A really enjoyable trip report.

I lived 5 miles from Ludlow (up the side of the biggest hill above Ludlow!) for 3 years back in the 1990s, and I although I grew up in the heart of the Cotswolds and live there now, there is absolutely NO PLACE like Shropshire, anywhere, IMO!

It is truly a jewel in England's crown, and in my 3 years living close to Ludlow I never came across any other than British tourists...

When my children have finally flown the nest I fully intend to leave my birthplace in the beautiful but dull Cotswolds and spend my twilight years in the glorious Shropshire hills.

I love Shropshire - one of the few places still not overrun with my fellow tourists and packed with lovely walks and scenic charms. I still want to return and walk up Caer Caradoc and do "nothing" in Clun.

Caer Caradoc is magical. It is a tough hike up there, up the back of the hill, but once you reach the top, there is something quite 'strange' (for want of a better word) in thinking you could be standing where Caractacus was defeated by the Romans in 50AD...

http://www.shropshiregallery.co.uk/h...ercaradoc.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caer_Caradoc

And Clun has a great ruined castle. You really get the sense there of an ancient Border town, and the Clun river valley is beautiful.

Caer Caradoc is magical. It is a tough hike up there, up the back of the hill, but once you reach the top, there is something quite 'strange' (for want of a better word) in thinking you could be standing where Caractacus was defeated by the Romans in 50AD...

http://www.shropshiregallery.co.uk/h...ercaradoc.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caer_Caradoc

And Clun has a great ruined castle. You really get the sense there of an ancient Border town, and the Clun river valley is beautiful.

http://www.castlewales.com/clun.html

"Clunton and Clunbury,
Clungunford and Clun,
Are the quietest places
Under the sun.

In valleys of springs and rivers,
By Ony and Teme and Clun,
The country for easy livers,
The quietest under the sun,"

....by A.E. Houseman

Kind of sums it all up for me.
I think I will have to go back some day and see what I missed this time.

semiramis:

Excellent - thank you for sharing the urls for the B&B's you stayed at, most helpful.

Sandy

Equal time for Wales

"O land of the mountains, the bard's paradise,
Whose precipice, valleys lone as the skies,
Green murmuring forest, far echoing flood
Fire the fancy and quicken the blood"

from 'Land of Our Fathers' (by Evan James)

OK that's it - now I really have to go back!

Thanks for posting such a complete and well-organized report for off the beaten track destinations. Very enjoyable read, semiramis! The places you visited are on my 'short list' but I don't seem to be having much luck getting to that list. So in the meanwhile, reports such as yours will have to suffice!

semiramis

I think that you should be banned from the forum.
Foreign tourists are supposed to go to London, the Cotswolds, Bath, York, Stirling, Edinburgh and Skye.

How dare you reveal details of some of the lovely places that we British people want to keep to ourselves.
Places like Shropshire, the Peak District, the Western Highlands and East Anglia should never be mentioned.

OK OK I confess. My evil goal is to send my fellow tourists to those wonderful bits of the U.K. they have never considered visiting.

In my defence, in the past, I have only briefly been to the Peak District and East Anglia. But alas I long to return and explore them in more detail. I LOVED the Western Highlands and dream of returning. You forgot Northumbria - when I was there we only ran into a couple of fellow NA tourists at Housesteads.

Fellow North Americans - the U.K. is dotted with beautiful, interesting areas where you will never find tourist crowds - check them out!

I feel really ashamed.

I live about 1.5 hour from Ironbridge and have only been there once and only a couple of hours from Ludlow and have never been.

I must do a couple of day trips this summer.

&quot;<i>Places like Shropshire, the Peak District, the Western Highlands and East Anglia should never be mentioned.</i>&quot;

&quot;<i>OK OK I confess. My evil goal is to send my fellow tourists to those wonderful bits of the U.K. they have never considered visiting.</i>&quot;

To be fair, many of the folks asking for help on here are first time visitors to the UK and want to see the places they have heard about. I live in California and most first timers posting questions on the US forum ask for, and get recommendations for, the same places. Over and over it is &quot;SF, Napa, Monterey, Big Sur, Yosemite, Santa Barbara, LA&quot; Exactly the same time after time. After the first or second trip - then they start to venture off to Tahoe, Gold Rush country, Bodie, Lassen, Redwoods National Park, Mendocino, etc.

Same w/ visitors to the UK - first time it is usually London, Bath, the Cotswolds, maybe Edinburgh and/or York. But after their first visit they will try other parts like Wales, the SW, Kent, the Peaks, Shropshire, etc.

&quot; first time it is usually London, Bath, the Cotswolds,&quot;

The bizarre thing about this is that on the busiest Bank Holidays of the year, the Cotswolds footpaths are empty. Try getting to thge Peak District on a sunny day without spending hours in traffic - and half its country footpaths are as busy as a tube train in the rush hour.

The reason people keep quiest about the Peak District is it's full to bursting already.

Thanks for a great report! I loved revisiting a trip of 22 years ago. I agree with your assessments of Little Moreton and Stokesay; they are at the top of my list of favorites in the area. However, I can't think of one place in the UK which has ever disappointed me on any of my trips there.

I remember being at Ludlow Castle and leaning over the parapet to enjoy the view. A harried teacher was trying to keep a crowd of 12-13 year olds together to go back to transportation home. I turned to a couple next to me and said, &quot;There but for the grace of vacation go I.&quot;
They laughed and then mentioned that my accent sounded American. I acknowledged that I was indeed a Yank.

The wife mentioned that few Americans ventured to Ludlow and what had brought me here. When I told them that I knew the Princes in the Tower had spent much of their childhood here and was interested in their story. It turned out that the husband was a history professor and they invited me back to their home for tea to further discuss whether Richard III did the deed or not. A most pleasant afternoon--one of the joys of traveling solo.

Again, Semiramis, thanks for the memories.

Thank yo ufor a lovely report, semiramis. i had hoped to include Shropshire in our itinerary next year and now it's on the definite list.