Walking the Shropshire Way. John Gillham

if staying in B&Bs, and 55 litre or more for backpacking

       liner or plastic carrier bags to keep your gear dry inside the rucksack

       breathable waterproofs, both jackets and trousers

       good proven waterproof boots

       walking socks

       fleece jacket or warm sweater

       changes of clothes for evening wear

       sun hat and sun cream (outside winter months)

       first-aid kit (including plasters for blisters)

       whistle and torch in case of emergencies

       mobile phone (but be aware that there are many ‘no reception’ areas in rural Shropshire)

       food and plenty of fluids for the day

       maps and guidebook.

      Optional

       a GPS unit or GPS app and maps for your smartphone.

Using GPS

      In recent years GPS units such as Garmin, Memory Map and Satmap have become quite sophisticated and now they usually include OS mapping for the UK. They are a very useful addition to your equipment, especially if you’re caught out in hill fog on the mountains.

      In addition to the dedicated GPS units there are apps for iPhones, Android and Blackberry smartphones and tablets too. Viewranger and Memory Map are the best known and their maps are stored on your phone rather than being ‘in the cloud’ (like Trailzilla maps). The obvious drawback being that if the maps are in the cloud and you don’t have a phone signal, then you don’t have a map.

      Most dedicated GPS units come with map packages. Some come with complete OS Landranger 1:50,000 maps for the UK, while others just include national parks. OS Explorer maps are better and you can buy DVDs or USB sticks with the complete UK, although they are more expensive. The other way of doing this is by going online and downloading and paying for the exact area you want (Memory Map and Viewranger both enable this). You can always add to the area you bought later.

      All units will need charging at the end of the day. Dedicated GPS units can usually last at least eight hours and most have facilities to attach battery cases to keep them topped up.

      The batteries in smartphones are smaller and most won’t last all day when used as a GPS – you’ll need at least a 5000mAh battery for all-day use. Otherwise, you may need at least one spare battery or you’ll have to use the one you have sparingly, ie, when you’re unsure of where to go next. Tablets such as the iPad Mini and Android 7-inch ones usually have larger batteries and can be kept in waterproof cases that can hang around your neck, in the same way as map cases do. Aquapac do a fine range of such cases. The tablets have the advantage of showing you large areas of the map at once.

      If you cannot get to a power source to recharge your unit you can buy portable chargers. A 12000mAh EasyAcc, for example, will recharge an iPhone three or four times or an iPad Mini twice before it needs recharging itself. To clarify things mAh stands for milli-Ampere hour, a measure of a battery’s energy storage capacity – the higher the mAh figure the better. A word of caution here: these units should be used as a supplement to the maps – the battery may lose power unexpectedly.

Waymarking

      The Shropshire Way is well-signed throughout, with orange waymarkers featuring a buzzard and small black arrowhead pointing in the direction of travel. More historical black and white waymarkers can still be seen in places, including the ones marking old alternative loops. In a very few places these appear to contradict the new waymarkers. In such cases always follow the line marked by the orange waymarkers.

      Shropshire Way waymarker

Using this guide

      The Shropshire Way can be completed in one large circular route but by using the Haughmond to Shrewsbury link route described in Section 10A it can be split into both southern and northern circulars. To these ends, the link route has been described in both directions.

      All places mentioned in the text are shown in bold if they appear on the maps. The box at the start of each walk lists information such as: the distance of the stage, the height gain, the approximate time to allow, the terrain and places for refreshment, and map used (Appendix A summarises some of this information in table form). While the guide uses OS Landranger maps (1:50,000), which are fine for the mountain sections, they are not as detailed as the OS 1:25,000 Explorer maps, so I would recommend that you take the following OS Explorer maps:

       201 Knighton and Presteigne

       203 Ludlow Tenbury Wells and Cleobury Mortimer

       216 Welshpool and Montgomery

       217 The Long Mynd and Wenlock Edge

       218 The Wyre Forest and Kidderminster

       240 Oswestry

       241 Shrewsbury

       242 Telford and Ironbridge

       257 Crewe and Nantwich (if including the Whitchurch leg)

      Also bear in mind the following:

      The sections north of Shrewsbury are all relatively new. If you are using printed maps make sure they have data post 2018. If the copies of the maps you buy are older they may have either the wrong routes or, in the case of the north, no route at all.

      The current 2018 Harvey Map of the Shropshire Way shows only the old southern sections of the route but they may well update it in the future so it’s worth checking.

      GPX tracks

      GPX tracks for the routes in this guidebook are available to download free at www.cicerone.co.uk/1008/GPX. A GPS device is an excellent aid to navigation, but you should also carry a map and compass and know how to use them. GPX files are provided in good faith, but neither the author nor the publisher accepts responsibility for their accuracy.

      THE SHROPSHIRE WAY

      Bury Ditches Iron Age fort (Stage 4)

STAGE 1

      Shrewsbury to Bridges

Start	Kingsland Bridge, Shrewsbury
Finish	Bridges Youth Hostel, Ratlinghope
Distance	14¾ miles (23.8km)
Ascent	535m
Descent	330m
Time	7hr
Terrain	Town streets, woodland and field paths, two ridge tracks
Map	OS Explorer 241 and 216
Supplies	Shrewsbury, Bayston Hill

      Looking at the map the first day doesn’t promise much but, in reality, it offers many pleasant surprises in small packages. Shrewsbury is an historic delight and the way out, through the Rad Brook and Rae Brook valleys, gives walkers more greenery and beauty than they have the right to expect in the suburbs of a sizeable town. Then there’s Lyth Hill with its airy ridge, its blossoms and its wide panoramas.