Shropshire Divide Ride Log

How it came to be

Many moons ago, the talk of Gone Graveling at the Trailhead sparked discussion about a Gravel Bike route that could span the length of our beautiful home county, Shropshire. With many loops already put together, Matt decided to map out a route that would take in some of the best gravel roads, bridleways and back lanes that Shropshire has to offer. When looking for a divide style route, it made sense to start in Whitchurch and finish in Ludlow, Shropshire’s most northerly and southerly major towns. Both of which happen to have a train station, conveniently giving riders a shuttle back to the start. With Shropshire being renowned for its Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, the Shropshire Hills had to be a part of the route. So with that a rough line was pencilled in, Matt then had to figure out if it actually worked!

The Route

With Matt hailing from just outside of Whitchurch, he and his parents were the wealth of knowledge that was needed to confirm the northern section worked, Matt’s Mum, Linda actually rode the full Northern section two weeks prior to the ride just to be sure, a true legend! The second section they have deemed is from Shrewsbury to Marshbrook, we knew this section would work from all of the previous Gone Graveling rides we had put on. The third sector was a little unknown, from Marshbrook to Ludlow via the Clee Hills. However, Harry lives close to the Brown Clee and confirmed that the route would go, also using a bit of the Marcher Castles Way route information, they had the full Shropshire Divide route locked in.

Key Details

Length: 180km
Elevation Gain: 3000m
Bridleway: 60%
Backlane: 30%
Main road: 10%
Goodtimes: 95%
Badtimes: 5%

The Ride

Whitchurch to Shrewsbury

With the summer solstice weekend upon us, Matt and Harry arose early and got to Whitchurch Station just after 7am, met by four other riders; Phil, Richard (Hoppy), Andy and Steve (Matt’s dad, aged 70!). At 7:30am, Steve set off on his way, telling us we’d catch up to him quickly, and after a group photo on the platform, the five others set off too at about 7:45am. The morning sun shone down, birds sang and the crew were on their way to Shrewsbury. Following cycle route 45 and some lovely quiet back lanes, they headed on to the Fenns’, Whixall, Bettisfield Mosses*, the first real highlight of the route. A pan flat, dead straight gravel road that sped them across some beautiful scenery. After said beauty, they pulled on to the Llangollen Canal towpath, which again offered wonderful morning sounds and glorious gravel conditions. It wasn’t until the canal towpath where they caught up with Steve, he wasn’t hanging about! Enjoying a brief catch up the five waved goodbye to Steve** and set off further along the route, passing through Wem and on to the second highlight of the day. Weston and Grinshill.

These two microhills (in comparison to what's to come) offered some top speed dry sandy hardpack for the boys to fly down and gain some adrenaline for the part of the ride, Harry and Matt were grateful to Hoppy who knows this section like the back of his hand and lead the charge down the descents, flat out no brakes, just trying to dodge the odd log and not to mention the brambles and nettles before hitting the road! With smiles all round, they waved goodbye to Andy as he had to carry on his day elsewhere, but not after he’d led the 32km/h road chaingang for a fair few kilometers. Having Andy join us for that first section was great, thanks Andy! At this point Phil started to cruise away from Matt, Harry and Hoppy as a few climbs began, Phil was in his element and we wouldn’t see him until we got to the shop. With the final climb up to Haughmond done, this is when we said goodbye to Hoppy, again the boys want to say a huge thanks for the morning moral boost and line choices from Hoppy, it wouldn’t have been the same without him. Matt and Harry then set off down the fun and luckily not that overgrown singletrack of Haughmond Hill. Enjoying the short blast down, they made their way on to the old Shrewsbury Canal path and into town, welcomed by the crew working in the shop who’d put together a great spread for them and got psyched for the second part of the day. They fueled up on homemade cakes and flapjack, coffee and coke and re-filled their bottles ready for the real climbs to begin as they left Shrewsbury.

Shrewsbury to Ludlow

To their delight, they had two more join them for the Southern section, Simon and Trailhead mechanic Chris, and not forgetting that Phil was there waiting for them at the shop, and would depart the shop with them for the initial part of the ride, until they hit the first climb, up Lyth Hill. They wouldn’t see Phil until the Gliding Club on the Long Mynd. Chris had also left the shop a little before Harry, Matt, Simon and Phil, so once Phil had cruised away, the three were left making their way South and around the Eastern Edge of the Stiperstones. After a fairly chunky section of gravel riding around Pulverbatch, they started to climb over Huglith Hill and around Paulith Bank, sampling some more wonderful bridleways, and gaining stunning views. Simon was having some problems keeping air in his tyres, so Matt and Harry deployed the written rules, ‘fall behind, get left behind’, and carried on. While riding the short descent off the Eastern Stipes they spotted Chris in the distance and the chase began. Impressed by how far he had come, they caught him on the climb up to the Port Way, 30km after leaving Shrewsbury. Chris then shared that Phil had caught him nearly an hour ago!!

