Category: Jo’s Monday Walk

I’ll let Jo explain: “It’s not a challenge, you see. Walking is one of the great pleasures of my life. Ever since I began my blog I have enjoyed introducing people to new places, and the walks are another way to do it. Many of them are local and well known to me in my north east of England home. Others are a bit more exotic. So, how does it work? Every week I will publish a walk on a Monday. If for any reason I can’t make it, I will let you know. When the walk is published, anyone is welcome to leave a link in my Comments, to any walk that they have taken. It doesn’t have to be on a Monday. It can be at any time and of any duration. The amount of detail/photos, etc. is up to you. Free and easy, you see?”

A Stroll Around Ludlow Castle

” And so they came to Ludlow, which some say is the fairest country town in England. In the twelfth century its walls were pierced with seven gates of which only one now remains, but everything else about it today is overshadowed by its magnificent castle, a memorial to the days when its courtyards echoed to the ring of steel and armoured knights rode over the drawbridge to fight the marauding Welsh.” Malcolm Saville, 1958

(click on an image to enlarge)

Start in the castle gardens

Choose a pathway

Looking back

Last Monday the weather was so good that I popped out for a stroll around Ludlow Castle. This is a ruin, but quite an interesting one, and it dominates the skyline from the river side of the town. It has a combination of architecture from Norman, Medieval and Tudor times. Parts date from the 11th century when built by Walter de Lacy.

It was enlarged by Roger Mortimer in the 14th century and has been in the hands of the Earls of Powis since 1811. The castle was a seat of government for Wales for a time and it was involved in the Wars of the Roses. Often events are held in the castle such as the Christmas Medieval Fayre (late November) and the Ludlow Festival held in the summer which features an open-air production of Shakespeare.

Red cars seem popular

Always look up

Welsh Harp

Starting in the castle gardens at the end of Castle Square (where the open market is held at least three times a week) , this walk takes you down Dinham, past a few Georgian houses and this timber-framed example which must have been a public house once as there is a Welsh Harp hanging outside. Then exit right through the outer castle wall.

Through the arch

Sheltered Walk

Towards the other arch

After leaving the path next to the outer wall you find yourself above the River Teme and Dinham Bridge. With the castle behind you, turn right along a dirt track which leads around the base of the castle. This leads to a lovely bench where you can rest and admire the beautiful views.

Turn right

Follow the track

And find the seat

And admire the views and the river below

Unless you have the feet of a goat, and I don’t, you need to turn round here and head back to the archway, then make your way down hill and around the castle on a lower level path.

Looking back at the castle and arch

On the lower path

This way leads down to the river and Dinham Bridge

The path splits and you can head even further down to the river and the Dinham bridge and a lovely café where you can have lunch, or tea and cake or simply an ice-cream. But we are going to carry on up the hill and make our way around the castle back to the square.

Carry on up the hill

The imposing castle ruins

This way?

This is a very short walk, but it can take a while, if like me, you stop to look at the views, take photos and sit and enjoy the sun. At then end of the walk, near the square you’ll find another bench to rest your feet, before completing the loop.

The end is near

Maybe another rest?

And a quick peek through the gates.

Have a final glimpse of the castle through the gates. If you want to enter it will cost £5 per adult or more for special events like Knight Jousting or the Food Festival. There’s lots to explore inside the grounds and you can climb the towers for spectacular views over the town and countryside. Maybe another time 🙂

I’m combining Cee’s Which Way Challenge with Jo’s Monday Walk this week as they seem to complement each other.

Join in with Cee’s challenge and view other ‘Which Ways’.
and take a look at Jo’s Monday Walks over on Restlessjo’s blog where you are in for a treat.

Cee’s Which Way Challenge: Those Blue Remembered Hills

Fortunate to have a lovely sunny day on Sunday (Mother’s Day in the UK) and an extra hour of daylight (the start of British Summer time so clocks went forward an hour) I was determined to get out of the house and go for a walk.

Cardingmill Valley lies on the edge of Church Stretton, a little Shropshire town that I still need to explore. Church Stretton is a small town and civil parish in Shropshire, England. The town lies entirely in the Shropshire Hills AONB, on the A49 road approximately 13 miles south of Shrewsbury, the county town, and 15 miles north of Ludlow. Wikipedia

Just as Ludlow is the gastronomic capital of Shropshire, Church Stretton is the walking capital of the Shropshire Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. I have been here many times, it is my favourite part of Shropshire and has been called ‘Little Switzerland’ on account of its hills. And when coated in snow it is very pretty.

