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Caer Caradoc Circuit

Caer Caradoc Circuit


Postby icemandan » Mon Aug 13, 2012 9:31 pm

Date walked: 11/08/2012

Time taken: 4.5

Distance: 14.22 km

Ascent: 602m

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A couple of days of gentle walks pubs and barbeques on one of the few sunny weekends of the year.

our_route.gpx Open full screen  NB: Walkhighlands is not responsible for the accuracy of gpx files in users posts


Church Stretton lies between two groups of hills, the Long Mynd which is a great broad plateau riven by deep valleys, and the Secret Hills - surprisingly steep shapely hills with rocky outcrops, culminating in the surprisingly precipitous Caer Caradoc hills. A late start and a leisurely stroll through the outskirts of Church Stretton found us looking up at the Shropshire Suilven of Gaer Stone.
Shropshire 002.jpg

A steep pull up through a green sheep pasture gave a view back to Church Stretton and the Long Mynd
Shropshire 003.jpg

A green cropped grass path through the bracken led up to the Gaer Stone and a brief detour to climb it.
Gaer Stone.jpg

Carrying on to the top of the broad grassy ridge of Hope Bowdler Hill which offered fine views across to Caer Caradoc and its hill fort.
Caer Caradoc.jpg

We followed field paths and lanes down to the chocolate box village of Cardington. It was eerily quiet and seemed to be inhabited only by parked Range Rovers. The plan had been to get a drink at the pub. Unfortunately it had closed for the afternoon by the time we got there as a man drinking tea on the patio informed us with slightly too much schadenfreude in his voice.
Wheatfields.jpg

So we headed back towards Church Stretton through wheatfields, encountering a combine harvester at very close quarters. The less energetic headed straight for the town (it was a hot sticky day). The rest headed for the looming crest of Caer Caradoc. A gentle zig zagging path made short work of it and we soon emerged at the airy summit which has commanding views to the Shropshire plain and the Wrekin.
Plain.jpg

Wrekin and Lawley.jpg

From the summit we followed the ridge down over impressively precipitous drops, then down a steep, slithery path back down to Church Stretton.
Last edited by icemandan on Tue Aug 14, 2012 7:00 pm, edited 1 time in total.
icemandan
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Re: Caer Caradoc Circuit

Postby malky_c » Mon Aug 13, 2012 11:07 pm

A barbeque - that's what I was missing when I was up here :lol:

Nice circuit - I had a feeling that there was more worth walking around on this side of the A44 than just Caer Caradoc Hill :)
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Re: Caer Caradoc Circuit

Postby ChrisW » Tue Aug 14, 2012 4:50 am

Lovely stuff Iceman but what the hell is with a pub that shuts in the afternoon....I thought we were past all that nonsense and allowed to drink when we wanted to nowadays :lol:
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Re: Caer Caradoc Circuit

Postby garyhortop » Tue Aug 14, 2012 8:38 pm

Great report Iceman, we did this route last year when we were staying in a cottage in Shrops although I had to leave the wife and the dog back at the pub (which meant they had to stay open!) as the Border Terrier had clearly got too inquisitive in a field just outside Cardington and something had stung her! She recovered fine though! Brought back some great memories of the area and last years visit! :D
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