July 18, and 19 Ludlow

 Max took a train a little after 7:00 to make his way to London via Newport and then on to Heathrow.  It is already lonely without him.  I took off on a walk through the Mortimer Forest.  Mortimer, remember him?  He's the guy who has the trail form hell—at least near Kington— named after him, and ALSO a forest!  Ludlow is one end of the trail and Kington the other.  The Forest is better than the walk—which, in all honesty, is not the fault of Mortimer but of property owners who make devilish changes to a route.  Back to the forest: It even has trees:

Some really pretty ones:

But the woods are not so benign as you would think.  Remember Little Red Riding hood?

The walk took up a good portion of the day.  After refreshing, I took off for the Tesco to buy a loaf of bread.  It is a good thing I did not have to  go to the bathroom.

Why they have to advertise IN SUCH BIG LETTERS that the toilets don't work, I do not understand. (The sign reminds me of other irritating signage such as "can tuna.")

The next stage of the walk is from Ludlow to Wheat Hill.  From Wheat Hill you have to take a taxi back to Ludlow (try that for fun), OR you could take a taxi to Wheat Hill and walk back to Ludlow.  I was contemplating the latter, but somehow just did not have a good feeling about it, so I decided to walk about half way there and walk back.  And that is what I did.

Maybe it was the rain (not too bad) or the humidity (high) or the challenges (many) or the elevation (lots), or all of the above, but I found this outing demanding.  Most of the route was lovely,  especially the return, which was mostly downhill and because of the direction, you don't have to turn around ton see the the very pleasant views:

This is a pipe bridge:

It is a pipe bridge—hang on to your hats for this bit—because in addition to there being a pedestrian bridge, there are big pipes going across.  Yes, sir!

And they don't want any shenanigans at the bridge, either!

My question is:  Is the danger from falling into the abyss or from those spikes?

Speaking of danger, Max would not have liked walking through this field:

But, again, the real danger seems to be related to crossing the street:

This field was a killer.  It was huge and there was no path through the wheat where there was supposed to be a path.  Figuring out what to do took a long time...both going and returning, although on the return I managed an efficient detour...there is luck in that, though, because you never know if you will be able to access a gate or there will be some manner of egress. 

I was so glad the the fallen tree was not the means of crossing:

Directional posts such as these are not helpful:

Nor is this remnant of a stile:

If I were a cow and wanted a drink, how much would I want to wade through that huge, deep, muddy puddle?

As a human, how much to I want to scale that barbed wire wrapped fence in order to get to the adjacent field?

You couldn't see it from there—which, let me tell you, was VERY ANNOYING—but about 50 feet farther along, there was a stile.  When you  were coming from the other direction, it was perfectly obvious.  That is how these thing are sometimes.

July 16 +17 Clun to Craven Arms (on foot) to Ludlow (by train) and Ludlow to Craven Arms (on foot) to Ludlow (by train)

 Our taxi to ferry us from bishops Castle to Clun arrived a few minutes early—just my style, Max's not so much!  No sooner did the Cabbie drop us off than Max, with a horrified look on his face, said, "Oh, no! I forgot to leave the key!"  "We'll mail it back fro Ludlow," I told him, then off we went on the road.  Lots of road.  Too much road.  There was track, too.  Too much track, as well.  The views were great if you turned around!  Walking backwards would be the only way to soak in the beauty.  Of a truth, there were some kinder stretches.  Today's walk was better than yesterday's, not a good as the day before.

Max was disappointed. There was a phone in this phone booth, but no "No Smoking" sign.

He got over his disappointment and walked on through barley fields

It was a lovely day:

From Craven Arms, we took a train, eight minutes, to Ludlow.  Arrived at our Air B&B where we spent much time trying to unlock the door.  A first:  door required two keys! 

After "getting sorted" we went hunting and gathering at the Super Tesco, Alex Allain's favorite supermarket because, "They have everything."  They pretty much do.  I cooked dinner: sauteed potato, onion and beef.  It was nice to have a "home cooked" meal, even though the stir fry beef was not so great. 

