite the fact that it includes a lot more than the town of Clun at the centre). When the county council becomes the unitary authority in a couple of years time, the electoral divisions will become wards and then Clunshire (though it will be called Clun officially) will be, well, official!

I'll upload the map of parishes, wards and electoral divisions in that area so you can see for yourself.

That's what I thought that you meant by Clunshire. Although it's quite a substantial area, I believe it is one of the smallest electoral divisions in South Shropshire in terms of population.

The Clun electoral division is one third of South Shropshire and is the largest (in terms of area) division in Shropshire. Yet it has roughly the same population as any other (single councillor) electoral division, which is 5000. Just shows how sparsely populated that area is!

Anyway, if Clunshire was an actual county...

County: Clunshire
County town: Clun
Largest town: Clun (population: 600)
Other towns: none
Population: 5000
Baron of Clun: The Duke of Norfolk
Lord of the Manor of Clun: The Earl of Powis
Land use: 75% pasture, 24% woodland, 1% minor settlements
Divisions: 16 parishes
Main industries: Agriculture, forestry
Notable attractions: Offa's Dyke, Clun Castle, Clun Bridge
Railway stations: Broome, Hoptonheath, Bucknall, Knighton*
Symbols: Green Man, Arbor Tree
Special days: May Day (1st May), Oak Apple Day (29th May)

*Although Knighton is in Powys, its station is in Shropshire

:D

Come to think of it, I've never seen a single arable field anywhere in 'Clunshire' - nothing bigger than gardens. There is the odd field of oilseed rape, but probably not enough to register as 1%.

Maybe crop growing technology hasn't quite reached that far into the hills... ;)