Cleobury Mortimer Footpath Association

Current Events

Walks for 2008

We invite residents and visitors to join us for a series of walks scheduled throughout the year (except the summer months). All are of 1.5 to 2 hours duration and are led at a sociable pace.

• Sunday 4th May 2pm
• Summer break
• Sunday 7th September 2pm
• Sunday 5th October 10am
• Sunday 2nd November 10am
• Sunday 7th December 10am
• Boxing Day 26th December 10am
• New Years Day 1st January 09 2pm

All walks start from St. Mary the Virgin Church in the town centre. Dogs and accompanied children welcome. Please wear suitable clothing and footwear. The leader may refuse to take people unsuitably dressed. The CMFA also runs a series of longer walks for the dedicated walker.

Work parties for 2008-04-02

Our monthly work parties to improve the footpaths in Cleobury Country are on the following dates:

• April Wednesday 16th
• May Wednesday 14th
• June Wednesday 11th
• July Wednesday 9th
• August Wednesday 13th
• September Wednesday 10th
• October Wednesday 8th
• November Wednesday 12th
• December Wednesday 10th

All work parties start at 9.30am

In addition the local walking group (Stotty Strollers) at Stottesdon have a similar programme which can be accessed here.

Find out more about the CMFA by visiting our website.

A Brief History

The Cleobury Mortimer Footpath Association (CMFA) was formed in the autumn of 1990 by Paul French and Bill Duley who believed that walking in the rolling largely untouched South Shropshire hills and countryside should be very much a part of one’s every day life.

The Association was a founding member (1993) of Shropshire’s Parish Paths Partnerships programme - now one of a large number of volunteer groups that provide a vital contribution to the maintenance of public rights of way for County Council on a voluntary basis.

In the case of the Cleobury Mortimer group they are not only dedicated to maintaining footpaths but to working with local landowners to restore many little used rights of way.

The group has also produced a number of guides to walks in the area and recently entered into partnership with the local medical centre to promote the Walking for Health initiative with a special series of five town and area walks.

As well as clearing and maintaining footpaths the CMFA replaces and puts in stiles, fingerposts, marker posts, fencing, etc… to make footpaths more accessible. Over the last 15 years they have been successful in developing over 300 miles of footpath routes into 50 circular walks utilising St. Mary the Virgin church located in the town centre as a main focal point.

In 1998 it undertook, as a Millennium Project, the development of the area’s first long distance pathway, the Simon Evans Way, which was officially opened in July 2000. It is an 18 mile journey which endeavours to capture the beauty of South Shropshire along the Rea Valley: walkers who follow this route will come away with a new appreciation of countryside reminiscent of that which Simon Evans saw and fell in love with almost 80 years ago.

Additionally in 2004 a new extension of the 150 mile Jack Mytton Way, Shropshire’s premier long distance bridleway, now includes 75 additional miles of new routes leading from Cleobury Mortimer as the south-eastern ‘hub’ through part of the Simon Evans Way to Ray’s Farm, Billingsley, and travels through Highley, Much Wenlock, Church Stretton and Clun, to end at Llanfair Waterdine on the Welsh Border.

Plans are also afoot to create a cross country Shropshire Way eastern extension from the Clee Hills, passing through the Simon Evans Way to link up with the recently completed (2000) Severn Way.

In this way the CMFA with a membership of almost 50 members continues to form an important part of part of Shropshire’s ROW programme which maintains over 8,500 paths covering 5,500 kilometres - making these more accessible to both local people and visitors alike.

Executive

• Steve Parker (Chairman)
• David Thomas (Treasurer)
• Catherine Reeves (Secretary)
• Susan Sharp (Footpath Officer)

The Shropshire Way: Clee Hill to Severn link

At the end of July 2008 the culmination of several years of extensive field work, including trail mapping and equipment installation, will see the Shropshire County Council Rights of Way Unit opening a number of additional routes along the countywide Shropshire Way. This will include a 27 km linear footpath extending from Titterstone Clee to the River Severn thereby linking this long distance county route into The Severn Way and the national long distance footpath system.

For details of the Clee to Severn walk (routes: 11 part 1 & 11 part 2) go to www.shropshire.gov.uk and type in The Shropshire Way in the ‘Search’ window.

The pathway will cross the following South Shropshire parishes: Hopton Wafers, Cleobury Mortimer, Neen Savage, and Kinlet. It will meet the River Severn about a ½ hour walk upstream from Arley. Quality refreshment and accommodation are already available at many locations along the route, for example: The Crown (Hopton Wafers), Kings Arms (Cleobury Mortimer), The Eagle & Serpent (Kinlet). The Harbour Inn (Arley). Consult www.cleoburycountry.com The completion of this link represents the final phase in CMFA’s successful efforts to make Cleobury Mortimer a hub in the national pathway network, a programme which included establishment of Cleobury Country’s own long (23 km) distance footpath The Simon Evans Way (2000) and the southern extension (50 km) of The Jack Mytton Way (2004).

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For more information on walks and work parties contact Susan Sharp (susan [at] eaglelane.co.uk).

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