Stokesay Castle

"Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it."
Confucius


A journey through the Welsh Marches to Shrewsbury to visit E today, leaving S and T after our overnight in the Forest of Dean and heading for a cooked breakfast at Leominster.  The country route is much more interesting than travelling the motorways and dual carriageways, although it takes us much longer as we're stopping off along the way to explore the countryside too, changing our plans as we travel as the shower clouds gather from the west. First stop after breakfast is Stokesay castle, a fortified manor house which I've passed so many times and often thought of visiting, but never found time to do so. My grandparents would have known this route too, my grandmother worked at Craven Arms just north of here, and we've travelled this way by train before although not noticed it from the train. The audio guide is a great introduction to its' history and life at the castle, and there is a steady flow of visitors without being too busy or crowded. We have a couple of hours before we are due at Shrewsbury so there's also time for a walk up onto the Long Mynd from Carding Mill valley. It's not too hot for an afternoon walk, although the shower clouds still look a bit ominous as we opt for the 'easy' route up from the visitor centre, keeping our options open in case we need to make a hasty retreat from the rain. The gods smile on us and we take our time hoofing it up the valley, missing the 'easy' path turn off from the upper car park and continuing up the medium route to the waterfall - barely more than a damp dribble today and we've arrived earlier than planned, so head up the steep path across the hill to join the 'hard' path for the return to the car park. Stunning colour on the surrounding hillsides and the signs tell of hobby and merlin flying here - although I didn't see them there was a redstart to cheer me up and grey wagtails along the stream. Just as well we delayed our arrival as it's a popular destination and the car park was still busy, with plenty of family groups and younger children playing in the streams and sliding down the grassy hillside on pieces of cardboard. Ah, remember it well.