2015 Walking Trip in Devon, Great Malvern, and The Shropshire Hills: Walking through Stiperstones, Shropshire, May 20

He Said:

I’m hoping for warmer days….

Rain gear again today, although we only needed it a short time for the rain, we still needed it for the stiff wind that continues to blow, especially on the high ridges.

Our walk today was 8 miles long and the usual amount of going up and down hills,which is to say that I get tired of it sometimes. Many paths seem to deliberately go up and down as much as possible as if to punish the walker, or to test them. Up and down is hard on the feet and knees, but great for the expansive views in all directions. On the other hand, here we are, free to walk on a trail going through the properties of many different people and all connected by the path, that is lucky to have at all, and it's why we like to walk here in England. I'm sure that the least usable land areas for farming are the hillsides, so given a choice, the farmer would want the path to be on the hillsides rather than on the flat, fertile land on which their livelihood depends.
As the day went on, the weather cleared up. The world gradually went from gray to colorful and bright, things look better in the light of the sun.

She Said:

Our taxi driver this morning was from Latvia, so we had plenty to talk about. Like, how did he get from Latvia to the tiny town (pop. 1500) of Bishop's Castle?

He said the economy in Latvia is lousy except for the very rich businessmen. When the Russians left the Baltics (Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia), the Russian Mafia moved in. Business owners or successful farmers had to pay the same amount to the Mafia that they paid in taxes to the government. Our driver's Dad was a successful businessman, but got screwed by the Mafia. His Dad bought a house as a hedge against the taxes, but when his family went to move in, they were informed that the paperwork was false and their money was gone. His Dad now drives a lorry and his Mom works at a day care center. The Russian Mafia is gone now, but they can come back at any time, and do come back, at times, to "do a job".

He ran into a friend of his at a bar in Latvia. That friend was living in Britain and doing quite well. He asked his friend what job center in Latvia he had gone to, and decided to see what was on offer for him. He went to the center, learned that there was need for workers in Bishop's Castle, and signed up for a few months' work. He was in Britain a week later! And, he has been here for 11 years! His wife is here now, too, and he has a 4 year old and an 8 month old. He likes it fine. He takes his family home 3-4 times a year. Once they save up enough, he would like to bring his family to visit America. He has another good friend who lives in Chicago, so that's where he'd like to go.

We started our walk this morning at The Bog, an old lead mining village at the edge of a trailhead for the Shropshire Way. It had been a mine for 150 years until 1922 when the buildings were abandoned. It now has a "ghost town" look. (Lead mining stopped in the late 1800's; after that, barytes - whatever they are - were extracted. German prisoners of war from WWI constructed transport for the mines.)

At the ruins, we suited up again with full rain gear, just as it started raining. Perfect. (The weather reports said there would only be one or two showers today throughout the country - we hit it just right. Ha!)

We walked through the Nipstone Nature Preserve - a preserve all for the Emperor Moth. In the 1960's, conifers were planted on this hill in an honest effort to bring more trees to the landscape. The unintended consequence was that the Emperor Moth lost its habitat, and the birds that ate the moth lost their food. Enter the "Back to the Purple" project, an initiative that got rid of (cut down) the conifers, allowing the native heathers to come back. It now has a moor-like look; it is quite beautiful to walk through.

The rain stopped, then blue skies and puffy white clouds (for a few minutes, anyway - lots of cloud today and again, the crazy wind.)

For the first several miles of today's walk, we heard what sounded like gunfire (rifles, really). The military does have practice ranges set up randomly (it seems) throughout the countryside, so that was a probable cause. We also usually see/hear jets flying daily, at least once. And, they fly low. Kind of cool.

We had 1st lunch on a couple of rocks sheltered (somewhat) from the wind - spectacular views across the countryside.

There are 8 guys staying at our hotel that we saw in the pub last night and again at breakfast this morning. We also saw them today on the path. They have been hiking together for 27 years. They have lost some and added some. Great guys. One was just visiting his son in California - Redwood City, a close neighbor of our town, Palo Alto.

Tiny world.

We came off the hills and on to a lane where a house was ringed with lilac bushes. I stuck my face in them and was immediately 8 years old and back on Workman Avenue. Heavenly.

We came upon a huge Manor House set in the most idyllic place - a tiny lane with a babbling brook alongside and an ancient stone bridge over the brook and farm fields just planted and cows and wildflowers.

Down another lane, we visited St. Peter's Church in the hamlet of More. Many country churches have leaflets in their vestibules with salient facts about the church. Not St. Peter's. I had to work to piece together its history. There were coats of arms from 1620. A new(ish) tiled floor from 1871. Some original-looking framed wall paintings (early 1700s). And, as always, remembrances to the men of the parish who had died in the Great War. Finally, R found a record of the Rectors of the parish of More, beginning in 1220. So, a bit of a treasure hunt, but well worth it.

The adjoining cemetery was equally interesting. One stone memorialized two daughters, both named Hannah, that died three years apart - one aged a few months, one aged a year and a few months. Such heartbreak.

As we approached Bishop's Castle, we walked through a tent camping site - a beautiful field of the border of other beautiful fields. The house next to it had chickens and roosters and a knight on the roof - Oh my!

There was even a Buddha on the grounds for me.

We walked to our hotel, did our day's laundry, ate our 2nd lunch, and drank pints and wine.

Can't complain. Can't complain at all.