Walks

Explore ‘Wollerton Wetlands’… & beyond !

The next public walk in our programme for 2022 is on Thursday 2nd June.

Our walk is to the Wollerton Wetlands and then on to Helshaw Grange (see Hodnet Walks 5).

This is a varied walk with good views and departs at 10.00AM – Meet/roadside parking by Wollerton Village Room.

If you want to come along please email david.wilson65@icloud.com or call 07970 304169 on or before 5pm on Tuesday (31st May) – so we can assess numbers and the viability of the event. 

Many people have never seen the Wollerton Wetlands, but they are now quite established and worth visiting. So, if that is you or you’d simple like to join us for a pleasant stroll in good company please do come along.

Accompanied children and dogs [on leads] welcome on all walks. Sensible footwear advised, plus a drink/snack – although most walks are only 2 hrs duration.

Note. If weather is terrible, this event will be cancelled. If you have emailed David Wilson he will add you to our list of ‘friends’ and can then send a cancellation email on the day to warn you. So, please do let him know in advance if you’d like to attend, and how many will be accompanying you.

Walk routes can all be seen in the relevant walk leaflets, downloadable from https://hodnet.org.uk/main/index.php/tourism/local-walk-leaflets/


HFG – Walk this Thursday – Cancelled

Update. Unfortunately we have had to cancel tomorrow’s walk.

So far, no one has confirmed their attendance at the proposed public walk at Peplow this Thursday, details HERE.

If you would like to attend then please contact David Wilson ASAP, and certainly by 5pm tomorrow (Wed) evening. If we have no confirmed takers by that time the event will not run – but we do hope to see some of you at the next scheduled walk in June, for which you are again encouraged to register.

Fix my Street!

Shropshire Council is encouraging residents to report issues of concern via the website www.fixmystreet.com

Reporting anything is a very straightforward process. Typing in a postcode brings up a good map of the area so that the issue of concern can be marked. There is a comprehensive ‘tick box’ list of categories – Abandoned vehicles, Bus stops, Car parking, Dog fouling, … Pavements/footpaths, Potholes, …Other. Users are encouraged to add a photo of the problem – issues with photos are apparently likely to be resolved more quickly. Users are required to put in some personal information but, from my own experience, this doesn’t generate a mass of ‘rubbish’ correspondence, just allows confirmation that the issue has been logged.

The process is simple and quick to do. We all have things we like to grumble about so let’s actually report them! A flood of reports about and photos of the same potholes might get them fixed sooner.

Click on this link to go directly to the website: https://www.fixmystreet.com

Annual Glow Worm Walk 25/6/21

In view of the disruption/uncertainty over group events this year, due to Covid 19, Hodnet Footpath Group are not planning our usual programme of public walks.

However, we do intend to run just one event, and that is the annual late evening glow worm walk on the Hodnet to Wollerton stretch of the old railway line. This is scheduled for Friday 25th June (if too cold/wet to go it will be on the following Friday – 2nd July.

This is always a popular event (around 60 people attended in 2019), not least as glow worms are nationally scarce and locally very rare.

This year numbers attending will be limited to 30 pre-booked spaces – reflecting the Government’s limit on numbers attending outdoor events – from 17th May.

Whilst it is possible all restrictions on numbers will be lifted by 21st June, it would be a hostage to fortune to currently assume that IS going to happen. So, to avoid disappointment we are following the current number limit on such events.

Booking for the glow worm walk is free, but is on a ‘first come first served’ basis – but with a reserve list maintained. We will use this reserve list to fill received cancellations or if restrictions are further eased by the date of the event.

For more details/to reserve your place please contact our Secretary, David Wilson, using : david.wilson65@icloud.com or 07970 304169. Please provide/note he will ask you for: your name and contact information, plus the names of those coming with you.  

INSTRUCTIONS: We will meet at 10.30pm by the old railway bridge on Station Road, Hodnet. Come in suitable footwear and clothing. Dogs on leads OK, children too (leads not needed!). Torches may be useful for the homeward walk, which is usually around 11.45pm/Midnight.

