Shrtel two

Verified Slow Way

Verified by 100.00% of reviewers

A biased review by the originator. This route is very long, as are all sensible walking routes between Shrewsbury and Telford I haven't tackled it in one go but broke at Wellington. The route follows the Shropshire Way , the Telford T50 50 Mile Trail and the Hutchison Way in places. Those parts of the route are well waymarked and easy to follow,, Having said that , the Shropshire Way between Haughmond and Rodington is sometimes ploughed and sometimes has crops, usually thee route is reinstated.

I completed this walk from east to west, spread over two days in early October 2023. On day one, I reached Wellington train station in just over two hours. Picking up where I left off on day two, I reached Shrewsbury train station after a further four and a half hours brisk walking. Given it's length, this route is a bit of an endurance challenge, but I would highly recommend it to others. To me it ticks most of the boxes that make for a suitable Slow Ways route except for accessibility (given the stiles), and perhaps directness.

Although there were some lengthy sections of on-road walking, this was mostly on either pavements or quiet lanes with very little traffic. I had no trouble route finding thanks to the Shropshire Way signage but there was the occasional field I walked round the edge of rather than straight through the middle, to avoid trampling crops. The part of the route that skirts around the south-east face of Haughmond hill was challenging due to the brambles and nettles, but fortunately the path had recently been cut back, making it passable. One short section to watch out for is by the river Severn (https://w3w.co/dinner.packet.wings) in Shrewsbury where a ten or so metres of The Shropshire Way regularly floods in winter. This part would be easily avoidable by following national cycle route 81 which runs parallel.

I walked this route in two stages
(a) Shrewsbury to Wellington in September 2022 as part of the Wellington Walkers Are Welcome Walking Festival and
(b) Wellington to Telford on a Sunday afternoon walk in November 2022 by run by Walkers Are Welcome Walking.

The route from Shrewsbury to Wellington was walked in very fine weather and walking along the river Severn out of Shrewsbury passing the weir was an excellent way to start the walk. Most of the walking was on paths, with very little road walking, with very light traffic on the roads that we did walk along. We stopped for lunch at Roddington and this was good as there were benches near the Church. The route was fairly flat, with good views of The Wrekin, until we were near Wrockwardine where there was some moderate climbing. I really enjoyed the walk and I am very happy to recommend the route.

Wellington offers the opportunity to break the route and there are many good cafes and public houses where refreshments can be had.

I thought that the route from Wellington to Telford town centre railway station was really good as this was mainly on paths in the many areas of rural countryside corridors that Telford has. It was only when we were quite close to Telford town centre railway station that we needed to walk on roads that had good footpaths on them.

This route seemed to be quite safe from issues with traffic, there are good links to bus routes and railway stations at either end of the walk, and a good opportunity to break the walk into two sections with the transport links that Wellington has. I would be happy to walk the route again, and I would recommend this route to be part of the Slow Ways Network.

I broke this route into two parts, Shrewsbury to Wellington and then Wellington to Telford Railway Station.
Shrewsbury to Wellington was walked in August on one of the hottest days of the year.

The first part along the River Severn was interesting, I hadn't found the weir before where the salmon leap in the Autumn. A very rural route across open countryside for the most part, a couple of the stiles were overgrown but we trimmed the overgrowth back easily. There were a lot of open spaces across the fields with no shade and one spot was very muddy because of water irrigation.
It would be possible to stop for a drink at The Corbett Arms Uffington enroute, but we chose to have our welcome break/picnic at Roddington Church.
Wellington to Telford was an easy route of contrasts, woodlands where you may spot deer to the new developments in Telford.

Quite a long route, I covered it over 2 separate walks, Shrewsbury to Wellington, then Wellington to Telford.
Shrewsbury to Wellington is a good 5-6 hour walk, Wellington to Telford, a further 2-2.5, so could be done in a day.
Most of the route is open countryside, or country lanes, with a short urban stretch through Wellington (a good place to stop off for refreshment with several cafes, pubs, and take-aways), then it gets a bit urban again as you approach Telford.
There are also a railway and bus stations in Wellington if you decide to break the route into 2 sections.
It's easy to follow using the GPX or a map.
Potential issues for not so seasoned walkers:
There are quite a few stiles, and a few short uphill sections.
The path around the base of Haughmond Hill, shortly after leaving Shrewsbury, can get a bit overgrown so you might need to battle through that bit.
It can also be a bit muddy in some of the field crossings, particularly in winter or after heavy rain.
Despite these, there are no pavements along the busy main roads between Shrewsbury and Wellington, and although the main road between Wellington and Telford does have them, it's not a route that I would take, making this route the preferred one.

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