Sometimes it really is third time lucky. Back at the start of the year we were very kindly invited to stay at The Barns at Blackwater Meadow – a collection of stylish holiday homes on the edge of Ellesmere in Shropshire. However, due to circumstances entirely down to me and not to The Barns, it’s taken us three attempts to get down there (don’t ask!). We finally got down to Shropshire for a dog friendly weekend at the start of October – and, neither of us having ever been to Shropshire before, there was plenty of exploring to do.
This post is a paid partnership with The Barns. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this blog are my own.
Dog Friendly Weekend in Shropshire – Itinerary:
- Friday: Hodnet Hall and check-in at The Barns.
- Saturday: Nescliffe Hill, Ludlow Castle and Ludlow Farmshop.
- Sunday: The Long Mynd, Battlefield 1403 and Wroxeter Roman City.
Keen to cram in as much as possible, we set off early on Friday so we could stop on the way. We abandoned plan A, a countryside walk, as we drove through Stoke and the heavens opened. It was the windscreen wipers on at full speed, biblical downpour level of rain. Even though it stopped after half an hour, we still didn’t want to risk it! So, we switched to Plan B, a stop off at Hodnet Hall.
Hodnet Hall
We love a garden. Specifically, we love a good garden. And Hodnet Hall was great. Independently managed, entry wasn’t free but was quite reasonable at £10 per adult. Dogs on leads are also welcome throughout the gardens.
Shropshire does have a few National Trust properties to choose from, but we picked Hodnet Hall in the hopes it would be quieter. In fact, it was so quiet that there were only four other cars in the car park! Which feels unjust as the gardens are more than worth a visit – it felt like we’d stumbled onto a hidden gem at the first try.
Visiting in early October, I wasn’t expecting much. I’d had a look on TripAdvisor and seen some pretty photos of the house cloaked by autumnal trees, and I’d have been happy if that was the most colour we got. It was, after all, October. However, we couldn’t believe the variety of plants still in bloom: dahlias, verbena, roses and some rather weird looking magnolias. And so many others which I didn’t recognise but still provided a welcome splash of colour.
My favourite, though, was the kitchen garden. We’ve visited kitchen gardens before, but always in summer, when all there is to see is a lot of leaves. Visiting in October was a completely different experience. Apples, pears, pumpkins and tomatoes everywhere, fully ripened and ready for harvesting. I had to put my hands in my pockets as I was so tempted – I love a pear!
Altogether we spent just over an hour wandering the gardens. It was truly lovely, I think because there’s such a variety of plants and features to see. There’s a tea room on site which looked very nice, although we didn’t eat this time. I’d definitely recommend Hodnet Hall gardens if you’re planning a dog friendly trip to Shropshire.
The Barns at Blackwater Meadow
From Hodnet Hall, it was about half an hour’s drive to The Barns at Blackwater Meadow. These comfortable, contemporary lodges make an ideal base for a dog friendly weekend exploring Shropshire and North Wales. We were staying in Sparrow – one of the smaller lodges sleeping four. As it’s a smaller lodge, I wasn’t sure what to expect space-wise. I needn’t have worried: the living/kitchen area was more than spacious enough for us, even with two dogs underfoot.
The inside of the lodge is beautifully decorated, but it’s the outside space that’s really special. All of the lodges have an outdoor hot tub and fire pit. Some, not all, have an enclosed garden: luckily for us, Sparrow is one of the ones with!
The lodges are equipped with everything you need for a comfortable stay, including good quality kitchenware. How to tell you I’m an adult without saying I’m an adult, right? After a long drive, we really couldn’t be bothered to cook. Happily, Ellesmere has a good selection of takeaways to choose from, including a few who’ll deliver to the site. Sorted – dog friendly weekend in Shropshire starts here!
Nescliffe Hill Country Park
We set an early alarm on Saturday to make the most of the weather. Starting out sunny with showers in the afternoon, it definitely felt like an early bird catches the worm situation. Our first port of call was Nescliffe Hill Country Park. Not too far from The Barns, it looked like a great dog walking spot, with a few points of interest too.
