Amy Boucher

10 miles!

Sunday 25th Jan Today we walked 10 miles down the South Telford Heritage trail all the way to Ironbridge. I am so proud of myself. There was so much of Telfords industrial heritage visible. It was an interesting wander. Thank you all for supporting me this far 💚 Share

5.5 miles down!

Saturday 10th Jan We wandered through a winter wonderland today and completed another 5.5 miles of my walk for Dementia UK. We walked around the Ercall, finishing at my favorite 'haunt,' Dairy Pit. The Ercall is often referred to as 'The Little Sister' of the Wrekin, but following its winding paths takes you through ancient woodland and allows you access to 500 million years' worth of history. As I've gotten older, I've realised I have a real fondness for formerly industrialised landscapes. There is something so powerful about seeing them reclaimed by nature. How different it would have been to walk here in previous centuries. In the 19th century, there were two quarries on the Ercall, a noisy morass of man and machine. Birds sing here now. The advent of industry actually unearthed much of the Ercall's ancient history, with ripple markings in the rock face being caused by subtropical waves around 500 million years ago. The area features much geology, including clear changes in the rock that mark the transition from the Precambrian to the Cambrian era. You can't help but be in awe. The Ercall is also one of the largest remaining sessile oak woodlands in the West Midlands. This woodland was once part of the Royal forest that predated the Norman Conquest. It was used to provide raw materials for local lime workings from the mid-13th Century onwards. Dairy Pit was once described as 'replete with horrors' and is the subject of a great body of folklore. A former Bell Pit (a primitive form of mining coal, iron ore, or other minerals lying near the surface), there are a myriad of spirits that are said to haunt the area, including the ghost of a 17th-century pack horse driver known as ‘Owd Rutter’. Rutter's ghost is said to wander the site surrounding the pool, alongside many nameless spirits. Aside from the spirits that dwell at Dairy Pit, we are also told that the depths are inhabited by a mermaid. The Dairy Pit 'Mermaid' is particularly fearsome and is said to enjoy nothing more than seducing young men with her song before dragging them deep beneath the surface, drowning them, and claiming their souls. Share

Walk 4- 8.5 miles from Nesscliffe Hillfort to Ruyton XI Towns and Kynaston's Cave 🚶‍♀️

Thursday 1st Jan Last walk of the year and another 8.5 miles down on my 50-mile challenge! We walked from Nesscliffe Hillfort through to Ruyton XI Towns via the Cliffe and finished the day at Humphrey Kynaston's Cave. Nesscliffe Hill Camp is a small multivallate hillfort on Nesscliffe Hill. It is one of Shropshire's most important Iron Age hillforts, built around 500 BCE. It was later occupied by Romano-Britons. It features multiple lines of closely set earthworks and a stone-faced entrance passage with guard chambers. There are also hints of potential roundhouses found across the site, as well as the mysterious 'Nessglyph,' a carving that could depict a potential deity. I love hillforts and prehistory, but this site felt particularly special. The Church of Saint John the Baptist in Ruyton XI Towns is a real favourite, built between 1120 and 1148 as a Chapel of Ease. Later (around 1230), it would become a parish church under John le Strange, a Marcher Lord, and, under him, repairs were carried out and the church was extended. Further changes to the building would occur in the centuries that followed. Inside the church, on the pillar nearest the tower, is a carving that is thought to represent the Devil. Our last stop was the eponymous Humphrey Kynaston's Cave. Wild Humphrey Kynaston was the youngest son of Sir Roger Kynaston, High Sheriff of Shropshire. He is best known as an outlaw and highwayman who turned to crime after he was convicted of the murder of John Hughes at Stretton. It was after this that he began living in the cave. There is a whole body of folklore that concerns his exploits, which has earned him the title of Shropshire's robin hood. It is also worth noting that the cave shows evidence of habitation long before Kynaston's time and was lived in at least until the 18th century, where a family of nine were said to dwell there! The face carving near the entrance to the cave is said to be a portrait of the highwayman. This is a landscape so rich in history, and it was so exciting to explore! Share

Walk 3- 5 miles in search of Sabbath

Tuesday 30th Dec Today I have ticked off another five miles visiting the 'Summer of Sabbath' trail around Birmingham, as well as visiting the Ozzy exhibit at the museum. I've been a massive Black Sabbath fan since my early teens, so this was a trail I had to do, mind you I do regret casting aside my walking boots for my New Rocks today 🤣 My total is currently at 17 miles! More to come this week! Share

Walk 2- Coalport to Bower Yard Lime Kiln.

