If anyone is planning to activate WB-003 and WB-005 in the near future, there are a couple of problems with vehicular access which I encountered on 2 March.
If you are approaching Bridges from the south, the road is completely closed at Walkmill due to bridge repairs, necessitating a long diversion via Whitcot, Wentnor and over the hills to rejoin the “main” road just south of Bridges.
At the bottom of the road leading from Ratlinghope to the top of the Long Mynd, there is a red sign saying “Road Closed due to snow and ice”. I chose to ignore the notice and drove up the hill anyway! In fact there was no snow and ice and the road was perfectly passable. D’oh!
“Road Closed due to snow and ice”. I saw that notice and turned back but I was very tempted. 10 mile detour over a road that was open but which still had some big snowdrifts on the side. Doh!.
Incidentally, I’m sure mention was made of the road out of Church Stretton being closed due to subsidence. I thought I would have a look just in case and there was no evidence. I ascended and descended by that route. I DO NOT like going down that way! I don’t do big drops.
“Road Closed due to snow and ice”. I saw that notice and
turned back but I was very tempted. 10 mile detour over a road that
was open but which still had some big snowdrifts on the side. Doh!.
Well, I was in my Land Rover so decided to risk it. In fact there was not a trace of snow or ice on that road.
Incidentally, I’m sure mention was made of the road out of Church
Stretton being closed due to subsidence. I thought I would have a look
just in case and there was no evidence. I ascended and descended by
that route. I DO NOT like going down that way! I don’t do big drops.
I had heard that as well, but in the event I did descend by the Church Stretton route. I noticed a sign saying “3 ton weight limit - weak road”, but there was no evidence of subsidence. It IS quite un-nerving, going down that way! A sheer drop of several hundred feet on the left-hand side. I took care to keep my eyes fixed firmly ahead! And there WAS a little residual ice on sheltered parts of that road.
I was also in a proper vehicle (in this case our Discovery rather than my own, which was in for service). I couldn’t remember how many places there are to turn round on that road so I left it.
The first time I did Pole Bank we ascended the Church Stretton way and as it was quite late, there was traffic about. A chap coming down was so phased by the drop on his side that he froze. In the end he got out and his passenger took the wheel!
Seeing this, we descened via the Gliding Club route. The drop is on the opposite side.
I have somewhere a video of the edge road descent, shot some years ago by my passenger at the time. This was at the height of summer with lots of traffic coming up. Glad I was the driver! When I find it I’ll digitise it (and censor the audio ) and pop it onto the tube for reference.
I well recall the first “Gaulfest” in 2003, a gathering of SOTA activators in the summits of that region, followed by a social meet in the coffee shop at Mr Bun The Bakers in Church Stretton. Those in attendance included Alan M1EYO, Dave M0DFA, Mark M0DEV, Stuart G0MJG, Shirley MW0YLS, Riley G7GOD, myself and Jimmy (before he was licensed).
Jimmy and I did our first ever visit of Corndon Hill GW/MW-013. As we completed the activation, those up on the Long Mynd warned of the treacherous road conditions up there, and hence Jimmy and I took the long way around the south of the hill to get to Church Stretton.
Someone else had got unnerved on the ascent from Church Stretton we were told, and thereafter blocked all the traffic trying to get down! Riley’s friend Mike ended up getting into that person’s car and reversing it back down the hill for them! I was glad I had taken the defensive route!
The view for the passenger on the descent would be very impressive, only a sensible passenger would be taking advantage of the fact that he can see further around the blind RH bends than the driver can and is looking out for oncoming traffic in the middle of the road!
) and pop it onto the tube for reference.