Cycling is one of the best ways to explore the dramatic landscape of the Church Stretton Hills. These rides have some quite challenging gradients in places but the attractions, picturesque villages and breath taking scenery they take in are worth the, at times, testing climbs. Cycled over a day, with a picnic lunch or a stop at a local pub, this really is a great way to explore the area. These cycle routes have been chosen to suit a range of interests and abilities, the shortest route being 13 miles and the longest 22 miles.
Church Stretton Cycle Rides Route 3: Long Mynd Loop
A 20 mile circular route from Church Stretton, with a few testing climbs and steep descents over the Long Mynd, rewarding you with fabulous views and the opportunity to watch gliders at close hand. The traffic-free section through the Forestry Commission land is on a well-made stone track, suitable for most bicycles.
Places of interest:
Church Stretton
Church Stretton is an historic Market Town situated in the heart of the South Shropshire hills on the English/Welsh border known as The Marches. It is the only town in the Shropshire Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, the first Walkers are Welcome town in the Midlands. The area is renowned worldwide for its geology, with some of the oldest rock formations in existence.
Long Mynd
The Long Mynd (from the Welsh ‘mynydd’ or bare mountain) is a huge whale-backed plateau of ancient grits and shales, owned and protected by the National Trust. Some ten miles long, rising to 1700 feet above sea level, and covering almost six thousand acres, it provides some jaw-dropping panoramas.
The Portway
This an ancient track that runs along the entire length of the 10 mile crest of the Long Mynd. Riding along the track, you are following in the footsteps of Neolithic traders, while in the Middle Ages it was a King’s Highway. Towards its southern end the track passes a large flat and grassy area occupied by the Midland Gliding Club. From here scores of gliders swoop and soar in Welsh/Shropshire thermals while just beyond one can glimpse far below the patchwork of little fields on the western foot of the Mynd.
Asterton
The road from the Gliding Club to Asterton is considered by many to be the most dramatic and picturesque in Shropshire. The Crown Inn at Wentnor offers a welcome stop. Deep ditches help drain the wet lands around Prolly Moor.
Ratlinghope
Pronounced ‘Ratchup’ by the locals, this is a scattered village in a lovely wooded valley. All the nearby hills contain prehistoric remains.
Ride directions
Step 1
Start at the railway station car park, turn left onto the road. Then
turn left at a crossroads opposite the HSBC bank, onto the B4370 to
Little Stretton.Step 2
Turn right immediately after the Ragleth Inn at an unsigned minor
junction opposite Elm LaneStep 3
Follow the road round to the left, past a small black & white cottage
on the right. Shortly afterwards turn right at an unsigned junction
adjacent to stone farm buildings and begin the climb to Minton.Step 4
Entering Minton carry straight on to the junction at the end of the
green where you go straight on signposted Hamperley. Shortly
afterwards turn right at an unsigned T-junction with a red post box on your left.Step 5
At the crossroads opposite Hamperley Farm turn right signposted
Church Moor.Step 6
At a three-way fork in the road. Carry straight on, along a stone track
with a wooden bridleway fingerpost (the left fork is a grass track
signposted as a Public Right of Way. The right fork is tarmac leading to a nearby house). A little further on go through a wooden gate and
shortly afterwards a galvanised gate with a wooden pedestrian gate
to its side. Keep climbing on the track, ignoring
tracks that split away going down or level.Step 7
You reach the top and the main track that you have been using
now bends sharply off to the left and starts to drop. Don’t continue
to follow it now but instead take the unsigned track straight on towards a metal gate.Step 8
Go straight on through the steel gates and follow a fenced grass track straight ahead. Map board to right indicates designated cycle route around the glider landing area. Glider buildings are to your right, keep an eye out for gliders.
Step 9
You reach a crossroads of tracks with a large wooden fingerpost
that directs you either along the Portway or the Starboardway. (Portway is to the right) You can follow either as they both come out at the same point on the
public road behind the gliding club building. It is best to follow the
Starboardway if gliders are taking off as this interferes less with the
glider launches.Step 10
Exiting through the gliding club gates, turn left at the unsigned
junction with the public road. Soon the road begins to drop steeply.
Take Care. Inexperienced cyclists may want to dismount.Step 11
Crossing the cattle grid turn right at the T-junction, then carry
straight on signposted Medlicott.Step 12
At the cross roads turn right signed Medlicott. Then after a 1 mile
climb follow the road sharply round to the left, again signposted
Medlicott.Step 13
Follow the road as it bends to the left, and then back to the right,
passing a building made of a mixture of stone and brick on the left.
Shortly afterwards ignore the concrete track off to the left marked
Lowerhouse Farm, carry straight on through the closed gate and
the road drops steeply. Take Care as the road is muddy. Go through
another gate and then up a very steep climb for a short distance.
The road is a little rutted. Take Care.Step 14
Arrive in a farm yard with a white road sign (titled Coates). Bear
left signposted Bridges. Leaving the farm yard, go through a gate which has a cattle grid to its right, then immediately turn right onto an unsigned road which has grass tufts in its centre, soon after pass
a fairly new wooden barn on the right.Step 15
Go straight on signed Ratlinghope Church.
Step 16
After a steep drop down arrive at a crossroads, turn right signed All
Stretton. (If you want to extend your ride carry straight on signed
Woolstaston and follow the additional dotted purple routes marked
on the map).Step 17
At a junction after a cattle grid carry straight on signed All Stretton.
(If you want to extend your ride turn left signed Lower Wood and
follow the additional dotted purple routes marked on the map).
Then pass Jinlye Guesthouse on the right and the road drops
steeply for a mile, Take Care.Step 18
At the unsigned T-junction, turn right onto the B4370 and follow
back to Church Stretton.