Sunday 28th Dec Our second walk saw us return to the Ironbridge Gorge and walk from Coalport to Bower Yard Lime Kiln (in Ironbridge) via the old railway line. The Ironbridge Gorge is perhaps my favourite place in Shropshire (though it does have some stiff competition) and tangible reminders of the industrial revolution are everywhere you look. The current Coalport Bridge was built in 1818 using three iron ribs from the previous 1799 bridge, retaining much of the essential design from its predecessor. In this sense it is one of the oldest Iron Bridges in the UK and other than its more famous counterpart in Ironbridge. We followed the old railway until we reached Bower Yard Lime kiln, which sits at the foot of Benthall Edge. This railway was in operation from about 1861 and its main purpose was to aid industrial expansion, though it also was a passenger route until the 1950s. Limestone quarrying on Benthall Edge dates back to the medieval period but became important during the 18th and 19th centuries. Whilst the best limestone was transported to the ironmaking furnaces on the north side of the river, other grades of limestone were processed in limekilns at the eastern end of the woods. A steep inclined plane linked the kilns with the quarries on Benthall Edge. Once processed it would be loaded onto trains and taken via the routes I walked. The Bower Yard Lime kilns are some of the best preserved monuments to Shropshire's industrial heritage in the Gorge. They were built in the mid-1800s. Abandoned in the 1870s as the industry had fallen into decline, within 50 years, the kilns were active again for a time. Men like my ancestors worked in these buildings, and it's important to remember their contribution. Their hard work paved the way for the tide of industry, and they are often forgotten about. Their stories are held in every brick and piece of iron. Its a site that is well worth the visit. My grandad grew up in Bower Yard so would have been very familiar to him. I'm now 12.5 miles down! Thank you for all of the kind words and the sponsors so far! X Share

6.5 miles done!

Friday 26th Dec First walk complete! We had a wonderful wander today, soaking up some of the Gorge's history: 6.5 miles down from Jackfield along the old Coalport railway. The Gorge is simply awash with historical significance, and wherever you turn, there are tangible reminders of its industrial heritage. It's one of my favourite places. We walked from Maws Craft Centre down to the Coalport and Jackfield memorial bridge, which was originally built in 1922 to commemorate the 26 men who died during WWI. It also contains the names of the servicemen who fell during WWII. Several of my own relatives are remembered here. We continued to the Hay Incline Plane, which can boast being the best example of an incline plane in the country. It is an excellent reminder of the ingenuity of the industrialists. It was built by 1793 and was in operation until 1894. (As a slight aside, the earliest incline plane in the country was built in Ketley, Telford in 1787 by the Ironmaster William Reynolds ) Incline Planes would have been a prominent feature of the industrial landscape of the Gorge, alongside the limekilns and foundaries. Their main purpose was to allow tub boats of coal and other resources to be moved freely from the source to the canal and River Severn. We continued our walk onto the path that follows the Old Coalport railway, past the former Railway station which dates from about 1862.The railway would have been the gateway to the Gorge and allowed the distribution of coal and other products of the industrial revolution. It was wonderful to walk its route and consider its importance whilst the birds sang triumphantly. 🐦 💚 Thank you to everyone who has sponsored so far! It means the world to me that we can raise money for such an important cause! ✨️ Share

💚

Wednesday 24th Dec Share

Introduction

Wednesday 24th Dec Hi everyone,  Share