Length miles 13.48 miles
Maximum height 570.30 feet
Minimum Height 209.97 feet
Height ascended 861.92 feet
Height descended 825.83 feet
On entering Shawbury, from Upton Magna, the road is slightly uphill and passes through an estate, most of which used to be Ministry of Defence housing; the route passes the school and the Church. At the junction with the A53 there are adequate Sustrans signs pointing left. You will see the Elephant and Castle opposite, and to the right a row of shops including the Post Office; a hot food takeaway and T.O. Williams of Wem. Immediately on your right is a Spar Supermarket. If the weather is nice and you have not brought your lunch with you I can assure you that T.O. Williams is the best place to get pastries and rolls, take your purchase with you and enjoy a picnic further along the route at Moreton Corbett. The Elephant and Castle is also excellent for food especially in inclement weather or if you prefer some of your lunch liquid. Be careful at this junction of the A53, it is very busy; the next junction is governed by traffic lights at which a right turn is taken onto the B5063. Oddly just after this right turn there is a Sustrans sign with distances.
Continue through the Royal Air Force aerodrome and base; this is a centre for helicopter and air traffic control training. The road is flat here to the next junction, a right turn for Moreton Corbet; it can be a very busy section of road so take great care especially at the right turn (good official Sustrans signs).
From the junction with the B5063 this lane passes a farm to a left turn (good official Sustrans signs) this lane is of poor quality and very muddy when wet. As you approach this junction you will see the ruins of Moreton Corbett Castle. As you will see the site is dominated by the shell of an Italianate Elizabethan mansion. The ruins of the mediaeval castle and Tudor manor house also occupy this very interesting site.
This is a truly delightful spot and is a really good place for a picnic apart from helicopter noise at times. The site is open and you can wander around there is no entrance fee. For security it is possible to wheel your bike in, but please no riding around the site; do not spoil it for future visitors. The Church is quite striking especially the beautifully shaped windows. Make sure that you have a look inside it is usually open, the interior is worth seeing, and has many fine monuments to the Corbet family.
This is an interesting web resource about the site and the Corbet family.
This is a .pdf file with some useful information and unique sketches of the house.
This is the English Heritage entry with basic information.
At the next junction turn right towards Stanton upon Hine Heath (good official Sustrans signs). This is a level then downhill section to the bridge over the River Roden and then uphill into the village. We bid a fond farewell to this important local river here. Before descending pause as the views are very good especially of Stanton and the Church.
Enter the village uphill from the bridge over the River Roden. Turn right at the junction in Stanton upon Hine Heath and immediately left uphill; at the next junction turn left continuing uphill out of the Village towards Booley (good official Sustrans signs).
Originally called Staunton from the Saxon for stone town, later Staunton super Hyne Heath on the 1827 map Hine Heath is marked a mile to the north.
It was for a time the home of Mary Webb the famous Shropshire Author, she lived at Woodlands now called Harcourt Manor and regularly cycled around here delivering the parish magazine to which she was a regular contributor. Only one of her poems survives from this publication written in 1898 entitled 'Spring'. Regularly cycling too far and too strenuously she strained her heart and in 1901 became very ill. The illness put paid to her love of cycling but she continued to write.
The village has a pub the Stanton Arms and a Church both shown on the 'Junction Guide'. The pub is open 3p.m.-11p.m. Monday to Friday and 12noon-11p.m. at the weekend. The Church dedicated to St. Andrew is 12th century and has a very interesting history. A prominent feature are the stepped diagonal west buttresses that can be clearly seen from 45 on the approach to the village from Moreton Corbet. The church is well worth a visit.
This is a fairly steep climb out of Stanton upon Hine Heath going past the entrance to Harcourt Hall on the left to Booley. Doomsday has it listed as 'Harpcote'. As the top of the hill is reached fantastic views open out across Hine Heath to the east; Weston under Redcastle to the north; and towards Wem in the north west.
The road is then downhill skirting the Harcourt estate to a T-junction; turn right here towards Hodnet. This junction has official Sustrans signs but be careful, as they can be very overgrown in the summer and quite invisible. The next junction to the left is not signed so ignore it and continue straight on; be careful to ignore this turn if coming from the Hodnet direction towards Booley, which of course is a right turn from this direction. We have not been able to put up any temporary signing here as there is nowhere to put them.
The road now undulates towards the junction at the West Midlands Shooting Ground. This junction is in fact a crossroads although the lane to the right is unmade; turn left here towards Kenstone (good official Sustrans signs). This begins level but then becomes a slope uphill getting steep towards Kenstone. The road here is in poor condition and very muddy in wet conditions please take care especially when travelling south downhill.
At the top of the hill the second highest point on this section of the route at 570 feet is reached over to the west is the site of Bury Walls the ancient stronghold of the Cornovii. There is no access at the moment to this significant site. As the road goes downhill there are two junctions both to the right neither junction is signed because there is nothing to attach signs to. Shropshire County Council have been aware of this for at least twelve months but so far have not been able to do anything. Please ignore these junctions and continue straight on. The downhill section is very steep; be extremely careful along here this road is in an appalling state, potholed and covered in mud when wet. After bottoming out there is a short uphill section to the junction with the Hodnet to Weston under Redcastle road.
Turn left here if you want to visit the famous Hawkstone Park Follies it is a mile along this road, on the right, there are no other junctions and it is fairly flat. Do bear in mind it is a large site and takes over 3 hours to see it properly.