Rather than following a set route, we free-styled it and just had a wander through the woods. First of all, we made the short climb up to Oliver’s Point. The walk up took us through an old Iron Age fort, which to me seemed more overgrown than visible, but it’s always interesting to think whose footsteps you’re walking in. Oliver’s Point is supposedly named after Oliver Cromwell. Local legend has it that the Roundheads camped here one night during the English Civil War – I’m not sure how true that is though. Either way, it’s a fine viewpoint.
From Oliver’s Point we picked up the Shropshire Way to drop down through the woods. We were looking for Kynaston’s Cave – which, considering how massive it was when we finally found it, shouldn’t have taken us so long to find. I blame Sam – he took free-styling as an excuse to drag me up and down banks which were definitely not paths.
Wild Humphrey
Humphrey Kynaston, AKA ‘Wild Humphrey’, was a highwayman who haunted these hills in the early 16th century. Outlawed for murder in 1491, he fled to a sandstone cave in the Nescliffe Hills. Taking a Robin Hood-esque approach to highwaymanship, in return the locals protected him from the authorities and gave him food.
The cave has two rooms, one for Humphrey and one for his horse (reportedly named Beelzebub). I couldn’t help but wonder how he got the horse up and down the steps though? Kynaston lived in his cave until he received a pardon later in life, and died peacefully some years later. The cave was inhabited right into the 18th century: according to an information board outside, the final inhabitants were a family of nine. It’s good to live in modern times and not in a cave!
Ludlow Castle
Only spending about an hour at Nescliffe, the day was still young. Plenty of time to nip down to Ludlow to visit one of my bucket list castles! Ludlow was around an hour’s drive but it’s more than worth it. The town itself is lovely, crammed with charming historic buildings and lots of independent shops and eateries.
Initially we tried parking in the Castle Street car park, but after four laps, conceded we weren’t getting a space. Instead we tried the Linney Riverside car park and found a space with no issues – plus, it was only £2 to park all day. Of course, it was at the very bottom of the hill, so perhaps that’s why we didn’t have any trouble…
It’s still not far to Ludlow Castle from the riverside car park. It’s £10 each to get in and dogs on leads are very welcome to join you. The castle is huge – much bigger than most ruined castles we’ve visited. There’s plenty of information boards scattered around the castle, but these mainly explain the function of the rooms. If you want more of the ‘story’ behind the castle you might be better off with an audio guide. Although, they might not be any good either as we didn’t try them!
Having wandered around the ground floor, I decided to climb up to the top of the keep for the promised fantastic views. Of course, I’m terrified of heights, so I only managed one step off the top of the stairs rather than going all the way to the top. In my defence, it was windy up there, and I still got to see the view…
Ludlow Farmshop and Kitchen
Legs burning after my climb to the top of the keep, it was time for a sit down. Rather than eating in Ludlow, we opted for a short drive out to Ludlow Farmshop for lunch. Mainly because we prefer to leave the dogs in the car while we eat – with a reactive dog, it’s less stress for all involved.
The setup at Ludlow Farmshop is huge. It’s like a complex, with a farmshop, cafe, distillery and gift shop all housed in separate buildings. On Saturday lunchtime it was busy, but we only had to wait five minutes for a table. What was really handy was that you could choose to scan a QR code to order – no need to queue at the till (which was very busy!).
The food arrived really quickly. Sam had a Fidget pie (when in Shropshire and all that), and I had a Hunter’s Chicken jacket potato. Thank you to everyone who supports us on Buy Me a Coffee – we always try and re-distribute it to independent local eateries. Then, it was back to the lodge to relax. After climbing five flights of stairs to the top of the keep at Ludlow Castle, I’ve never been happier to have a hot tub!
The Long Mynd
The one walk I really wanted to do while we were there was the Long Mynd. Carding Mill Valley and the Long Mynd is probably one of the most popular places for a walk in Shropshire, so we set off early to make sure we got parked. And turns out, if you get there at 8.30am on a Sunday in October, you won’t have any issues at all.
