Bayston Hill Walks - Shropshire Walking

Firm your wobbly bits!
Brisk walking can keep you healthy and help
control weight. Walk a mile a day (roughly 15
to 20 minutes) and try to walk for at least 150
minutes a week.
You can fit more walking into you life by:
u Walk to the local shops instead of using the
car
u Walk your children to school
u Try a family ramble at the weekend
u Walk to the bus stop and take the bus into
town
Walking Tips
u All you need is a pair of shoes, fairly flat
with good support (arches and ankles)
u Walk a short distance then stretch your calf
muscles and hamstrings
u If you’re going for a longer walk: carry
drinking water and wear suitable clothing
(layers are good as you can add or remove
clothes depending on the weather)
u Please do respect the Country Code: take your
litter home, leave gates as you find them,
and try to keep to the way-marked paths.
u If you are walking with dogs: keep them on
a lead near farmland, take extra care when
crossing fields with cows and calves, and
keep them away from streams, and take a
plastic bag to clean up any
mess.
u For extra interest;
consider buying a
compass and pedometer
(this gives you details
of your walking speed
and how far you have
walked).
The Hook-a-gate Hop
Start at Parr’s lane, (off Overdale Road). 1 Follow the
path at the end, through gate and into the field. Following
the line of the hedge on your right walk around the side
of the field.
2
Continue straight ahead ignoring the gaps in the
hedge. At the far end a kissing gate leads into the next
field.
In Medieval Times, this entire area was part of the
Royal Hunting Forest of Lythwood. Hook-a-gate was the
“gateway” into the forest.
Keep following the hedge which bends round to your
right, following the ditch (There are lovely open views
from this field). Follow the path over the stile, down
alongside the ditch, past the old school at Hook-a-Gate to
join the road by the phone box.
‘The Cygnets’ pub serves lunches. It has a beer garden
and children’s play area. Alternatively visit the New Inn
which also serves food.
Turn right and follow the road down through the
village to the footpath sign pointing right, 3 leading
through large gates “Private Road, Public Footpath”.
Continue through the farmyard, go straight ahead to the
waymarked gate,
then steeply up
the narrow path.
4
The track
widens as you follow it back up to
Hanley Lane and Overdale Road.
There have been sightings of
Otters in the Rea Brook. These
rare mammals are under threat in
England due to the increased use
of pesticides. The best time to
see an otter is at dawn or dusk
when they are more active.
If you are walking with your
dog - please keep him away
from the water as he might
disturb the wildlife living in
and around the brook.
The Rea Brook Ramble
From Overdale Road, go down
Hanley Lane to the bend. 4 Go
through the kissing gate on your right.
The path goes through woodland until you
come to a more open area with gorse (prickly
bushes with yellow flowers).
If you’re very lucky you might see a
Kingfisher. They are cobalt-blue and
orange-chestnut in colour, but they
fly at such high speed that all you
usually see is a flash of brilliant blue.
5
Here the path joins the Kingfisher Way. At the
waymarked post, fork right down the bank to the brook.
Go over the stile and follow the Rea Brook along to the
point where it goes under the bypass.
6
Stay along this side of the bypass until you are half
way along the field. Turn right (fingerpost) and follow the
path up the middle to Pulley Lane. Cross the road and turn
right and immediately sharp left down the footpath on the
old lane (signed as a cycle route). Go through the kissing
gate on the right before the barn of Pulley House. Carry
straight ahead through the first field, through the kissing
gate on the left hand corner (signposted Shropshire Way)
and into the second field. Keep straight on.
7
When you are level with farm outbuildings (on your
left), turn right and head towards the big oak tree, and up
through the next field to The Castle – the tall white house
at the top of the field. Then over the stile into Castle Lane
and out on to Lythwood Road.
‘The Maltings’ (In Lythwood Road by the vets) was used
until 1920. To make the malt (used in beer) the raw
barley was soaked in water, then spread on the floor
and kept at a temperature of 60ºF to germinate. After
this it was kilned (dried and cured) at 172ºF. The higher
the temperature at the final stage the darker the malt.
To return to the starting point: turn right up Lythwood
road, right into Lansdowne road and at the cross-roads
(mini roundabout) left into Overdale road.