Now on the Portway Chris, Matt and Harry took it steady, chatting about the route and enjoying the stunning views of Shropshire. Just after Betchcott Hill they looked back to see Simon hot on their tail, they slowed up and rejoined to make a four. Back together and a pit stop at the Gliding Club not far away, the four rolled fast along champagne gravel up to Pole Bank. To their surprise, as they crested the summit, they were greeted by Helen (Matt’s Sister) with a cheer and some sweet treats. Grateful for the support and tasty snacks, they set off in search of a water refill and a nice cold can of coke at the Gliding Club. There, they were met by Phil who’d just finished a tasty lunch, and was enjoying watching the parapenters and gliders alike. Water bottles full, they all rode off together, once again, Phil quickly cruised away up a short climb, and that would be the last time we saw Phil on the ride (fair play Phil, you smashed it!!). The descent down from the Gliding Club was truly immense, full speed, great gravel and luckily no obstacles to catch us out! It was at the bottom of the descent that Simon decided his tyres weren’t doing the job and it was unsafe to carry on. We left him with a spare tube while he used the one he had to fix the slow puncture, and we waved goodbye. Harry and Matt decided they wanted to push on so on the next climb they rolled away from Chris also.

Now just the two of them, they smashed out some backlane bashing and found themselves at the foot of the Wenlock Edge. The first of the back breaking climbs. There’s no easy way around the Edge, apart from going up another as the route intended, it looked like it might be rideable, but quickly they were off their bikes, pushing up the steep gradient, too steep for them and probably too steep for a lot of people. But please, you’re invited to prove them wrong! After a hot, sweaty push to the top of the Edge they were then graced by incredible views of the Clee hills. While stopping to admire the view, they heard a freehub coming from behind them, to their disbelief they turned around and it was Simon, he’d put in a huge shift and greeted us with, “I’m going to sit on the back for a bit if you don’t mind”. What an effort he had just put in, respect! The three carried on down the back of the Edge and on to backlanes across to Abdon, which marked the start of the longest climb of the day, to the tallest point in Shropshire, Brown Clee. At this point the three were running out of water, and with no other pit stops on route Harry made the call to his partner, Kate, and asked her to meet us at the picnic site at the bottom of the climb up to Brown Clee.

After climbing up to the road that would skirt them round to the east side of the hill, they enjoyed some rest waiting for Kate to bring the ever needed water refill. After the refill they started the nice meandering climb up to the summit. At the top, the boys were tired, hit by the heat and the long climb up, they were ready for a chill before heading off the back, up to Clee Burf summit and down to the valley before the final climb of the route. Whilst taking in the views, they noticed a rider also climbing up the road to the top of Brown Clee, it was Chris!! While we’d been refueling, and taking the nice meandering climb up the forest roads, Chris had been using an old GPX that since had been changed to not include the dreaded incline. So Chris had pushed his way up the brutal incline which had saved some time, but not his legs or morale, but meant we were all back together for the ride off Brown Clee.

The descent off Brown Clee could definitely be defined as a mountain bike route, but that’s what gravel biking is all about, you can end up anywhere and it’s all part of the adventure. Harry knew the bridleway down to Blackford would be hard, and in places they’d have to walk down some bedrock steps, but once through that 50m section, they would find themselves in what they can only describe as the gully of dreams. Riding it felt like you were surfing down a half pipe, and it carried on all the way to the valley bottom before they started the climb to the base of Titterstone Clee. Relishing from the high of that last descent they made good time up towards Titterstone, but once on the traverse around the base of hill their morale was quickly sapped.

Harry had forgotten about this bridleway when he confirmed the route went. The route does go, but the bridleway was more of a sheep track at this point which with foggy brains was hard to stay in, traversing the side of the climb, they made it to Cleeton. Sadly again Harry’s memory evaded him, thinking it was there that the nice road climb started to the summit, when in fact they were back on the sheep trodden bridleway straight up the side of the hill. Similar to the Wenlock Edge, they boys found this section not rideable, and pretty demoralising. After fighting mental battles they made it to the road, and pushed on with the climb to the top of the Titterstone Clee summit. Again met by expansive views of our beautiful home county, the moods lifted and they set off on the descent down into Ludlow. And what a descent it was, to start with on old tarmaced, now gravel roads, on to some more lovely backlanes and into Ludlow from the eastern side. They kept low following the River Teme and nipping inside the castle boundary walls, enjoying the architecture Ludlow offers. Finishing the ride at Ludlow train station Matt, Harry, Chris and Simon were well and truly finished. But what a day it was. And the thoughts of those brutal climbs and unrideable sections quickly vanished into the memories of amazing gravel roads, exciting singletrack descents and stunning scenery.

Chris and Simon got the next train back to Shrewsbury, while Harry and Matt were met by their partners and Matt’s sister Helen for a celebratory drink and pizza and the wonderful Unicorn pub just down the road from the station, as recommended by a good friend of the shop. They shared stories of how the day went, and reminisced on the wonders of what the Shropshire Divide route offered.

The route is now there for all to enjoy, it is highly recommended and if you think it’s too long for a day, take your time and do it over two, there’s great campsites along the route. Remember if you do decide to ride the Shropshire Divide, please stop by the shop and refuel, let the crew know how you’re getting on and get ready for the hilly second half of the route. Thanks for reading, the team looks forward to hearing how your ride goes! Enjoy!

*Fenns’, Whixall, Bettisfield Mosses - the boys know that this section isn’t actually in Shropshire County, but trust us, it’s so good it had to go in!! ^

**Steve, who turned 70 in May, completed the full Shropshire Divide route, he got into Ludlow at 11:00pm and has written his own ride log, please give it a read. Legend!! ^

Written by: Harry Turner
Edited by: Matt Duley
Photos by:Harry and Matt