The route we followed was a bit of a hodgepodge of different routes that I’d cobbled together on OS maps. It’d probably be better to follow the Burway Loop on the National Trust’s website – we ended up spending quite a while on a golf course. It’s all public footpath, but all those flying golf balls make me anxious!
If it makes anyone feel less stressed about visiting the Long Mynd, the car park is huge. The shapes of the landscape immediately caught our eye as we walked into the valley. Even Sam had to grudgingly concede that it was pretty cool! (He’s firmly of the opinion that everywhere south of Yorkshire is flat and uninteresting). We climbed up to Lightspout Waterfall – a fairly steady climb on a rocky path. There was just one short, steeper section just past the waterfall, then we were at the top.
In all honesty, the waterfall is a bit meh compared to the rest of the walk. It was barely a trickle, but even with a bit more rain I don’t think it would stand up to some of my favourite waterfalls like Aira Force. Fortunately, the general views and scenery still make for a lovely walk.
There’s views in all directions up at the top – not being a Salopian, I had no idea what we were looking at, but it was still nice. Throughout the walk we came across several small groups of ponies, all completely not interested in us or the dogs. They do tend to make walks extra exciting I always think.
Watch out for flying golf balls
Our loop around brought us back through Church Stretton golf course. As I mentioned at the start, I probably wouldn’t recommend this exact route. Although it’s probably the most scenic golf course we’ve traversed! It was a shock when we got back down to the start to see how busy the car park had become. While we’d seen a few people here and there, it was nothing compared to how full the car park was. I guess it’s nice though that there are so many possible routes that you don’t end up with everyone doing the same walk.
Wroxeter Roman City
Having arrived at the Long Mynd so early, we had more than enough time to pootle around a bit in the afternoon. After a stop at Battlefield 1403 to grab some pies for lunch and to poke around the battlefield exhibition, where I also had possibly the best hot chocolate of my life, we drove across to Wroxeter Roman City. The Roman sites English Heritage manage in Northumberland are consistently excellent for being interesting and well interpreted, so we thought we’d give Wroxeter a go.
Smaller than Corbridge Roman town, Wroxeter is nevertheless an interesting spot. It took us around 40 minutes to explore the site, which consists mostly of the ruins of the bathhouse and surrounding shops. As well as the ruins, there’s a reconstructed villa and a small museum. The museum was a highlight – I always love seeing the various objects that have been unearthed. They really make the site come to life – probably best to visit at the start. Dogs are allowed everywhere except the museum, which we took turns to visit. Both dogs were very welcome at reception and received two gravy bones each, lucky boys!
Dog Friendly Rating: The Barns at Blackwater Meadow – Dog Friendly Weekend in Shropshire
Dog friendly rating: 5/5. The Barns at Blackwater Meadow are a great dog friendly option if you’re looking for a dog friendly weekend in Shropshire. And, they’re continually making the lodges more dog friendly, which I love. I called in at The Barns for one night in June, when I saw that they’re happy for dogs on furniture, as long as you cover it with a throw (fair enough). Fast forward to October and we arrived to find that all of the lodges had had enclosed gardens added! An enclosed garden is always at the top of my list, so I was chuffed to see this when we arrived. The lodges are nicely spaced out so you only really have one or two ‘neighbours’. Merry just loved that our lodge looked down over the lake so he could duck watch!
A dog friendly weekend in Shropshire – Your kind of adventure?
We had such a great time, I’d recommend this trip to anyone looking for a dog friendly weekend in Shropshire. Specifically though, couples or families looking for a countryside getaway with (or without!) a dog. Hardcore hikers will enjoy the Long Mynd and Shropshire Hills, while gentle strollers will find plenty of low level options. Shropshire is bursting with historical sites for history buffs to poke around at (we got plenty of use out of our English Heritage membership), and there are some seriously good farm shops that foodies will love.
For us, The Barns at Blackwater Meadow was a great base for exploring, and we especially loved the enclosed garden. And although we visited in October, we were pleasantly surprised by how much there was to see and do despite it being the start of the off-season.
Shropshire might not always be the first destination that springs to mind for a weekend away, but it’s well worth considering. We’ll certainly be keeping it in mind for another visit.
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