On the edge

After a brief interruption to catch up on life back on the hamster wheel, it's high time I continued with my Shropshire travelogue. As we weren't even a week in at the end of episode # 3, I'll have to get my skates on, I suppose. A quick glance at the calendar tells me that in just over six weeks' time we'll be packing our bags again for our yearly sojourn in Belgium's west country. So near, and yet so far away ...

So, let's get cracking with the 4th installment, shall we?

It was Friday the 16th of June, and it promised to be another scorcher, with forecasted highs of  26°C. Thursday's blogger meet-up at Attingham Park had sapped our energy somewhat, so we slept just that little bit longer, finally managing to drag ourselves out of the four-poster just before the clock struck half past eight.

Due to the late start, we decided to postpone our original plans to visit the Rock Houses at Kinver Edge, a National Trust managed site which had been on our list for many years.  

Instead, we thought we'd drive over to one of our favourite Shropshire towns and do nothing more strenuous than go for a stroll and a mooch around the charity shops.

En route, we stopped at the top of the lane leading away from our little valley to take a photo. The cowshed is part of the huddle of mostly farm buildings nestled below the elongated plateau known as the Long Mynd.

The Shropshire town we were honouring with a visit was Bridgnorth, a 50 minute or so drive from our valley. This delightful town of two halves, with High Town perching on a sandstone cliff overlooking the Severn and Low Town along the river's banks, had been on our itinerary during all three of our previous Shropshire holidays as well.

We decided to start our visit in Low Town with a treasure hunt and a spot of lunch at Old Mill Antiques. We stumbled upon it by chance back in 2018, when we'd whizzed down from High to Low Town on the Cliff Railway. Sadly, any whizzing up or down the famous funicular would have been out of the question now, but more about this later. 

Instead, we made our way there by car, our Satnav declaring we had arrived when we were in the middle of negotiating a roundabout. There was nothing for it but to drive on and away from the town until we were able to park, have a look at Google maps, and drive back the way we'd come. Well, what can I say other than that we hadn't reached our holiday's quota of getting lost yet ... 

Having finally made it to the antiques centre, we oohed, aahed and meh'd over the stock crammed into every available nook and cranny, making only one purchase - the figurine on the top left - after which we had lunch in the on-site Alice in Wonderland themed café.

Hunger pangs sated, we hopped back into our car and continued to High Town. The weather had become sticky and stifling by then, so that even a rummage in the charity shops lining the town's High Street proved to be a bit of an effort. Pickings were therefore very slim: I only found a pair of chunky plastic rings, in orange and purple.

One of the highlights of every visit to Bridgnorth is strolling along Castle Walk, which runs from the Cliff Railway's Top Station, past St. Mary's church and onto the landscaped Castle Grounds, and offering breath-taking views across the Severn Valley.

Sadly, however, most of Castle Walk has been closed off. Bridgnorth Cliff Railway itself was closed back at the end of December until further notice pending the rebuilding of the Castle Walk retaining wall. Although the part of the wall nearest to the Cliff Railway was completed by June, the scaffolding for the next section of wall needed to be supported from the tracks for safety reasons. See this photo courtesy of the Cliff Railway's website. Oh well, next year, perhaps?

We were only able to access the stretch of Castle Walk near Castle Grounds, where the Castle Keep is all that remains of the once vast Norman castle. As a result of a botched attempt to blow up the building by the Parliamentarians during the Civil War, the Castle Keep now leans at a precarious 15-degree angle, which is three times greater than the Tower of Pisa!

I was very excited to finally become a member of the Bandstand Appreciation Society. Sadly, I found out that this is a replacement of the original Victorian one, which was taken down in 1940 so that its metal parts could be melted down for the war effort.

The war memorial is listed Grade II and was designed by Captain Adrian Jones and erected in 1920. The life-size bronze soldier is dressed in the uniform of the Shropshire Light Infantry and is shown in the act of throwing a grenade.

While Jos took a breather on a bench, I explored the garden, running up to the railing overlooking the Severn Valley Railway station when one of the steam-hauled trains whistled its imminent arrival . A ride on this award-winning heritage railway is yet another thing we'll have to come back for.

Then we returned to the car park, crossing the road to Sainsbury's for a food shop before returning home. Well, our temporary one anyway.

Saturday the 17th of June dawned grey and drizzly, which was a bit of a turn-up for the books. But our weather app said it wouldn't last and that the mercury would climb to 23°C once the clouds had lifted.

Our destination for the day was the one we'd postponed on Friday, the Rock Houses at Kinver Edge. As Claire and Gareth only live about 15 minutes away, we'd agreed to meet up with them.

I'm pleased to report that for once that pesky weather app got it right as, apart from a brief and brisk shower just minutes after we'd driven off, it would be dry and fairly warm for the rest of the day.

Our journey once again took us into the direction of Bridgnorth, before proceeding towards and through rural Staffordshire. After passing through Kinver, we spotted a sign directing us to the Rock Houses, so we turned right although our Satnav kept insisting on a left turn, and parked in the layby car park just minutes before Claire and Gareth's red beetle rounded the corner.

Living so close by, they know the area well, and often walk on Kinver Edge, a 250-million-year-old sandstone escarpment with sweeping views over Shropshire, Staffordshire and Worcestershire from the ramparts of an imposing Iron Age Hill Fort.  Additionally, Kinver Edge has a network of cavernous houses carved into its three rocks. 

