An 11.5 mile linear route from Duffryn to Bishop’s Moat up and through areas heathland and along many ancient trails. The heathland once covered the Clun Forest hills but only fragments survive, the rest having been ploughed up, much of this happening as part of the WW2 war effort. The remnant of the heathland, amongst tracts of improved grassland, is surely the most remote spot on this route and the haunting call of a curlew increases the feeling of ancient wilderness.
Heathland once covered the Clun Forest hills but only fragments survive, the rest having been ploughed up, much of this happening as part of the WW2 war effort.
The land was then reseeded to improve the grassland or planted with conifers. The Blue Remembered Hills Bridleway passes two nature reserves where the natural heathland is being preserved along with its wildlife.
The haunting call of curlew over Rhos Fiddle increases the feeling of ancient wilderness. This remnant of heathland, amongst tracts of improved grassland, is surely the most remote spot on the Bridleway. This land is now owned by the Shropshire Wildlife Trust. Native breeds are used to graze the site. You may begin to think you are in Scotland if you see the herd of Highland cattle or glimpse a dark Hebridean sheep . These animals are able to endure the harshest of conditions and thrive on the grasses and herbs characteristic of the heathland vegetation.
Small scale peat cutting on Rhos Fiddle during medieval times left a legacy of pools which has attracted wading birds, particularly the curlew and snipe. Along with the heather, sphagnum moss and cotton grass are found in the wetter areas and there is a fine show of the yellow mountain pansy, a plant once common on Shropshire hilltops.
Where the surfaced forestry road comes to an end and the Kerry Ridgeway becomes a grassy track there is an area of heathland known as Lower Short Ditch Turbary. A turbary was a commoners right to cut peat for their own domestic use. It would have been a job for the hardy to fetch their fuel from this remote place. The Lower Short Ditch, is one of three defensive border earthworks along the Kerry Ridgeway thought to have been a control point for travellers.