17
19
18
GORSE LANE
Pulley
Hall
& Barns
Cygnets
Upper
Pulley
Church
New Inn
Playground
16
The Three Fishes
SHARPSTONES LANE
Quarry
Plant
Shops & PO
Yards
0 100 200 300 400 500
Community
Woodland
Lythwood
Hall
BMX
Track
Bowling
Green
Games
Courts
Pavilion
The Beeches
Church
Shops &
Parish
Office
The
Compasses
Community
Woodland
& Orchard
Bayston
Farm
Sharpstones Circular
Shropshire Way
Bus Stops
© Crown copyright and database rights
2011 Ordnance Survey 100049049
You are not permitted to copy, sub-licence,
distribute or sell any of this data to third
parties in any form.

More walks
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www.shropshirewalking.co.uk
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Acknowledgements
With thanks to Pat Moore,
Gerry Lawson and Ted Clarke for
walking and checking the route
information in this leaflet.
Artwork by MA Creative, Shrewsbury
www.macreative.co.uk
www.2shrop.net/baystonhill
The Pulley Stroll
Start at the shops in Lansdowne Road, turn left into Lythwood
Road, then take the first left into Castle Lane, go up the lane,
through the kissing gate to the left of the tall white house.
The big white house is called the Castle. It used to be
a small farm of 9 acres. There was never a castle here
- it’s more likely that the farmer who lived here chose
the name to impress his neighbours!
Head straight down the field to the big oak tree and into the
next field. Carry on to point 7 then turn right, follow the
path, over the footbridge over Bran brook, on to the substation
in Lower Pulley Lane. Turn right and walk up towards the A49.
At the junction turn left down the A49 to The Three Fishes pub
and the start of the Sharpstone Quarry Circular Walk ) . OR:
Cross the A49 into Cross Lane. where two tracks cross. Turn
right up the narrow track to The Common. 8
You can see Sharpstones Quarry which is owned by
Tarmac. It’s a mile long and covers 133 acres. They
extract one million tonnes of stone every year - that’s
4,000 tonnes every day.
Turn right and walk down the road (past the old church) to
the A49. Carefully cross main road via refuge and go left
up the A49. Carry on over cross roads junction opposite The
Compasses pub to end of the built-up area.
‘The Compasses Inn’ has a beer garden backing on to
The Common.
9
At the first field on the right, go through the kissing
gate in the near corner. Head straight up the field,
follow the path round the top of the field and through a
waymarked wooden gate in to the alleyway which bends
back into Betley Lane.
Go up the lane. Take the first turn on the right onto Lyth
Hill Road. Cross over. Turn right down the road. Next
to house number 72, take the narrow drive on the left
leading to the Glebelands playing fields. At the fence turn
left and follow the footpath on to the playing field. Follow
the old school boundary to the gate in the right hand
corner of the playing field.
Follow the footpath out on to Glebe Road. Turn right, back
to Lythwood Road by the Library, then turn left and follow
the road downhill to the start point. !
The Peacock Panorama
From the Library in Lythwood Road, go along Glebe Road.
Take the path on the left between the old school
and the church to the Glebelands playing fields. !
Cut diagonally across to the gate by the Scout
and Guide hut, turn right on the road and
immediately left into Yew Tree Drive.
Go left up the alley between no.s 66
and 68. Keep right at the metal barrier then go the kissing
gate into the field, # follow the hedge up to the top left
hand corner of the field and go over the next stile.
This walk has panoramic views: in the first field look
back for a view over Shrewsbury and North Shropshire;
in the second field look right for westward views of
Pontesford and the Stiperstones; in the third field, look
left for views East to the Wrekin.
Skirt round the left hand edge of this second field. Take
the next stile on your left into the third field. Turn right
and go along the right-hand field edge (follow overhead
lines). At the second electricity pole, turn left across the
field, in-line with three oak trees.
Go over the stile to the left of the final oak tree, along the
path between the gardens and out onto Lyth Hill Road.
Cross the road to the gate $ to enjoy the view eastwards.
FOR AN ALTERNATIVE WALK: turn right up the road to
Lyth Hill and Spring Coppice. Further details of walks on
Lyth Hill are available at Bayston Hill Library or on the
web www.shropshirewalking.co.uk
See the Wrekin, Ironbridge Power Station and Condover.
Turn left down the road (face oncoming traffic for safety).
A wide variety of plants grow in the high-banked hedge
on your right. To work out how old a section of hedge
is - count the number of different species of trees you
can see growing in it – It’s roughly 100 years old for
every species you can find!
You may hear and see the peacocks at The White House on
your right. They can often be seen strutting in the road.