IMPORTANT: In consideration of those who may not wish to be part of a larger/unstructured party please do not try to attend this event if you are not able to officially book on. You can of course visit under your own steam on another evening if you wish. Warm dry evenings as it goes dark, from mid June to mid July, are the best times to spot our glow worms. They usually lurk at the base of tufts of grass/straggly vegetation on the edge of the short grassed areas of the old railway line embankment between Hodnet and Wollerton. Look for a pale green/white spot of light.

Help Out to Walk Out!

From Hodnet Footpath Group

Over the past year we have seen a big increase in the number of people using our local paths; partly because of the effect of Covid 19 exercise restrictions and partly, we like to think, because our 10 local walk leaflets coupled with the repairs/signage/clearance work we do have all made it easier for people to discover what is on their doorstep.

With uncertainty still ahead, we are not planning a programme of public walks this year, our priority instead being to carry out neglected items of maintenance, e.g. stile repairs and cutting back vegetation.

As with many such groups, we are surprisingly few in number (and not getting any younger!) so would be very grateful to anyone who would consider joining our group &/or assisting in our occasional work parties. We are a friendly, informal bunch and not only do we do ‘good works’ but we have some fun too!

So, if you’ve enjoyed our walks and appreciate the (often hidden) work that facilitates them, please help to make a difference for the future and get in touch. Contact details are on our webpage, see HERE, or find us on Facebook.


Ollerton – Peplow path

This is an update to a piece added to the website on 28th October 2020.

In 2016, aware that land over which the route runs across was up for sale, Stoke upon Tern Parish Council lodged an official claim with Shropshire Council to have the path legally recognised, and thus protected for future use. 

Aside from other matters, the legal process heavily depends upon past users of the route completing a simple ‘user statement’ – which covers matters such as the route used, the years it was used and whether or not its use was without restriction or challenge.

Whilst twenty eight user statements were submitted in 2016, not all of their evidence was accepted by Shropshire Council which recently rejected the claim.

Responding to strong local feeling about this and considering that the rejection decision was finely balanced; Stoke upon Tern Parish Council has now lodged an appeal against the decision with the Secretary of State.

Working alongside other local groups including a representative from the British Horse Society and neighbouring Parish Councils, Stoke upon Tern Parish Council is looking to further build its case for the recognition and protection of this important leisure amenity, but only has until the 11th January 2021 to do so.

The cornerstone to building a stronger case will be some more historic research, but that is hindered by many archives being closed due to Covid 19 related restrictions. With that in mind user statements take on a greater significance.

Aware that this is the last chance to make its case (if it fails no further process is available) Stoke upon Tern Parish Council is urging anyone else who has used this route in the past to get in touch.

A user statement pack is available from the Parish Council Clerk whose details are below.

You can contact the Parish Clerk on stokeparishcouncil@hotmail.co.uk, or ring 07792300702 (m) and leave a message with you details for a blank statement form

Have you ever walked/ridden between Peplow and Ollerton? If so please read.

From Stoke Upon Tern Parish Council.

WANTED – People who have walked or ridden between Ollerton and Peplow

For many years some residents of this area have used a route (indicated A – B on the accompanying map) to walk, cycle or ride horses between Peplow Chapel and Ollerton Lodge, and vice versa.

In 2016 (conscious that the described route does not appear on official maps as a recognised public right of way) Stoke upon Tern Parish Council lodged an official claim with Shropshire Council to have this route legally recognised – and thus protected for future use.

The legal process involves examination of historic documents, but rests heavily on past users of the route completing a simple ‘user statement’ – covering matters such as the route used, the years it was used and whether or not its use was effectively ‘as of right’. Some 28 statements were submitted, which the Parish Council felt was a considerable number from a small rural area.

Recently Shropshire Council completed their official investigation, but unfortunately turned down the application. Their reasons for this appear to centre partly on a lack of historical evidence but, more importantly, also from a stated lack of user statements from people who have no connection with Peplow Hall’s tenanted homes or previous owners/occupiers of land at Ollerton Park.

The Parish Council feels that the case for this route being recognised is fairly strong and that, for various reasons, Shropshire Council’s decision is flawed. Accordingly we have lodged an appeal to have the case reviewed by the Planning Inspectorate. This process provides a brief opportunity* to submit new/further evidence, and with that in mind we URGENTLY need EVERYONE who has ever used this route, and may wish to do so again, to complete a user statement.

