Shropshire Hills Walks
Ragleth Hill
Date: 27th Aug 2014
Distance: 4.0 miles
Ascent: 650 feet
Time: 1 hour 40 mins
With: On my own
Start Grid Ref: SO452936
Walk Summary:
A short four mile walk following the waymarked route from Church Stretton on to the top of Ragleth Hill with good views over the Long Mynd and the Stretton Hills.
Route Summary: Church Stretton - Jack Mytton Way - Henley Lane - Ragleth Hill - South Top - Ragleth Wood - Clive Avenue - Church Stretton
Photos: Click on the photos below to enlarge.
Walk Detail: After a great little walk with the family on Stiperstones in the morning we'd then driven over to Much Wenlock in the afternoon to visit the remains of Wenlock Priory. On arriving back in the late afternoon Lisa and Rhiannon were quite tired and happy to chill out in the house we were staying in. True to form whilst on holiday I was struggling to sit still so I set off from the door of the cottage on this short walk up on to one of the Stretton Hills.
The route, following occasional orange waymarkers, is one of four waymarked routes from Church Stretton. Leaflets for each are available from the Visitor Information Office on Church Lane (which by handy coincidence was a couple of doors down from where we were staying). The initial part of the walk unsurprisingly meant navigating my way through a few streets but it didn't take long to leave the houses behind as I followed a grassy path up into the woods between Hazler Hill and Ragleth Hill.
Emerging out of the woods on a back road it was then a short but relatively steep grassy pull up on to the main ridge of Ragleth Hill. Heading north a short way I rang Lisa and Rhiannon as they could see the point where I was standing from the front window of the cottage. After doing a couple of star jumps they spotted me and I noticed the flash of her camera as Lisa tried to take a picture of me.
From there it was a simple walk on a broad grassy path in the bracken to the unmarked main top before continuing on to the slightly lower, but much more satisfying, south top. The south top was marked by a large wooden pole with excellent views down to the village Little Stretton and across to the Long Mynd and the tops of Grindle and Callow. After retracing my steps over the main top I then took a thinner path at a modest crag that dropped down into Ragleth Wood.
Rather than taking the direct route back to Church Stretton the waymarked route doubled back slightly through the woods below Ragleth Hill before emerging in a field where a track led me down to Clive Avenue. This last section of the walk provided some excellent views of Church Stretton itself. All in all this was an enjoyable little ramble and I'd imagine, given the bracken and trees, would be particularly colorful to do in the autumn.
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