When Claire and Gareth offered to take us on a walk encompassing the legendary Nanny's Rock, we jumped at the chance. As I'd been reading up on the area, I'd come across quite a few references to these atmospheric caves, which apparently were poorly signposted and thus not straightforward to find.

Nanny’s Rock is an unrestored rock house carved into the sandstone. It used to be called "Meg-o-Fox-Hole" and it is thought that a lady called ‘Margaret of the Fox earth’ used to dwell here until her death in 1617. But who was she? Legend has it that she was a reclusive woman who could cure your ailments and tell your fortune and might therefore have been considered a witch. Later occupants were Sarah Evans (1820) and Nancy Evans (1830), the latter perhaps having been responsible for the name Nanny's Rock.

Whatever the case, I was enchanted at first glance. When I posted the above photo on Instagram, Claire commented that it looked like a pair of fearsome eyes emerging from the ground ... Well, it does, doesn't it?

It was definitely worth the scramble to get up into the cave where the layers of rich red sandstone were etched and scoured with decades if not centuries old graffiti, among them the creepy Scream mask on the top left.

I love the photo Claire took of Jos and me on the foxglove lined path leading up to the rock.

The National Trust was given 198 acres of Kinver Edge in 1917 in memory of Thomas Grosvenor Lee, a Birmingham solicitor born in Kinver. Today they care for close to 600 acres of this special landscape.

A brass relief map at the north end, presented by the local Rotary Club in 1990, points to a selection of the world's major capitals, in addition to less distant landmarks. The Malvern Hills, 30 miles (48km) to the south, and the Long Mynd, the same distance to the west, are visible on a clear day and, at times, it may be possible to see the Black Mountains, over 45 miles (72km) away. 

But for all its breathtaking views, the main interest on Kinver Edge lies below the summit, in small houses carved into the rock.

After having safely deposited us back on the car park, Claire and Gareth bade us goodbye and, as it was well after 1 pm by now, we ravenously devoured the sandwiches we'd brought for our picnic.

Then, a short walk to the east of the car park took us to the National Trust managed dwellings at Holy Austin Rock. Legend has it that it was named after a hermit who lived near the site. 

Kinver Edge was home to England’s last troglodytes or cave dwellers. In fact, people lived here until they were persuaded to swap their caves for local council housing in the mid-1950s, leaving a 400-year legacy behind.

They led comparatively comfortable lives, away from society and surrounded by nature: their water came from the deepest private well in Britain and the easy-to-carve sandstone made house renovations simple: inside space was determined by how much sandstone could be dug out. Rooms could therefore be larger and ceilings higher than in the cottages and back-to-backs of towns.

The earliest record of people living here is in 1777 when Joseph Heely took refuge from a storm and was given shelter by a "clean and decent family". 

By 1860, 44 people were living across 11 houses at Holy Austin. Word got out about this Black Country beauty spot, and from 1901 a new light railway – Britain’s first cross-country tramway – ushered visitors into an area that was being trumpeted as the “Switzerland of the Midlands”. The inhabitants served teas from their rock homes to visitors. A café continued here until 1967, long after the last occupants had moved out. This legacy continues today – the upper level of houses have been restored as a tea-room.

It was in the 1980s that plans were drawn up to renovate the houses to their original state, a task achieved with the help of postcards from 100 years earlier. 

The rebuilding was completed in 1993 and the site was again occupied, this time by a National Trust custodian. While this house is private, the interiors of the lower rock houses can be visited daily during the Summer months and on weekends and selected days off-season.

Visitors may be surprised at just how cosy the houses feel. The combination of thick sandstone and fireplaces kept them warm in winter and cool in summer, while in many places interior walls were plastered and whitewashed. 

Today, Holy Austin Rock has also been designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) for its sandstone, which was formed from solidified sand dunes in the Permian era, 250 million years ago.

We ended our visit with a welcome drink in the tearoom, which mainly has outside seating offering extensive views over Kinver and beyond. While Jos found us a suitable table, I joined the queue leading into the tiny serving premises. This being a Saturday afternoon, it was understandably doing a brisk trade.

On the way back to the cowshed, we stopped at the 12th Century St. Mary the Virgin church in Enville. Well, we just had to, hadn't we, as there was a sign telling us to slow down!

Enville, and the Enville Estate in particular, is one of Claire's favourite places to walk, and she has, in fact, blogged about this particular church here.

It totally slipped my mind to seek out the three graves belonging to the ancient order of The Knights Templar which she mentions in her post, so that's yet another reason to return to this area which has truly captured our hearts.

I did manage to capture the alabaster tomb belonging to Thomas Grey and his wife, Anne, who died in 1559, and the organ which came from St Leonard's church, Bridgnorth and was given to the church in the 1970s.

The interior was in semi-darkness until the lights were switched on by a man in shorts and t-shirt, who told us that, in spite of the lack of dog collar, he was actually the vicar. He was quite chuffed when we told him we were from Belgium, and pointed out some of the church's highlights, including four 15th Century misericords or mercy seats.

Having said our goodbyes to the vicar, we continued our journey back to Shropshire, whose boundaries we had left a couple of times already by now.  

Would we cross the border into other counties and countries again in the week to come? You will find out if you join me again for the next episodes of my travelogue!