Aston on Clun and Hopesay Hill (Shropshire) Sunday coach walk

Thank you for your interest in this Sunday coach walk.

To book a place:

- click the blue + symbol above to increase the ticket count to 1 - only one ticket can be booked per booking since we ask for the name of each walker - then click Next

- on the following page click the Checkout button then complete the questions, click the Accept box and press the Confirm button. You will receive an automatic acknowledgement when you submit this form.

PLEASE NOTE THAT THE DURATION OF THIS EVENT SHOWN ABOVE IS ONLY APPROXIMATE AND CANNOT BE GUARANTEED; IT WILL DEPEND ON FACTORS SUCH AS THE WEATHER AND THE WALKING PACE OF THE GROUP.

=============================================================

Our Sunday rambles usually have three levels of walk, strenuous (A), moderate (B) or leisurely (C), led by Birmingham Ramblers group leaders. Join us and enjoy a great day of social walking with our friendly members.

Please note: Our walks are often on rough tracks and rights of way through fields, woodland and hills. Walkers should preferably wear walking boots and other clothing suitable for the weather. Unless otherwise described, please bring a packed lunch and refreshments for the day.

This Sunday walk has 3 levels of walk:

- A walk: Details of distance and ascent will be added when available

- B walk: Walk distance: 10 miles. Total ascent:1000 ft approx.

- C walk: 7.5 miles, some short ascents, the longest ones are 200 ft over 0.3 miles, and 130 ft over 1 mile, 720 ft ascent overall. 

Walk leaders:

- A walk: Colin Hayson

- B walk: Brendon Cameron

- C walk: Peter Searle and Eva Hyde

Walk Details:

- A walk: Walk details will be added when available

- B walk: Walk starts at the Shropshire Hills Discovery Centre at Craven Arms.  Leaving the urban environment behind we cross good field tracks to the north-west and a quiet lane to reach the very attractive village of Cheney Longville.  A stream which would have once supplied the local mill passes through the village alongside a varied mix of buildings.  We make a steady easy ascent to enter a wood and follow a track initially alongside a woodland stream, move away from that to reach a minor lane.  We cross the lane and make an ascent to the top of Hopesay Hill. At this point we are right on top of a wide ridge so we can look behind us, to the front of us, all around us to take in magnificent views in all directions. We walk along an excellent grassy path near the top of the hill keeping our height and savour the views.  Plenty of photo opps! We eventually descend to the curiously named Perry Gutter – a little valley – and carry on southward following the Shropshire Way through varied terrain which continues along a wide grassy path to Aston on Clun.  This path along with Hopesay Hill has to be a highlight of the walk.  It follows the length of a long valley and keeps a high vantage till we get to Aston on Clun.  A short lane and we are at the Kangaroo Inn for a well-earned drink. The remainder of the walk follows field tracks through sheep pastures, passing Sibdon Carwood church again following the Shropshire Way to the end of the walk at the Discovery Centre. Walk distance: 10 miles

- C walk: This circular walk starts at the Shropshire Hills Discovery Centre at Craven Arms. It goes through a short section of the town, before following the river Onny southwards, briefly, until it meets the A49 (0.7 miles). Turning away from the main road, we cross a field to a minor road for 0.3 miles, and then go up into Nortoncamp wood. We follow the edge of the mixed, mature, wood for 0.75 miles, to Lower Park. The route then goes through fields, with view of the hills and fields on the opposite side of the valley, for 1 mile, to Upper Park and down through the village of Onibury. We cross the Onibury bridge and go up a side road for 0.5 mile to cross fields on the other side of the valley, with glimpses of the Clee Hills. There is a short section of woodland, emerging to further fields.  At 5.4 miles, we follow a minor road for 0.3 miles, to Stokesay Castle, a 13th century fortified medieval manor house owned by English Heritage. From here we again cross fields, skirt Sallow Coppice and return on the Shropshire Way through Craven Arms to the Discovery centre. If time permits, we may visit the Stokesay Inn (pub), next to the Discovery centre.

There are a limited number of total places for the walks, which is set by the capacity of the coach. Whilst we hope that everyone will be able to be accommodated on their walk of choice, the allocation of places for each walk will have to be done on the day. No-one will be expected to walk at a higher grade than they prefer - thus, for example, if you prefer the B walk you will not be asked to join the A walk but may be asked to join the C walk. The booking form allows you to specify your preferred walk

It will only be possible to join the walk by coach, which will be picking up at 09.00 at the layby at the side of St. Chad’s Cathedral, Queensway, Birmingham B4 6EU. The coach fare will be £5 with 3 options for payment:

- Cash on the day in an envelope with your name and the date of the walk. We are unable to give change for cash payments

- Cheque on the day, made payable to COBRA, in an envelope with your name and the date of the walk.

- Bank transfer in advance of the walk

For payment by bank transfer the walk coordinator will contact you about a week in advance of the walk with bank details. For payments on the day, please put the exact fare in an envelope with your name and date of the walk on it, which will be collected on the coach - unfortunately we are unable to give change for the coach fare.

Note that you cannot pay the coach fare through our Eventcube account. Your booking for the walk will still show £0.00 but you do have to pay the £5 coach fare on or before the day of the walk.

The Birmingham Ramblers recently bid for, and won, a grant from the Inclusive Communities Fund which is part of the legacy of the Commonwealth Games. This grant is specifically to assist with coach transport to encourage new people to join the Sunday walks and start walking in country areas.

We will be using this fund to subsidise coach-based walks, such as this one, in areas which offer opportunities to new inexperienced walkers as well as challenges to regular walkers under the banner Keep Fit for a Fiver. As this suggests, we are reducing the coach fare for this and some other selected walks to £5 for all, be they regular walkers or new faces. Anyone who has already paid the usual £20 fare by Bank Transfer will have the £15 balance refunded to their bank account. Please will regular walkers note this and, if paying by Bank Transfer, please pay this subsidised fare of £5.

If you are joining us for the first time, please take note of the warning above that our walks are often on rough tracks and rights of way through fields, woodland and hills. Walkers should preferably wear walking boots and other clothing suitable for the weather. For the safety of the walker and the whole group, the walk leaders reserve the right not to take anyone who, in the opinion of the walk leaders, are not suitably fit or equipped for the walk.

=============================================================

If you find that you are unable to join us after booking a ticket it would be helpful if you let us know by sending an email to bhamramblersenquiries@gmail.com or let us know though our contact form at https://cobra.eventcube.io/support-hub/contact - this will be passed on to the walk leader and will prevent any delay to the start of the walk should the leader be waiting for you. Please note that some walks have a waiting list so tickets are NOT TRANSFERABLE; if you are unable to join us then please cancel your place to free it up for someone who may be on the waiting list rather than transferring it to someone else.

Bookings for this walk will close at 06.00 on Monday 30 September 2024. 

Shortly after bookings have closed the walk coordinator will contact you by email to confirm that you will still be joining us on this walk; this is needed since there are limited seats on the coach and we like to release any unused places to others who may be on a waiting list. The coordinator will also give you our bank details if you have chosen to pay the coach fare by bank transfer. Please check your email, including Spam and/or Junk folders, shortly after bookings have closed for this walk and reply to let us know whether or not you will be still joining the walk.

If you would like to join this walk after the bookings have closed please email bhamramblersenquiries@gmail.com or contact us through our contact form at https://cobra.eventcube.io/support-hub/contact to enquire about any late availability for the walk.

General Information

This is one of several walks and activities offered by the Birmingham Ramblers. If you have found this page through a web search or other means and would like to find out more about the group then please visit the Birmingham Ramblers web site; new members are always welcome.