The plan for the next day was to take the train back to Craven Arms and then walk back to Ludlow.  "Max, we have to be ready to walk out the door at 5:45."  Our train was at 6:10.  Max was ready at 5:42.  When we got to the station, a lady, who had arrived before us announced, "The 6:10 has been cancelled."  We reversed out plan and walked from Ludlow to Craven Arms, a pretty easy twelve mile walk, mostly through fields.  Since the photos of the day disappeared, you will just have to take my word  Probably the most interesting sight is (are)? Max's thoroughly soaked (and disgusting) shoes.  

As we approached Craven Arms, we considered out options for getting back to Ludlow. "We'll never make the 11:38 train—our ETA according to Apple Maps was 11:40."  We'll take the 12:20 bus." But as we got closer to town, Max learned that the train was two minutes delayed.  We hustled!  Then the train was three minutes delayed.  Our hustling became more purposeful.  We got to the station to find out that the train was two more minutes delayed.  Why we even had time to buy tickets!  

Our plan for the afternoon had been to go tho the Castle in Ludlow, but like the Postcard Cafe, The Three Tuns, and God knows what else, it was closed.   What a disappointment!  But we did a short, but very pretty river walk.  On the way back to our apartment, we espied:

Updating?

Dinner was pretty much a repeat of last night's with an upgrade from stir fry to sirloin. Max ate almost two steaks, several little potatoes, salad, and lest he go hungry, God forbid, a Magnum for  dessert.  He is now happily watching a golf tournament.  I will miss him when he goes home tomorrow.

P. S. For the record:  Max does not like cows.

July 15, Bishop's Castle ciruclar walk

Today we took a bummer walk.  It looked great on the map, and was just the right distance, about 12 miles, but a lot of it was on the road, a whole lot.  That it rained some of the time was not a terrible problem because it did not pour, it just rained!  And not too much!  It was the damn road walking, which is so insanely boring.  The destination was Sunny Hill, Bury Ditches, famous for having been an iron age fort.  I guess that is one of those things you just have to accept as true...or not!  (I think I walked up there when Alex and Alex and I were in Clun; it was a whole different walk from that direction.)

Here is Max perusing the mappy sort of thing at the SITE, which I have to say is the most anticlimactic destination ever! 

   

I could not for the life of me tell you what building is referred to here, but your dog should not poop there anyway:

Max pushing through the barley:

This structure was so long, I could not get it into the frame.  Can you guess what it is for?

(I am quite sure you cannot.)

We actually were not supposed to be there—we had taken a too soon turn-off, but before we were shooed away, I asked the guy, "What is this building for?"  "Chickens."  "Chickens?  They are awfully quiet."  "They are arriving today!"  That structure could hold thousands and thousands of chickens.

After a few false starts, we headed off the correct way:

By and by we came upon a phone booth.  Would you believe that phone booths are marked on Ordnance Survey maps?  It had not phone, but it did have a no smoking sign.

It was a real shame—there not being a phone, because there is Max, inside, trying to call Suzie to wish her Happy Birthday!

How much fun it is to try to get out of the way when this behemoth lumbers by!

This sign is totally confusing.  Are those kids running to the no footway?  Good luck to them!

I never did see moo-ers with horns like these:

     They don't even match!   

I must say something about the dining opportunities in Bishops Castle.  First, there is the Six Bells.  It serves food on Thursday-Sunday only not always on Sunday even if their sign outside says that they are, in fact, bar-b-qing.  In any case, Monday-Wednesday you are out of luck, and don't forget about Sunday.  The Three Tuns is closed.  The Happy Bap, serving sandwiches, is closed Sunday and Monday; other days open until 3:30.  Reviews of the take out fish and chips, kebab and pizza place warn that you could get food poisoning there.  The high spot in town, the Castle Hotel, turned us away for not having made a reservation.  Fortunately, the owner of Bank House, where we were staying, let us use her kitchen, and no wonder I drag along emergency supplies for just in case!

                                                                                                

July 14 Bishops Castle to Clun

 

At 6:15, Max and I set out for Clun, stage 3 of the Shropshire Way.  Our plan had been to do a circular walk today and this stage tomorrow, but it turns out that the bus from Clun back to Bishop's Castle, where we are staying, runs only on Monday and Friday, so today being Monday, we went for it!  