For a short detour with views over Condover and the
Wrekin, go through the kissing gate on the right into
the Horse Fields just before you re-enter Bayston Hill.

Continue down Lyth Hill Road, just past Eric Lock Road and
immediately before no. 103 turn right into Betley Lane.
Follow the lane around and at ‘Bolventur’ turn left and
out on to Lyth Hill Road. See the Pulley Stroll directions for
returning across the Glebelands to the library.
The Lythwood Wander
By kind permission of Shropshire Council and Bayston Hill Parish Council.
From Overdale Road go down Parr’s Lane to the end. Turn
left along the alleyway and into Mayfield Grove and carry
on along the cul-de-sac. At the cross-roads go straight across
up Mayfield Grove to the ‘T’ junction at the top (Brookfield).
Turn right along Brookfield and turn right after house no.
34. Go through the gateway at the end of the road, and
follow the easy access path down to Parrs Pool. Take the
circular route around the pool and over the boardwalk (see
ducks and moorhens)
The Community Woodland is planted to recreate a Medieval
coppice wood. The woodland contains oak, ash and alder
which will be left to grow into full trees. There are also
hazel, field maple and hawthorn which will be coppiced
(cut back every few years and allowed to regrow).
%
Keep on to the end of the stone path then walk
through the new plantation to the end and then turn left
on to the playing field. Keeping the wood on your right,
walk up the field past the BMX track on to Lythwood Hall
Lane. Turn right along the lane to gated access to the new
woodland on the left.
& Walk up the easy access path through the new planting
passed orchard and sensory garden to gap in the top left
corner. Just through the gap you can cross over the ditch
on right in hedge and turn right up the track to Lythwood
Farm ( and continue to Lyth Hill for a long walk. OR walk
on down the path, along side the allotments on the left in
to Y&CB car park in Lythwood Hall Lane.
Lythwood Farm. In 1590 this area used to be a woodland
called ‘Higgons Hay’. The farmhouse was built around
this time.
b) Follow the lane on to Lythwood Road and carry on to
the junction with Overdale Road and Glebe Road. Turn left
along Overdale Road to your starting point.
OR c) turn right in to Glebe Road then first right into
Yew Tree Drive, then right at the public footpath sign
alongside house no. 40, through the kissing gate and
straight on across the field to join the “Peacock Panorama”
beyond Point # .
Sharpstones Circular
Start at the ‘Three Fishes’ pub ) and cross the A49, with
care, onto old Sharpstones Lane opposite. Passing behind
the bus stop, between the cottages and the hedged utility
cabin, follow the lane down past the bungalows to the
bottom and turn right over the railway bridge into the
quarry processing area.
Be very wary of busy lorry traffic in this area and carefully
follow the direction notices on the buildings up through
the yellow gateway, along the lane and round the bend
towards Bomere Farm. About 500m downhill where the
lane branches left you will see a kissing gate which takes
you up the new path around the top edge of the quarry
workings. As you climb to the highest point look out on
your left for a pile of fossilised tree trunks, excavated
during the quarry extension. On your right notice the
extensive meadow planting right across the slope.
Walk right along the ridge to a wooden kissing gate and
turn left back onto the farm lane. Continue up the lane
and round the sweeping bend until you notice a Quarry
Blasting Time Board on the left, next to a kissing gate. Pass
through this gate on to a new Permissive Path around the
left edge of the field, and enjoy the view of Shrewsbury
and the football ground on your right. Keep following the
field edge through a stock gate and kissing gate until you
see a stile. Ignore the stile and instead turn right through
another kissing gate and walk down across this sloping
field to the hedge line alongside the elevated A5 bypass.
Follow this hedge line left, ignoring the A5 underpass on
your right, alongside the small stream until you reach the
old railway bridge. *
Cross over the line and follow the
track to a gate onto the A49, opposite the Garden Centre.
Very carefully cross the road and turning left follow the
pavement back up into Bayston Hill. OR over the stile +
behind the garden centre and down the track to stile on
the right. Go over this and keep left on to the lane at
Pulley Hall Barns ,
and left, back up lane to Bayston Hill.
Stretch your legs and explore the countryside
right on the doorstep!
Discover the fields and farmland, the pools and
streams, and the woodland dells within a 10 minute
walk from your home.
These walks are moderate (with a few stiles).
On average they take around 40 – 60 minutes, or you
can join them up for a mini expedition!