Length: 3.5 km
Duration: 1 – 1 ½ hours
Difficulty: Easy – moderate
Car park: Off the B4371 in Much Wenlock
Adapted from Louisa Morley's Country Living blog
THIS DELIGHTFUL WALK STARTED at the National Trust car park and led us along one of the myriad footpaths that score their way along the summit of the limestone escarpment that is Wenlock Edge, and down into the lush foliage of its woods in early summer. From the car park we ascended wooden steps and turned le up the stony path.
Ignoring the sign to Harley Bank, we continued climbing up towards Blakeway Coppice, surrounded by billows of red campions. Along the verges the grass seemed a vibrant green when viewed next to the eye-wateringly bright acid yellow of the rapeseed fields.
The stone walls broadened out as we reached a disused quarry, poignantly overgrown and silent for generations. Hard to imagine how men used to toil so hard here as we walk.
The path narrowed again as we climbed ever higher – sometimes hemmed in by trees, sometimes able to see for miles across the glorious countryside. Stitchwort, wood anemones and wild garlic growing in white abundance at every point, delicately fragrancing the so breeze.
At the junction we kept right down Harley Bank, marvelling at the vertiginous drop down to an emerald patchwork of fields disappearing into the distance – the odd red brick farmhouse breaking up the vast expanse of green – and all the while serenaded by excitable birds and the distant rumble of occasional traffic.
The path was muddy at this point, but the previous day’s rain had encouraged ferns to start unfurling. We stuck to the undulating path and soon came upon ‘Jenny Wind’ (1) - a deep incision the steep contours of the woodland. There used to be a winched tramway here, lowering limestone from the Wenlock Edge Quarry above to the bank of limekilns that used to exist below by the road. A dramatic sight indeed, underlying how industry has moved on from this spot and nature is slowly reclaiming it – but not enough to completely hide all the evidence.
Mud turned to gravel as we ascended, reaching Smokeyhole Quarry, where the wood receded and the sky opened up above us. We turned right at the post, skirting the quarry then climbing up again into bright green tranquillity.
The path was constantly changing – undulating and twisting, affording easy sections and more demanding ones. We turned left at the red arrow and caught glimpses of fields through the trees and were soon clambering up steps and over a stile, drinking in views across the valley to Ironbridge.
After passing through an iron gate and feeling the benefits of a cooling breeze, another stile afforded us a sighting of the magnificent hump of The Wrekin. A wooden gate next, then the path narrowed and skirted meadows meandering (2) down through fields of sheep to a stile at the bottom, where we turned down to the left then right, back to the car park steps.
A worthwhile extension to this ramble is to while away a few hours in the delightful town of Much Wenlock with its many cafés, restaurants and pubs, or spend time at the tranquil Wenlock Priory.