It was a great walk!  The weather was perfect, path almost all off road, enough challenge so that we were pretty tired at the end, but feeling quite accomplished.  Max is a great navigator and saved the day a couple of times!  Once was when we were walking up a steep hill that was like Mortimer's Way: thistles, thorns, overgrowth, ferns, brambles, complete craziness.  After several minutes of this idiotic bushwhacking, Max, pointing to the right, said, "I think the path is over there."  I was not completely convinced, but what we were on was nuts, so we made out way over to the path "over there" and, yup!  It was just where we were supposed to be. We both concurred that Grammy would not like this very much,   

Do the dangers ever end?

Even from the trees, they are after you!

Not to mention the rivers:

Or the  grass or where ever:

On another note, aren't names like this just wonderful?

Hello, horsie!

The handsome one in the middle is Max! 

Can you imagine the gorgeousness of walking through these flowers?

I had been so looking forward to concluding our walk in Clun with a sit down by the river at the Postcard Cafe.  It is Monday; the cafe was not open.  Barely anything was open.  We went to the other cafe in town and ordered sandwiches.  It took so long, and Max was so hungry that he ate the sandwich I had made for him as a snack while waiting for the sandwiches we had ordered:

Just FYI: the sandwiches were very not great.

Then the bus!  We were sitting in the bus shelter and I to Max said, "Max, we are facing away from the street.  We may not see the bus."  Of course, he dismissed this as nonsense, but guess what!  The bus roared by eight minutes before it was due!!  So what did Max do?  He ran after it.  He chased that damn bus!  AND HE CAUGHT IT!  In Max's inimitable way, he barely took credit for this feat of daring do!  I to the bus driver, "You are early."  "Yes.  In these small towns we don't stop unless you make a reservation!"  WHAT?!  Had we not caught the bus, the next one would not be until Friday.  BTW, the fare for the two of us was $1.36.

July 13, Max arrives to meet me in bishop's Castle

 Picked up at 6:00 by taxi to be dropped off  at the Pub in Bridges (there is nothing like an early morning beer) that (who) then took luggage on to Bishops Castle, where Max and I will spend three nights.  It is hot.  It is humid.  There is no fan.  That is getting ahead of the story.  Today was day two of the Shropshire Way.  I did not do day one because that required two taxis...don't ask! AND the stage is, counting walking to get to the start, getting up toward 20 miles and since it was not breathtakingly beautiful, I decided to sacrifice it.  

THE feature of today's walk was the Stiperstones.  If you are a geologically inclined, you can reaed about them here I will show you what they look like:

From a distance:

Closer:

Closer still:

This is what it is like to walk through them.

Not too bad:

More bad:

It was a bit (a lot) disconcerting making your way through this mess because there was no path, and trust me, you don't want to get lost in the stones and surrounding gorse.  Like a HAWK I had my eye on the trail on the phone!  

That does not always help because sometimes you JUST CANNOT GO:

Fortunately the supposed turnoff through that mess + a fence behind it, which would have been very nice, happened on a road and just made the route longer.

Here, I walked through someone's yard and the gate was a bitch to unlatch:

There was a field where people were camping:

And a field with a barbed wire fence that was new.  Over or under?  

Under

And a field for hay:

And sheep running away:

And a nice green field where you want to go the right way:

But that is easy.....usually.

Especially when you have it all to yourself:

There is nothing like a little company:

And assurance that you are almost there!

A tough day because of the heat, a relatively late start (6;30 a.m.) too much road walking although most of it was, as they say, on quiet country lanes.  I expect a lot of this route will be like that.  The turn offs through fields that were blocked were really annoying...

Max arrived!  We went for dinner.  The first place advertised "food from 4-8" We got there are 6:00.  No food.  Besides, they were having a beer crisis, the taps were not working, so for sure they did not care about our hamburgers.  Second place:  No one there.  Third place, Max ordered fish and chips.  He said it was fine.  I ordered roast beef.  It was beef, but it was not roast beef, it was floating in gravy as was everything else on the plate, and it was terrible.  We got ice creams at the Co-Op and I have cookies in the room that I smeared with peanut butter.  

Max had a great time in Spain!  We head out for Clun at 6:00 a.m. tomorrow.