Wednesday, July 3: An eponymous day...
Stafford - Childs Ercall, 42 km
As it was a shorter distance day, and a later arrival deadline, we did a bit more admin before leaving our hotel at 11 am (later checkout at this chain hotel), and although we missed going into the centre of Stafford we did ride up to their castle.
The original Stafford castle/fort was built by the Normans in the late 11th century and would have been a wooden structure protected by ditches and high banks, some of which are still visible. Around 1350 it was rebuilt in stone. Falling into disrepair again during the 1600's, so that by 1790 only a single low stone wall remained. It was 'rediscovered' and rebuilt at that point so that by 1813 it was effectively a new castle. It was abandoned by the family at some point but occupied by caretakers up until 1949 when it was declared unfit to live in.
Not too much of it left but a lovely site with a commanding view of the surrounding countryside.
Rode towards the town of Newport along a route on the old railway line. Not that well used however, reducing to narrow single track with encroaching edges of stinging nettle to brush past... slightly tricky and memorable! (the nettle is not as strong as NZ nettle, and as long as one doesn't scratch it, the irritation soon clears). Bonus was spotting a number of squirrels busy doing squirrelly things (ie running across the trail).
We had lunch on the outskirts of Newport by some big box stores then rode through the main part of town. Right on "schools out" time so it was a tad hectic negotiating hundreds of secondary school students intent on leaving the premises.
From there we wound through small lanes, passing crops of wheat, barley, lettuces, beans and maize... along with quite a number of huge tunnel houses which housed strawberries and possibly other fruit/crops.
We arrived at our friends Janet and Allan's about 4:30 pm, a fun evening with a lovely meal... it was brilliant to catch up.
The eagle eyed will have noticed our friends are all called the same (or for the last 4 days have been!). In this case Noel shared an office with Janet back in 1988 when he worked at Wye College in Kent. Janet is now a head geneticist with a large UK ram breeding operation, and a part time lecturer, whilst Allan is a pig professor and lecturer at nearby Harper Adams Ag college... a lot in common on agricultural lines so always robust, fun discussions had. We last caught up with them in 2019 when we stayed with them and had also enjoyed a multi-day canal boat trip together.
Thursday, July 4: Finding it thrilling, to see what's the filling ...
Childs Ercall - Bishops Castle, 80 km
Shrewsberry is a very cute town of 76,000 people (not sure how many biscuits) dating back to the 8th century and earlier with bronze age relics having been found. There is a castle and Abbey established from 1074 on. Shrewsberry has over 600 listed buildings, lots of tudor style buildings with timber framing from the 15th, 16th century.
A useful fact.. the birthplace of Charles Darwin.
Had a sandwich sitting outside a cafe, a bit cold although the sun was shining. Last minute today, but we found and booked our accommodation for this evening at the town of Bishops Castle... still 50 km away so onto the bikes to find our way to the path following the river Severn.
A reasonably strong wind but luckily we are mostly sheltered by the hedge rows on the side of the lanes. Crop, some cattle, some sheep. As we cycled past one farm yard, they were busy shearing, on a portable outside stand. We wonder if any were Kiwi shearers?. Looked like a tricky operation with rain threatening, although Janet had confirmed last night that with wool worth so little they really don't take any care with it and everything is bundled together in packs.
We actually visited Wales... albeit only for around 2 km and in one small corner, but still we will claim it!
Two enormous hills, which entailed a bit of pushing, with the 2nd having a tail wind... which is amazing how it actually helps! Followed along the top of a scenic ridge which followed an old droving route before dropping down into the town of Bishops Castle.
When we arrived at the lovely looking hotel we were advised we had been upgraded due to a double booking on their part... bonus, a huge room and facilities. Also have some fresh cherries to munch on given to us from Janet's garden... triple lucky! Reasonably weary this evening, it's been a big day, so we have a slower day planned for tomorrow.
Friday, July 5: Craving for some lunch...
Bishops Castle - Ludlow, 30 km
After breakfast we had a walk around the town of Bishops Castle. It happened to be market day/fat lamb sale day as we walked past the saleyards, a smaller scale "Lorneville Sale Yards". Would have loved to have gone in and had a gander, but not sure how the local farmers would view us! The sale yards are right near the centre of what is a fairly small town.
The town is quite quirky... with the original castle being demolished in 1700 and turned into a bowling green instead. The only surviving bit of the castle, which was originally built in 1087 to defend the church and village from the Welsh, is a partial wall just beside the hotel we are staying in.
The town/village also has the Three Tuns Brewery, established in 1642 making it the oldest licensed brewery site in Britain. Our hotel has been open since 1719 so nothing too modern about the place!!
Departing around 10 am we headed for the hills, quite a lot of upward including some quite steep. Farmland of crop, potatoes and some cows.
Descended into Craven Arms, a busy town with lots of bulk potato trucks charging through. Lunch in a handy bakery then a couple of kms out of town, and off the suggested route, we stopped at Stokesay Castle and Church.
Classed as one of the finest fortified manor houses in England. It was built in the late 1200's on an earlier castle site by Laurence of Ludlow, one of England's leading wool merchants, ( when wool must have been a valuable product! ). Laurence had money and wanted to show it... so he built a grand "house" made to look older and exude prestige whilst having a look of royalty (which he didn't have any traces of!)
The property was lived in until the end of the 17th century and then rented out for agricultural and manufacturing purposes i.e. black-smith which coincidentally almost burnt the tower down! Two major renovations were done during the 1800's, both working within the original shell.