But on Sunday it was sunny and spring was springing. We could have taken any number of trails, but decided that we’d return to the Reservoir as it is a wide path and fairly flat.

This trail is quite gentle and soon you are hidden amongst the hills with only the sound of birdsong and a burbling brook. A hidden lost world.

At the reservoir you do have to climb up quite a steep hill to reach the water, and the trail continues should you wish to head further onto the Long Mynd (Long Mountain).

You can swim in the reservoir, though the water probably isn’t all that warm today.

Before heading back to the car park I nipped over a stile to have a closer look at the reservoir and found this pair of Common Toads at the side of the path. I spared them their blushes and swiftly moved on.

Need to be nimble!

Amplexus

Doesn’t look as though we can go this way, so head back down the hill.

A choice of routes, but I’m going to stick to the one I came along, the other one looks as though it might end in a sheep trail and I’ve been there before and it didn’t end well.

Or you could go over the stream and head for a path on the other side.

Returning on the orange route there are caves up on the left, and ahead on the top of that hill in front are the remains of an Iron Age Hill Fort.

Back at the road we could turn right and walk to the tea-room, but as it is now after 5 p.m. it will be closed.

We’ll head back to the car, after one last look around and go home for a well-deserved glass of red wine. If you decide to come for a walk here, please take note of the signs. Some people seem to think their dogs are much better controlled than they actually are around sheep, and watching a sheep being chased is not amusing for me or the sheep.

That means on a lead!

Yes, there are sheep grazing

Taking the red route next time…

Next time I’ll take you up the red route and see if we can find the waterfall.

Cee’s Which Way Challenge: There is no specific theme given. It just needs to be some sort of ‘Which Way’. The possibilities are endless.

Join in with the challenge or view other ‘Which Ways’.
and you may like to have a look at Jo’s Monday Walks over on Restlessjo’s blog where you are in for a treat.

Walking the Right Bank Passages in Paris

I had come across references to “Les Passages” in a Paris guidebook and decided to take a closer look at them during my last visit to “The City of Light”. So on a very wet and chilly spring day I set off on my Passages Walk. Between the late 18th and early 19th centuries the Right Bank included a network of 140 covered passageways – the fashionable shopping arcades of the time. In a city without sewers, pavements or sheltered walkways, these arcades allowed shoppers to stroll from one boutique to another protected from the filth of the city streets. Today there are fewer than 30 left, some well-preserved with their original mosaic floors and neoclassical decoration. It was time to check them out and find out what it was like living in 19th century Paris.

Starting from the Metro station Palais-Royal I headed east on Rue Saint-Honoré towards Place Colette and then turned left into Rue Jean-Jacques Rousseau to enter the Galerie du Passage Véro Dodat. This is one of the prettiest and oldest passages, built in 1823. It has mahogany panelling and an old-fashioned floor of chequered black and white tiles, Corinthian columns and gas globe fittings (which have been converted to electricity). There are 38 identical boutiques with narrow arched windows surrounded by gilt edging including the beautiful window display of musical instruments in Luthier. Don’t forget to look up at the ceiling either as you will be rewarded with beautiful gilt framed 19th century murals.

Retracing my steps towards the Louvre I took a detour through the Louvre des Antiquaires as it had started to rain heavily. It is a most extraordinary store of antiquities on three levels, with goods ranging from Eastern carpets to Baccarat crystal and delicate Sevres tea sets to incredibly ornate porcelain decorated grand pianos. A very interesting complex to while a way a few rainy hours, but definitely not a place to take children! Being a little too expensive for my pockets (and anyway, where would I put that enormous baby grand?) I exited onto Place Colette and retraced my steps towards the Comedie-Francaise (interesting metro design) next to the Palais-Royal with its Revolutionary history (another story entirely) and entered the Jardin du Palais Royal where elegant 18th century arcades (1786) surround a very peaceful garden. Although not strictly passageways they are considered to be the prototype of what was to come. Continue reading Walking the Right Bank Passages in Paris