Turn right at this junction uphill (good official Sustrans signs). After a short uphill section turn left at the next junction almost a fork. Be careful here as the Sustrans sign in this direction can be overgrown. There is now a steady climb that gets very steep into Marchamley. The road surface is poor here so take great care when travelling south downhill.
At the top of the hill in Marchamley you are at 168 metres; the highest point on this section of 45. The views to the east over the Staffordshire Moorlands, are outstanding and well worth spending some time to stand and stare.
After a short level section the road is downhill through Marchamley, to the junction with the former A442 now unclassified. Turn left here, please take care as this road can be very busy. The County Council say that since the road was declassified traffic has reduced. I am not so sure as many lorries still use it, I have spoken to a number of drivers and they say that they use it either as an access to Prees or Wem or as a perceived quiet route avoiding the much busier A41 or even as a change of scenery! They all say that there is no incentive not to use it. It is only a short distance to the next junction, a right turn but bear in mind my warnings (good official Sustrans signs). After the turn the road goes sharply downhill levelling out to the next junction turn left towards Marchamley Wood and Fauls (good official Sustrans signs).
The road undulates toward the next junction turn left here (good official Sustrans signs) then slightly downhill almost back to the former A442 but before that there is another junction turn right (good official Sustrans signs). There is a downhill section crossing a stream at its lowest point and then uphill to Fauls Farm.
There is an unsigned junction to the left at Fauls Farm. We have asked for the route to be varied at this point and the County agreed to do so at the Bike Users Meeting at Shrewsbury in November 2006 but so far nothing has been done on the ground. Since that meeting the lane off to the left, which rejoins the former A442 after going downhill, has deteriorated severely and I cannot recommend its use in wet conditions. My advice at the moment is to continue past Fauls Farm on the established route. After cresting the summit at Fauls Farm it is downhill into Fauls to the next junction, turn left here downhill into Darliston (good official Sustrans signs).
From Fauls the road levels out through Darliston to the junction with the A442, turn right (good official Sustrans signs). Please take very great care here this is a narrow stretch of road barely wide enough for two large lorries passing at the same place, it can be very busy. The County Council say that since the road was declassified traffic has reduced. I am not so sure as many lorries still use it, I have spoken to a number of drivers and they say that they use it either as an access to Prees or Wem or as a perceived quiet route avoiding the much busier A41 or even as a change of scenery! They all say that there is no incentive not to use it. There are warning triangles with the cyclist sign on the former A442 at the both the north and south ends of this section. There are no warning signs for cyclists on the approach roads.
Continue along this piece of the former A442 to the crossroads and turn left towards Prees (good official Sustrans signs). The road is level and then slightly uphill to the next junction (good official Sustrans signs). This is the other end of the route deviation from Fauls Farm. The next junction to the left has no signs continue straight on uphill to Prees. Continuing uphill through Prees Wood there is a staggered crossroads with no signs proceed straight on to Prees.
From the junction with the A442 through Prees Wood, the road levels on entering Prees and then goes downhill past the Church. The Church is dedicated to St Chad, on the approach drive there is an unusual millennium project, it is in a small garden and is a large cast circle with all the significant dates in the history of Prees and the wider world, don't miss this. There is a very good Sustrans sign at the next junction with Moreton Street; continue to the left past the Church and downhill into Prees. This is a steep downhill section; watch your speed near the bottom, after passing under the by pass bridge, as there are usually lots of parked cars and the entrance to the village hall car park is on the right. There are crossroads at the bottom of the hill with Sustrans distance signs on either side of the junction.
After passing the village hall there is a fish and chip shop on the right. At the crossroads you will see the village stores and post office opposite, I can recommend the pastries and filled rolls from here. To the right is the New Inn and to the left 'Speeds' shop where foodstuffs can be purchased. There is a bench immediately after the crossroads on the right by the letterbox, this is a good place for a rest, a brew or lunch. Continue straight on at the crossroads along Station Road through Prees towards Prees Railway Station. After going downhill past the Methodist Chapel the road levels, there are no signs at the next junction to the left (Brades Road) continue straight on. There are no signs at the next junction to the right (Lighteach Road) continue straight on. There are no signs at the next junction on leaving Prees, to the left (Whitebrook Meadow) continue straight on. The road to Prees Railway Station is undulating but not steep. Take care it is in very poor condition lots of potholes and can be very busy, with fast travelling motorised traffic.
From Prees the approach to the Station is slightly uphill, there is an excellent Sustrans direction sign with distances, presumably for the information of those leaving the Station; it is not a road junction. There is no road bridge, the rail crossing is governed by signal box, controlled half barriers and warning lights. If you get caught in the rain it is possible to have a few moments in the dry here in the platform shelters; obviously passengers have priority but it is usually very quiet and is one of the few places where you can get out of the rain.
For those contemplating using the station as a base there is no car park here; it is however very useful for travelling either to Shrewsbury; Yorton; Wem; Whitchurch; Wrenbury; Nantwich or Crewe. At certain times trains only stop on request this can also apply to, Yorton; Wem; Whitchurch; Wrenbury and Nantwich. The platforms present no problems for those with bikes; as ever when contemplating rail travel with your bike, be careful; most of the trains that stop here have room for no more than two bikes so if you rely on getting back to your point of departure you could be disappointed, should there be others already on the train with bikes. Also be aware that most of the trains that stop at Prees are at the request of the passengers.
Go to 'Advice' on the top menu there is information for those who want to combine cycle and train travel on that page.
To find out more contact Mike Clarke at email mikeclarke@ncr45mercianway.co.uk
