Our Last Full Day in Church Stretton: Climbing Caradoc

For an OS map of our loop walk to Caer Caradoc (5.9 miles; 9.49 km; 1.054 feet total ascent), click here.

We were up before 9:00 a.m., which felt like progress in the attempt to shake off jet lag. After a breakfast of tea, toast, and strawberries, we set off at 10:55 for our Caer Caradoc walk.

It was wonderful to set out walking again, and very soon after leaving town, a view of our destination spread out in front of us. 

On course for Caer Caradoc (from the south): we would head around to its right and then up its northeast flank

I enjoyed everything about the walk—the surprising scent of honeysuckle in one of the hedgerows, the different textures of the paths (even the slightly muddy ones), and the birdsong of skylarks and cuckoos. And the sheep! It was lovely to see them again. 

One ewe was separated from her lamb in another field (although there was no gate between fields so they could have found each other if they had been clever enough), and the lamb had the loudest cry we'd ever heard from a sheep; it was deep and resonant. On the walk back, there was a lamb that sounded like it was bleating the word "lamb" in a low voice, and I joked that it was really saying, "Don't . . . eat . . .  lamb!" But I am getting ahead of myself. 

Ken could describe the route in more detail, but I would say that the most noteworthy feature of the walk was (unsurprisingly) the views, which demanded frequent stops both on the way and especially from the top. As we skirted around the east side of Caradoc, we also met some walkers who provided some good route advice and just enough social interaction to give Ken an energy boost as we made our way gradually uphill to the top.

It was overcast and cold but the views were still amazing. Ken pointed out many features: to the west was the Long Mynd, the site of our wonderful last day's long walk with Susan last year. Looking east we could see the long line of Wenlock Edge, on which we will walk for the next day or two. Looking south there was a wonderful panorama of hills and valleys. And to the northeast lay the Lawley and the Wrekin, with the north Shropshire plain and perhaps even Cheshire hazy in the distance.

 

From Caradoc summit: looking north towards the Lawley and, in the distance, the Wrekin

 Although it was cold sitting on the top of Caer Caradoc, eating our buttered bread, it was wonderful. After both reading about it and then having had a great view of the hill from our All Stretton Airbnb on the last day of our B2B Part Two walk last year, it was a walk Ken really wanted to do—and we did it!

A daredevil on the rocks!

[Ringing the summit were a variety of dramatic rock formations as well as the distinctive ditches and ramparts of an ancient hill fort; one of the rumoured strongholds of Caractcus (i.e., Caradoc, AKA Cymbeline). Whatever the reality of who built and inhabited the fort, it is pretty awe-inspiring. Given how cold it felt in the wind in late May, I'd hate to have had to man the fort in winter!—Ken]

I was surprised to see a small patch of what looked like yellow violas, a flower I would associate with domestic gardens rather than mountains. I wondered if they had been introduced by rabbits in the same way they had been in my garden at home. We also saw a red kite several times, a bird of prey that was extinct in Britain but has been reintroduced with success, as we saw today. It was majestic as it glided around.

Note that cameras "flatten" the landscape: this was very steep!

 

In some ways, descending a mountain is harder than ascending, and this descent involved a path with loose gravel. At one point my foot skidded on the gravel and I found myself flat on my back. I was wearing gloves, so my hands weren't skinned, and thankfully I landed "well" and didn't injure anything. I landed on the day pack that I was using, but the otter-seals, who love mountain walks, were uninjured.

The Seals at the Summit of Caer Caradoc

 

After our descent we walked straight into Church Stretton and went to Jemima's coffee shop. We sat in a room with couches and shared Earl Grey tea and slices of cake: orange almond for me, and bumblebee(?) for Ken, a banana-pineapple cake with cream cheese icing. Both cakes were good, but I liked Ken's better.

While I was previewing the cakes in a different room, Ken unpacked the day pack I had been wearing and discovered that I had partially crushed my lightweight aluminum insulated water bottle. We think it is somehow leaking at the lid, though we haven't quite figured it out. I was pleased that it was my bottle that was damaged, since I had previously dented it by dropping it on the pavement in a parking lot. Ken's water bottle is still pristine.

The King's Arms, Church Stretton

We came up to the hut after that, and then went down again for dinner at the King's Arms. I had carrot coriander soup, and helped Ken eat his order of faggots (meatballs), mash (mashed potatoes) and gravy. It was the first time we had tried faggots, which are apparently associated with the region in which we are travelling. They were excellent, and tasted like they had oatmeal and herbs in them.

We came back up to our shepherd's hut for a final evening of relaxing and enjoying the view out our window before walking on to Wenlock Edge tomorrow.