Family Walk Along the Tern Valley Loop (West), Shropshire – Riverside Path & Countryside Views

Another Local Walk

It’s been great discovering some new walks in our local area over the past few weeks. We recently discovered a digital “flyer” featuring some local walks that we decided to do. Last week for our “No Work Wednesdays”* we did the East side long walk, which is a regular choice for us, though we had no idea it was an officially documented walk!

This weekend we decided to try the West side long walk! It’s along a very similar route I have run along, but we have never walked it, so to the rest of the family this was a new and exciting adventure! Unlike my run, where I stick to the easier-to-run-along pavements once I hit the town, this one detours to run alongside the river, in a much nicer and far more scenic route!

Preparing for the Walk

We had earmarked Sunday as the day we would go, and when we woke up, it was clear that it was going to be a warm, dry day. Fortunatly the route is pretty shady, so I didn’t change the route and we stuck with the one we had planned, but I did make sure that we had prepped properly for the most comfortable and enjoyable walk!

For every walk we do, long or short, I try to make sure we have everything we might need – but I am still learning of course, and I’m sure our list will change as we get more experienced. I always carry a first aid kit, and we always carry a large bottle of water each, but today we swapped our raincoats and waterproofs for sunglasses and a sun cap (hurrah!!). We slathered the children in sun cream and all popped on our walking boots. My phone was charged, the Geocache app was up and running, and we were ready to go!

Setting Out

To join the circular route we had just under a mile to walk along a familiar road. It’s a mostly rural route, with just a brief moment walking alongside a main road, and another brush with civilisation as we enter Market Drayton, yet we didn’t really see many other people out and about walking! It meant we could really just focus on chatting amongst ourselves and enjoying our surroundings together!

The Journey: 5.5 Miles of Discovery

We started the walk at Sandy Lane and headed along a private, gravelled road until we reached Market Drayton. We passed a sign that mentioned “Shrewsbury Ramblers Walk 35” – I’ve yet to find this online but I shall keep digging so I can add it to my list of walking route websites that I can refer back to.

At the bottom of the gravelly lane, as we enter Market Drayton, there is a lovely little hump-back bridge where the River Tern flows – on this day it looked massively inviting and we all commented that we wanted to jump in!

From here you head left up into a housing estate, but you aren’t there very long as you veer left again through a cul-de-sac and back into a more rural setting! I believe that this is the officcal “start” of the walk, and there is convenient little carpark. The map we were using showed a single route, but the reality was that we were met with two footpaths going in the same-ish direction. Fortunately a local dog walker was approaching and we quizzed him on the best route to use – both routes would lead to the same place, but he recommended the one to our right as an easier pathway!

This lovely section ran along the River Tern, through lots of lush grasses and greenery, with sections of the walk veering very close to the river. There were even one or two benches along the way too! We’ve always wanted to walk along the river, but never found any obvious footpaths that we could get to, so this was a pleasant surprise! Eventually we hit a section of steps that lead us through a very narrow and very overgrown walkway, which finally bought us out to Bottom Lane – the site of the only Geocache on our trip.

The Geocache Adventure

We used the Geocache site as a place to hydrate and enjoy ten minutes rest, as we searched for the Geocache. If you are unfamiliar with Geocaching, it is essentially a game of ‘Hide and Seek’, where other Geocachers leave ‘caches’ around the country, with the GPS coordinates logged, and little clues, and other Geocachers have to find them. You can read about it in a bit more detail on our post here. The clue for this one was ‘on point’ and it was Dad who eventually found the smartly hidden Geocache – a natural looking rock-like number with a hidden hole for a micro geocache! We tried to add our name to the log sheet but it wouldnt work with any of our pens or pencil, so we packed it neatly away again and just did the logging on the app.

There were no swaps in this micro geocache, so we continued on with our journey, which eventually lead us to the Buntingsdale Hall Estate’s private driveway. This was another quiet walk, and well shaded in the heat. We met two very friendly walkers on this stretch, but no cars – I’m always fond of routes with no vehicle access!

Wrapping Up the Day

It was on this final stretch that the youngest was starting to get weary! The walk was now in an open field with the sun firmly above us, and it was getting pretty warm. I started a couple of “challenges” to help keep their minds off the walk – a great trick for when children start to moan or just need to be entertained. The first was the Colour Game – self explanatory, asking them to find something Red, then when they find that, choose another colour and so on. After a couple of rounds of this we moved onto a Scavenger Hunt style game, where I asked them to find something, like a ‘feather’, then when they find that, I say something else, such as ‘a smooth stone’, etc. They are silly little games but they worked well, and before we knew it, we were at the end of the field and onto another well shaded section.

This leads up through a Golf course, and the cool shady area was welcoming for all of us. We didn’t really need a distraction by this point, but the boys were busying themselves searching for stray golf balls all the way down the trail. We regularly walk this section and it’s almost a tradition for them to try and find one! It is meant to be one of the oldest Bridleways in the area, and we often see the local equestrians down this trail.

Eventually we got to the section where we had joined, and made the diversion to head back home again.

Family Feedback: Tern Valley Walk (West)

The boys told me that they both enjoyed this walk, despite the warm weather, and were both keen to do it again sometime! Their favourite part was finding the Geocache – I thought it might be the more jungly areas, or being by the river, but I’m so pleased that the novelty of Geocaching hasn’t worn off yet! My youngest still requests “Geocache Walks”, so we are trying to ensure we get a good mix of new walks for us all to try, as well as ensuring there are some Geocaches along the way. Geocaching is also a great way to break up a longer walk, so it doesn’t seem so long!

It was also lovely to do something as a whole family. I’m lucky that I can work my day job around the children and the holidays, but my husbands job isn’t so flexible and his role often sees him out of the house, so our ‘full family’ walks are restricted to weekends and holidays – but that just means we all appreciate them that much more!

The weather was absolutely brilliant, especially as I have been moaning about the relentless wet weather we have had up until recently! With that in mind, don’t ever forget to ensure you pack for the right weather conditions, whatever the length of your walk. What are your must haves for walks with children?

TOTAL MILES: 5.54 | TOTAL TIME: 2 hours