An attempt on the Long Mynd

I picked up Sarah at about 18:15 on the Friday night and set off up the M6 and onto the M54. The plan was to take the country road that runs from Shrewsbury to Bridges, which I did evntually do after a detour northbound on the A49, but we did arrive in the end with sufficient time to devour a sirloin steak in the horshoes Inn.

The hostel itself was great, if a little regimented, I had to wonder what might have happened to me had I tried to escape! I got to bed about midnight on the Friday night, but didn’t really sleep a great deal.

Getting up at about 7am we had ample time to consume breakfast before departure around 09:15. We initially ambled along a country road before taking to a field, and the open countryside. We had a nice steady walk along the fields before the walk became somewhat steeper, and before long we emerged on the ridge and were at Pole Cottage.

We set off after a short break heading down to Little Stretton, intending to head up to Pole Bank on our return. Unfortunately events would conspire to prevent me getting there, but I wasn’t too disappointed as I broke my duck the next day. Before too long the predicted snow began to fall from the sky, and before we knew it we were sat in the Ragleth Inn.

After some time in the pub we set off, and it was instantly obvious that the weather had turned. Indeed as we reascended the Long Mynd this worsened, with visibility down to around 10m by the time we reached Pole Cottage.

Having reached Pole Cottage it became apparent that a couple of members of the party had not caught us up after a detour on route, and initial searches had not located them. I stayed on top with a few buddies, whilst the rest of the party went to Pole Bank and descended back to the Youth Hostel. By 16:30 it was clear that our searches had proved fruitless, and we left one member of the party at the cottage whilst we drove a car off the hill, and made enquiries at Bridges. With no information we drove back up to the top, it getting quite dark by now, intending to call for help if they had not appeared.

When we arrived on top news had just emerged that the two missing walkers were at the hostel having walked off the hill, and we headed straight for a warm shower, but the Marilyn will have to wait!