50th Anniversary Walk – Newcastle on Clun

Route detail

Leafy lanes, hilltop fields and grassy pathways provide a backdrop to a route of many options, with wonderful dips into borderland heritage and hilltop views of rolling landscapes.

Distance:
Long 8.4 miles / 13.4 km
Medium: 5.7 miles / 9.2 km
Short 3.8 miles / 6 km

Start location: Newcastle on Clun community hall
Start Grid Ref: SO 24963 82330
What Three Words: w3w.co/upholding.corded.starters

Start

• From the nucleus of the community hall in Newcastle on Clun by turning right onto Mill Road and with the school on your left, bear right onto Church Road.

• Leaving the village behind you, pass the old school and take time to explore the church as it hovers above the road. Built in 1848 the welcoming hammer and beam roofed church has a fantastically tempting swivel turnstile lychgate that’s too good to resist.

• Continue your travels along the lane and, just past the junction next to the roadside cottage, pick up Offa’s Dyke Path as steps climb to the field and hillside beyond. Greet the fingerpost marking the mid way point of the National Trail and appreciate valley views with scattered civilisation before revelling a rollercoaster leg stretch as you dip and then rise high along the spiny earthwork of Offa’s Dyke.

• Follow hillside contours to meet the road, passing over a stone track (1) along the way. At the road junction turn left and immediately right, walking beneath cottage windows head upward, bearing right into the leafy canopy. Emerging from the shelter, drop down to the grassy track to meet the country lane (2).

• Bear left at the corner and, as you leave the National Trail, pick up the Shropshire Way as it gently wraps around the hillside. Wander onward for a short section of road that blends into sunken track before melting once again into a string of fields and across the Cefns, for a ridgeline ramble filled with skylarks and scenic views.

• Remain on the Shropshire Way until the path creeps between a leafy avenue and at the bottom, turn right along a magical sunken ancient byway that transports you to another time, preparing for your arrival and delve into your senses at Whitcott Keysett, a small village brimming with heritage wonder.

• Returning to present day, leave the village to your right and along Mardu Lane, passing roadside cottages and Hollybush Farm, until a narrow lane pulls away to your left as it fords a stream. Climb the lane and turn left at the top, passing the Graig (3), where the lane becomes an enticing grassy pathway and then stone track, leading back toward Newcastle. Bringing you to your outward travels, the stone track crosses your earlier link with Offa’s Dyke Path. Cross the path above the cottage and drop down to the road, passing the church for a wander back into the village.

• For a hill fort detour, take the track next to the church gates, remaining on the right of way until the gateway with the hilltop rising high above. Climb the hedge line to the hill fort plateau to fully appreciate the arching bony earthwork of Offa’s Dyke on the opposite hillside.

• Medium route – Follow the journey as above until (2). Meeting the road, turn right for a short distance and as the road curves pick up the right of way to drop down through the field, hugging the hedge as you descend. At the bottom of the field carve your way around the bowl of the hillside to link with a grassy track, passing an old building as you fall to the road. Turning right follow the lane downhill, across the country lane and almost immediately greeting another, turn left for a few steps before turning right along a lane that leads upward, to wrap around the hillside where it joins the long route at the Graig (3).

• Short route – Follow the long route until (1). Travel along the stone track toward the right, as it clings to the hillside and blends into an immersive woodland path. Leaving the leafy rooftop continue ahead where your journey links with the long adventure at the Graig (3).

Notes/transport to the start

Parking

Parking available at the rear of the Newcastle on Clun community centre car park

 Bus

n/a

Train

n/a