Betchcott Hill and the Long Mynd - April 2011
Walks with a Camera © Geoff’s Pages 2011
The small car park at Bridges is well
placed - it will be even better when
the Horseshoe Inn is reopened - for
walks such as this, on the western
side of Shropshire’s Long Mynd
After following the road eastwards
for a quiet quarter-mile, the path
then runs beside the west bank of Darnford Brook, at first through
open woodland, then opening into grassy hill country. At Darnford,
a short spur - “Golden Valley” - is the natural continuation of the
route to the Betchcott Hill ridge.
The Portway is an ancient route running the length of the Long
Mynd - the track eastwards along Betchcott Hill is
a branch of that route, joining the main Portway at
the surfaced road from High park to Darnford. It’s
a great route for walking - the miles slip past very
easily...
...just as well, perhaps, on this warm and sunny
afternoon in the Easter school holiday period. I’d
met only half-a-dozen others so far; the stretch along the Mynd
was (I exaggerate) like Blackpool beach, throwing the quietness of
the earlier stage of the walk into sharp relief...
...and it was with some sense of relief that I arrived at Shooting
Box and took the track westwards, gently downhill towards
Coates, and the short stretch down the very quiet road back to
Bridges. I didn’t meet another soul until, at Coates, a couple
approached from the Bridges direction. They’d passed me as I ate
my lunch on Betchcott Hill. It would appear they were following a
similar route, anti-clockwise, and seemed pleased to see me -
confirming for them that they were on the right path. Not that it’s
easy to get lost in these hills - not on a day like today anyway.
