Six delightful walks around Telford you may not know about to burn …
For too long has Telford been the butt of jokes in Shropshire and there's no time like Twixmas to discover what stunning walks this 1960's wonderland has to offer.
Thanks to the T50, navigating some of the town's most delightful green spaces has never been easier.
The continuous 50-mile route can be joined and left almost anywhere and is perfectly planned to take advantage of public transport options.
Looping through Telford town centre, Madeley, Little Dawley, Woodside, Ironbridge, Little Wenlock, Wellington, Horsehay, Ketley, Oakengates, Muxton and Lilleshall, if you're a Telford resident you may not even know this wonderful trail passes right in front of your front door.
I'm not by any means suggesting you take the festive break to walk the whole 50 miles - but there are dozens of circular and linear routes that utilise one of Britain's newest long-distance footpaths.
Lots of these walks are available to view online at telfordt5050miletrail.org.uk[1], with maps and a lot more information. But in brief, here are a few of my favourites:
Loamhole Dingle, Coalbrookdale. Photo: Martin James
Family woodland walk in Coalbrookdale
This lovely little 1.7-mile circular walk is perfect for children - it's not too long and there are plenty of interesting things to see. It's worth noting, that while little legs will be fine, it isn't accessible for pushchairs.
Those walking the watercourses in Coalbrookdale are free to use the car park at the Coalbrookdale & Ironbridge Community Centre, leave the car park and cross the road, taking the footpath around Upper Furnace Pool.
The outward walk utilises the T50 trail in Loamhole Dingle, before looping back and returning via the Rope Walk. It's all well signed and maintained, with raised wooden platforms through the woodland.
Keep an eye (and ear) out for the green woodpecker.
Smalley Hill Nature Reserve is a former open-cast coal and landfill site
New Works and the Smalley Hill Nature Reserve
This walk can be as long or as short as you'd like it to be, with options of exploring nearby woodland or venturing slightly further to the Wrekin and Ercall.
Start at the car park off New Works Lane (what3words: recline.windmill.products) and there are a few routes for you to take by darting off into the woods on either side of the path.
But for a short amble of around a mile and a half, take the main footpath that runs alongside the car park. Stay on the main path and bare left, and a short walk will kick you out at the top end of New Works village.
Turn left, and around 100m down the road is a footpath on your right leading into Smalley Hill Nature Reserve.
This little nature reserve opened in 2017 on the site of an old landfill. The mosaic of grasslands, ponds and hedgerows provides a home to lots of little creatures including great crested newts. Kestrels can often be seen hunting over the site for field voles and wood mice.
After a little jaunt around the nature reserve, continue along the road into New Works village, taking the road on the left opposite the bus stop. This road will lead you back to the car park, or there are plenty of footpaths on your left that will bring you back to the main path above it.
A snow day in Apley Woods
Apley Woods with Dothill Nature Reserve
This five-mile section of the T50 is already practically a circular route and contains two of Telford's most prized green spaces.
It's also really conveniently placed for public transport, but if you're not getting in town by bus or train, park at the Victoria Road long stay car park opposite the civic centre.
From the car park, cross Victoria Road and go straight ahead to the Leisure Centre where stage 4A of the T50 begins.
Follow the T50 markers out of the town towards Morrisons, and take a right towards Dothill. The trail continues around Dothill Nature Reserve before crossing the bridge over Whitchurch Drive and entering Apley Woods.
The route joins the Silkin Way and National Cycle Route 81 past Wrekin College and down back into Wellington.
Groundwork West Midlands run the nature reserve in east Ketley. Photo: Telford Millennium Nature Reserve
Ketley Brook and the Telford Millennium Nature Reserve
This 3.5-mile figure-of-eight lap features a brief stroll next to Ketley Brook and a meander through the 44-acre nature reserve in east Ketley.
Start your journey at the car park to the east of Telford Arts Centre off Holyhead Road. Turn left out of the car park and left again onto School Lane. An unsigned gravel track on the left will bring you out at the traffic lights just opposite the Crispy Cod.
Follow the main road past the shops, and take a left just before the bus stop onto the Ironbridge Way footpath. Take the fourth left off the path, and it'll bring you out onto Sinclair Gardens by the garden centre.
Join Waterloo Road at the end of Sinclair Gardens and turn right, there's a footpath on the left just before the motorway bridge.
This is where you join the T50. Stick with the T50 as it brings you back to Holyhead Road and the Mouchak restaurant. Follow the T50 left down Brick Hill Lane, past the playground then through the houses, only leaving the route to keep straight on over the bridge by the side of the railway line.
Loop around the nature reserve, before exiting at Beveley Road and wandering back to the car park.
A picture postcard scene in Ironbridge
The Wrekin to Ironbridge
If you're feeling particularly energetic or like you need to walk off some of those pigs in blankets, the walk from the Wrekin to Ironbridge is one of my favourites in the county.
It's around 11 miles long and with the hills, it's not one that's particularly easy on the knees, but the views are outstanding. It does require a car, and it not being a circular route does mean you end up some distance away from your vehicle at the end.
If you don't have two cars between you, it'll only cost you around £7 to get back to the Wrekin's car park in a taxi. You could always start the walk in Wellington which means public transport is available to you - but it'll add a couple of miles to your journey.
My recommendation would be to start the ascent of the Wrekin before sunrise, allowing yourself a steady 45 minutes to climb to the peak. Wrap up, maybe take a flask, and drink in the stunning sight of the sun coming up over Shropshire.
On your descent, you hook a right at the curve at the bottom of the climb to the Halfway House and follow the T50 markers to the Gorge through Little Wenlock, down under the Coalbrookdale Viaduct, through the woods and past the Rotunda.
Finish your journey with a celebratory pie from Eley's or a pint from one of the incredible pubs the Gorge has to offer before finding a ride back to your car.
It'll probably take you anywhere between three and five hours, depending on how fast you walk and how many pit stops you make along the way.
Granville Park near Muxton
Granville Country Park Circular
T50 signposts won't help you here, but the sprawling network of copses and heaths that are home to some of Telford's fascinating industrial heritage is too good not to check out.
A well-signed, four-mile circular is one of the best ways to check out the park - but if you prefer off-piste it can be as little or as long as you like. The trail is riddled with the remnants of old canals and rail lines, pit mounds and ruins of industrial buildings.
From the car park off Granville Road, head up the steps to the Top of the World Bench and enjoy the expansive views over the north Shropshire Plain.
Continue through the meadow and descend a long flight of steep steps to make your way to Waxbill Meadow, containing some stone remains, which are thought to be that of a Methodist Chapel associated with the Waxhill Barracks, which housed the local colliery workers.
Stick to the path to the pump house, before retracing your steps along the main path as it winds through the woodland.
Continue through the blue arch to enter Muxton Marsh, the site of the former Freehold Colliery, and head through the woodland. Cross the car park where you started, to continue along Granville Road to a viewing point across the canal basin.
Follow the winding path through the woodland to the viewpoint at Horseshoe, before returning to the car park.
References
- ^ telfordt5050miletrail.org.uk (www.telfordt5050miletrail.org.uk)