Chatted to a friendly chap who was volunteering there for the National Trust owners. One of the lovely features was that the castle is largely open (windows, doorways etc) to the outside so that it is home to a whole lot of swallows, some with young-ones, and bats although we didn't spot any of them.
To avoid doubling back to the route, and to avoid a hill, we followed the footpath beside the busy A49. The footpath then turned into a farmyard track, literally biking past the farmer unloading stock, then spat us directly back out onto the actual road.
So it was a quick 2 km on the shoulder of the busy A road (which was fine) before getting back on our designated bike route.
We stopped at Ludlow Farm Shop which is a relatively new looking complex of a cafe, shop, whiskey distillery, and a hotel in the making, as well as an ice cream shop which we utilised. The first ice cream for the trip, (apart from a scoop in a pudding we had somewhere).
Biked through the Oakley Park estate, then past an indoor pig farm (could hear the snorting and embrace the "discreet" aroma), and dropped down into Ludlow getting a great view of the large, imposing Ludlow Castle on our descent, before riding over the river Teme into the township.
As we were navigating our way through the town to our pub, located just outside the old town walls, we were followed and given helpful guidance by a local cyclist couple. We ended up having an enjoyable chat with them over a beer in the sun sitting outside the pub.
We had a wander around the town tonight and found dinner at the Rose and Crown Inn, which has been operating under that name since the 13th century. Our own pub accommodation, the Wheatsheaf Hotel, is very cute and is no pup itself having operated there since the mid 1600's!
Ludlow is a town founded in the 11th century after the Norman conquest of England. It has nearly 500 listed buildings, mainly tudor.
Saturday, July 6: A castle view...
Ludlow - Bromyard, 40 km
Checked out of our room at 9 am but left our bikes and bags at the pub whilst we walked up town for a cafe breakfast. Then lined up to be some of the first of the morning to enter Ludlow castle.
The present castle was built around 1075, prior to that the site was a fortification called Denham Castle. A strategic site overlooking the river Teme, with 2 sides of natural cliff protection, and then deep ditches installed on the other sides for protection. The castle was expanded during 1140-1177 with the inner circular chapel built around this time as well.
Ludlow castle has been in a lot of various ownership struggles... country vs country, family inheritance disagreements, crown repossession etc. It fell into disrepair around 1689 and was further dismantled over the years by the stripping of the roof lead, stonework etc so much so that in 1722 it was recorded as "the perfection of decay".
Some rooms were used until the 1770's however, with some restoration done, although not near enough. In the 1820's a grand building "Castle House" was built adjoining the castle. By 1852 the town had become a tourist destination... as it still is today! We enjoyed our look around the castle, climbing up the remaining spiral staircases that we could... the weather was freezing though (not literally, although the temps seemed like it with wet weather threatening).
Retrieved our bikes 11'ish and wound our way up hills on mostly quiet roads, farmland of wheat, barley, oil seed rape and potatoes. Some cattle grazing. Stopped for lunch in Leominster, very cold temps so no inclination to window shop in the many antique/vintage shops that obviously it appears known for.
Sun coming out as we made our way through undulating countryside to arrive at the town of Bromyard about 4 pm, checked in which included our bikes going in the Mews building (originally a stable block). A walk around the town this evening, a lovely looking town with several tudor buildings, and a lot of pubs ... the sports pub is full to overflowing as England are playing Switzerland in Euro 2024. An amount of excitement as England is through to the semi's.
A very quiet night at our, also tudor and historic, hotel with an extremely nice roast meal. Speaking of meat, at yesterday's visit to the Ludlow farm shop lamb steaks were nearly GBP 25/kg whilst we noted in this mornings walk that the Ludlow village butcher shop was selling the equivalent at GBP 18/kg... around $NZ 37...
Sunday, July 7: For the name spotters.... Janet the third...
Bromyard - Malvern, 47 km
Rain threatening this morning but a slower day planned as we don't have as much distance to go and nor do we need to arrive until 5 pm.
Upon leaving around 10 am we zig zagged our way up into the hills, beautiful views in all directions. Cereal crops along with beans and potatoes as well as apples and hops (and a cidery or two). Becoming quite populated with houses dotted everywhere, and lots of old farm buildings that have been converted into dwellings.
We arrived into Ledbury just as it was starting to rain, so rather good timing. We parked up the bikes under a Tudor structure in the main town square and went and found some lunch. Then went for a wander around the town as the rain had departed again.
Quite an historic town and obviously the population is very proud of it. We visited a heritage building where a volunteer gave us a great run down of its history. After which it was time for cakes in a lovely little courtyard cafe as the sun was now out.
13 kms riding to Malvern from there, a lot of it up before a (very) steep descent, so involved a share of pushing again. Once down the descent we went to the far end of town in search of a supermarket... to find they shut at 4 pm ( Sunday hours) and we arrived at 4:02 !!!. We had hoped to source some NZ wine for this evening's hosts, but had to settle for an Aussie Red and a French White from a nearby convenience store instead. Both were Mudhouse brand!?
A quick look at the centre of Great Malvern, which entailed another climb up. Malvern is known for its excellent water from the adjoining, very scenic, Malvern Hills. As such it became a destination to "take the waters" during the 1800's. So the result is some very grand buildings. There were historically two railway stations in town... one an upper station (solely 1st class) and a lower station for all the other classes!
We rolled into our hosts around 5:30 pm... we had met Bill and Janet on our last year's Intrepid Cycle Vietnam. A lovely, lively couple and a fun evening with great hospitality. A beautiful area of the country.
.jpg)
