Monday, 14 August 1944

Log of a Cycle Tour to North Wales, by Roy Spurgeon, with Leslie Lee.   13 August   15 August

With our longest hop so far in front of us, we left the Hostel at 0900 hours (3943.1), having performed our chores the previous night (shelling thousands of peas). First we went into Stratford once more, to buy some postcards and some fruit, which we obtained at great cost, the former not the latter, and with great difficulty; then we set course for Worcester, intending to reach the city in time for lunch.

Travelling slightly north of west, in magnificent weather, we passed through the small tovvn of Alcester then stopped, shortly after crossing from Warwickshire into Worcestershire, at Inkborrow for a glass of cider (rather rough but vastly improved by taking it outside and adding some sugar to it). Pressing on once more, we reached Worcester at exactly 1200 hours (3974.7) after passing through the small quaintly named villages of Upton Snodbury and Broughton Hackett. We were thus well up to schedule having covered over 26 miles since leaving the Hostel in a very comfortable 2½ hours, including stops.

In Worcester, we sought out the local British Restaurant and had a very good and cheap lunch, but we had no time to spare for a trip round the very crowded city. We did, however, see the Cathedral, a red sandstone building (see photo), before leaving again for Kidderminster. We were now heading due north and, five miles out of Worcester, we passed through the very pretty little village of Ombersley, famous for its many timbered cottages, a very picturesque sight. We maintained very good time through several scattered villages, seeing another quaint church, this time a half-timbered building, until, at 1355 hours, we stopped for 10 minutes just outside Kidderminster. Starting again, we rode into this fairly large town at 1415 hours (3989.2). We did not stop, except to buy some apples, for there was little to see but the large parish church of All Saints, Kidderminster being an industrial town well known for its carpet manufacturing trade.

Climbing out of the town (and what a climb!) progress was often restricted to a walking pace, but this was probably all to the good, for there were some magnificent views to be obtained of the rolling countryside and the River Severn on our left, particularly as we ran across the county border, from Worcestershire into Shropshire and on into the town of Bridgnorth, which we reached at 1555 hours (4003.3), passing en route the oddly named villages of Quatt and Quatford.

Crossing the Severn, which at this point is very shallow, by the old stone bridge (see photo), we reached the town centre by climbing round the cliff on which it is built. To show how steep this is, it is only necessary to mention that, for the convenience of its inhabitants, there is a cliff railway, similar to those found at many holiday resorts, connecting the upper and more important part or the town, with its old town hall and market place (see photo) with the lower, which is situated for the most part on the opposite bank of the river.

Having reached the top, perspiring, we had tea before setting course again at 1645 hours. We took the main road to Much Wenlock and Shrewsbury, but forked left about three miles out of Bridgnorth at Morville (4006.7). This took us due west on a steady climb to the village of Shipton. The Hostel at Wilderhope Manor, for which we were heading, is situated on the side of a high ridge known as Wenlock Edge. Unfortunately, it was on the opposite side of the ridge from the direction from which we were approaching and we therefore anticipated considerable difficulty in finding it. We were right! After several wrong turnings, a few enquiries and a lot more stiff climbing, we rode across three fields waist high in ferns, etc., then down a bank so steep we were forced to dismount, before we sighted the Hostel, a tall, gaunt, stone manor house at 1900 hours (4018.7).

The Hostel proved very interesting inside. Situated on a side of hill and commanding a magnificent view of the valley, it is built entirely of stone with an enormous amount of solid oak fittings. The huge main door is like that of a castle; an oak spiral staircase of generous proportions leads up to the men's dormitories and at bottom is a large oak door secured by a tremendous bolt over two feet long, carved entirely from wood. Altogether a very fascinating building, enlivened by a variety of very bad smells emanating from sundry outhouses where numbers of animals roamed apparently at will and so short of water at that time that we were unable to wash.

After supper, we decided to go down into the small village of Longville, behind the hostel. So, leaving our cycles, we climbed the rest of the hill, hacked our way (literally) through a dense wood on the sheer slope of the further side and went across several fields and along the deserted single track railway line into the village, where we had some excellent cider before returning to the Hostel and bed.

Total cycling distance for the day - 70.6 miles.

Next day: 15 August