If you have not already completed a statement please do get in touch with the Clerk (details below) immediately and the necessary forms will be sent to you. After completion they can be scanned and emailed back or posted. In either case the Clerk will arrange for them to be submitted to the Planning Inspectorate.

Any documentary evidence/photos of the route in past use would also be welcome, especially any relate to claims already received of past use by the military, e.g. troop movements between Peplow Railway Station and RAF Peplow (aka Childs Ercall/Eaton upon Tern airfield) during and after WWII.

If you’d like to help secure this route for future generations please consider whether you or others in your household could complete a statement, or if you know of relatives, friends or neighbours who may have used it and could do so– even if they’ve since moved away.

*Documents need to be submitted to the Planning Inspectorate by 27thNovember 2020.

If the appeal is lost there will be no opportunity to revisit the subject, so please don’t delay ACT TODAY!

Graham Bould.

Clerk – Stoke Upon Tern Parish Council

Email: stokeparishcouncil@hotmail.co.uk or Phone: 01952 594758

Claimed route is shown in black.
Note FP 9 is rarely used and officially ends by the river.

Annual Glow Worm Walk is Cancelled

For the avoidance of doubt, as the Hodnet Footpath Group’s walk programme for 2020 was posted on this site at the start of the year (in a pre-Covid age!), the scheduled group walk next Friday (19th June) is not running – like all our events so far this year.

That does not mean that people cannot go and try to spot these curious creatures under their own steam – most appearing along the embankment at the Wollerton end of the former railway line walk from Hodnet to Wollerton. If you do wish to do so, choose a warm evening after dusk, e.g 10pm onwards at this time of year; and then look for the little blue/white glow in the base of the longer grasses at the edge of the track. In the right conditions you should see a few, and if you’re lucky tens of them – it’s nature and unpredictable!

Do not:

  • all go on the 19th June – a week or so either side usually produces results.
  • if others are there doing the same, maintain ‘social distancing’.
  • disturb them, they only get one chance to breed.

Shropshire’s Great Outdoors annual public survey 2020

Shropshire’s Great Outdoors are asking for our feedback about rights of way, parks, play areas and countryside so they can understand what the barriers to participation are.

Resources are under increasing pressure and our responses will help to identify key areas for priority in the future.

If you use the rights of way, parks, play areas and countryside they would love to hear your feedback.

Even if you don’t use rights of way, parks, play areas or countryside sites, they would like to hear from you, so they can understand what the barriers to participation are.

The results will also help to identify those less valued areas of the service.

The survey is open until 9 May 2020 and you can complete it by following this link.

The survey should only take about ten minutes to complete depending on how much detail you give when answering the questions.

Hodnet Footpath Group – 2020 Walks

Hodnet Footpath Group are pleased to announce dates for their accompanied (public) walks in 2020.

They seem to attract a diverse bunch of people, so why not come along for a pleasant stroll in good company? Make a note in your diary now, and keep up to date via the Hodnet website’s homepage or our groups Facebook page.

Free parking is available at all start points. Accompanied children and dogs [on leads] welcome on all walks. Sensible footwear advised, and maybe a torch on the Glow Worm walk. Most walks are of 2 – 2.5 hrs duration, but May 8th likely to be 3- 4 hrs.

If weather is terrible, these events will be cancelled and then run at same time/same day the following week.

The walk routes can be seen in the relevant walk leaflets, downloadable from https://hodnet.org.uk/main/index.php/tourism/local-walk-leaflets/

PROGRAMME

March 30th – Hodnet to Hawkstone Hall hotel (with planned tea/coffee stop and optional walk around their beautiful gardens), via Marchamley (Hodnet Walks 3). Depart 11.00 AM Lyon Hall car park, Hodnet.

May 8th – (May Day Bank Holiday – not 4th May as shown in many diaries printed before the Government changed the date!). Walk from Hodnet to Fauls (Hodnet Walks 6). Depart 11 AM Lyon Hall car park, Hodnet.

June 19th – Annual evening Glow Worm walk (Hodnet Walks 1). Meet by old Railway Line bridge on Station Road, Hodnet, for a 10.30PM departure.

July 30th. Summer Evening walk from Peplow to Stoke on Tern (Hodnet Walks 9).Depart 7pm from Peplow Chapel.
Sept 23rd – Walk around Fauls (Hodnet Walks 7). Depart 11 AM from Fauls Church.