Walking in Shropshire UK

My last name is Shropshire and I'm ibterested in visiting Shropshire county in 2012 when I go to the UK. I can't help you at all, but I'll be reading the replies over your shoulder.

I'd have thought so. Have a look at the Ordnance Survey (google it). They can create a map just for you.

there is a National Trail: Offa's dike: http://www.nationaltrail.co.uk/offasdyke/ whose northern end is between Shopshire and Wales. There are B&b's near the route. Also in Shopshire there is great walking on the Long Mynd and the Carding Mill valeey: http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-vh/w-visits/w-findaplace/w-cardingmillvalleyandlongmynd/ These would be day hikes and there are tons of B&B's to stay in. When we visited Shropshire a few years ago we did day hike in both the Long Mynd and Carding Mill, pretty areas, great walking. Tom

There is a Shroupshire union canal and I asume it is near by. Canals paths make good walks interesting pubs, canal keeper houses selling treats, boats, locks ,

Unfortunately the Shropshire Union Canal goes from Ellesmere Port to Chester to Wolverhampton. Scenic as it is, it does not appear to meet the needs of OP. I'm afraid it never gets into the Principality.

Thanks one and all for the inputs. I am largely interested in the availability of B & B rooms on short notice, and how rainy the weather, and soggy the trails might be in Jun & Jul. It might be crazy to attempt any of this now that a royal wedding is planed for the spring. Cheers,
Mike

June and July are generally good weather months, BUT as you know UK weather is unpredictable. I have changed itineraries due to weather (that is why I always drive). Once it was hard rain and wind in Snowdonia, so we kept driving and did the Lakes where the forecast was better. You do have to plan for less than ideal weather as a "fell walker" (mountain hiker). In Eskdale (Lakes) we left a pleasant valley in sun and on Scafell was in 10 yard visibility fog, sideways rain and 50 degrees of misery in June. We met up with some Brit hikers who had been on the route many times, but DID rely on my GPS to find the way. Unfortunately you will have to use OS maps rather than Harvey Maps which are far superior. They do not produce one for the Shropshire area (I just checked). Unless you are doing valley strolls I would take a GPS as a backup. Hiking in the UK is not like here in the US, or at least the eastern states. Trails are not marked and paths come and especially in less walked areas. Having said that well traveled routes are pretty well tromped in and may be eroded. It just depends on where you go. Based on six trips all over the UK (mainly for hiking and seeing the countryside), I have NEVER booked a B&B ahead. The ONLY time we had to settle for less than ideal accommodations was in Edinburgh during the arts festival in August. That was one of our very few urban stays (except for London).

Thanks Jeff, for the informative reply. I was planing to stay on well marked trails, but not necessarily on the lowlands. Have you hiked the Offa's Dyke trail between Oswestry and Welshpool? There seem to be good B&Bs in the area, but I am hesitant to book ahead in case an area looks too interesting to hurry through, or a side road is irresistible. Are Jun and Jul enough ahead of the major tourist season in that area so short term booking is practical? Mike

Mike, Shropshire is one of the few areas I have not hiked. We looked at doing an organized "challenge walk" on the Long Mynd, but the timing was not right (we ended up doing one in the Yorkshire Dales). I really would not worry about booking early. I don't believe that region is run over with tourists like, say the Cotswolds. If you change your mind about Shropshire take a serious look at north Devon.

Since this has gone way the heck off the original post, I'll add my two cents. Hiking the canal tow paths can be iffy since BW is forever working on the pathways (or started working on them and ran out of bucks). The result is a lot of the paths are torn up and you'd have to slog through calf-deep mud for a good half mile or so. Also, sometimes the pubs are on the non-path side of the canals and you have to walk a good ways to get to a bridge or sweet-talk a passing narrowboat into ferrying you across the water. The Offa's Dyke trail has been my nemisis for a good ten years - - there are too many interesting tangents that lead me astray, plus I'm continually jinked by rain. I'll finish it one day before I croak, hopefully. Hell, the AT took me almost thirty years before I got the last couple of segments. It's the all-time best for wandering and stopping when you want. Finding a place to sleep won't be a problem without advance notice any time of year. If all else fails, wander into a pug and ask - - there's always somebody that has a spare room, even if it's not a designated B&B. If you have a car, it's no problem finding somebody in a pub to help you preposition for the end of the next day. I've never hiked north Devon, but the Cornwall Coast to Coast trail is an easy one-day project.

If you want one that will really knock you socks off, do the Pembrokeshire Coast trail. It's something under a couple hundred miles and has become my favorite. The problem is that it's a bit remote with precious few places to spend the night. Since i'm getting a bit long in the the tooth, twenty miles a day is fine with my dwadling and poking around, but thirty really sucks. I've still got the St David's to Fishguard chunk to go, but Herself has promised to let me off the leash in late February or early March and if the weather's half-good I aim to polish the sucker off. If you do this one, bring extra photo cards, it's spectacular the whole way. Back to the origninal post: There was a bike trail from Shrewsbury to Welshpool that I rode years ago. You might google something like that. To the best of my memory a good bit of it was along roads, but it's been so long since I've driven that way I no longer have a feel for whether or not it would be any good for walking. Highway 81 or 86/96, something like that, was the essence of it.

Jeff and Ed, Thanks for the input. The more I read and hear about Offa's Dyke trail, the more I feel focused on that area. The idea that Ed could get distracted by side tracks makes the route seem even more interesting. The fact that rain has has washed out walking plans makes the route less interesting, but more seems to be winning out over less. I am getting a bit long in the tooth also, and walking 20 miles / day for me would be pushing hard enough to miss some of those side tracks that sound so attractive. Mike