It’s not long now until challenge day is upon us and whilst we have all been training hard individually it’s always good to come together as a group to tackle a hike and get those miles in! On 27th July three intrepid Rothley 3-Peakers (plus friend) made their way to Carding Mill Valley in preparation for the 3 Peaks Challenge raising funds for Headway Birmingham & Solihull.
As with all great adventures, the day started with an address mix-up, overpriced coffee, and light rain. Things quickly turned around though and before long the sun came out and we were off hiking the hills of England’s best county (that’s Shropshire by the way).
The hike set off on a steep incline on some rocky terrain before slowly levelling out onto grassy heathland. We were treated to the sight of wild horses and panoramic views of the majestic Shropshire hills. Further on in our expedition, we came across Waterspout waterfall, a four-meter natural water feature that, according to the National Trust website, Victorian visitors called a ‘miniature Niagara’. Having been to see Niagara Falls in person I can confidently say that those Victorian visitors definitely hadn’t.
Having sampled first-hand the healing waters of the falls, we made our way back up onto the heath. Not wanting to be restricted by directions we soon made the *collective* decision to go slightly off-piste. This lead to a few close encounters with sheep and and a brief moment of feeling lost before finding our way back on track.
Following a grassy path eventually lead us to Little Stretton, which may be a bit like regular Stretton, only littler. Little Stretton did have a nice pub though and after a short period of respite the four of us resumed our adventure. What we came to next was the similarly little village of Church Stretton, so named because its distinguishing feature is not its size but instead the fact that it has a church (and also a nice pub, coincidentally).
On the hike we learnt that Dom is in fact (probably) the fastest runner in the team (challengers welcome) – because for some people, not naming names… walking 12 miles just isn’t enough without some intermittent sprinting.
A wrong turn at the end of the walk led to a steep scramble down to the car park and a final distance of just under 12 miles.
If you would like to support the 3-Peaks team and raise funds for Headway Birmingham and Solihull please consider donating to our GoFundMe: https://www.gofundme.com/f/rothley-law-the-national-three-peaks
In addition, it’s not too late to sign up for our fundraising quiz on 29th August, click the link for more information and to get your tickets: Rothley Law Three Peaks Quiz Tickets, Thu 29 Aug 2024 at 17:00 | Eventbrite
Watch this space for updates on our fundraising efforts and hiking adventures.
