17/03/2024
Extract From an article on "The best places to live in the UK" in the Sunday times today :- As it says if you want to get lost in nature and nuture your creative side - i'll go with that
Why the Shropshire Hills is one of the best places to live 2024
If you want to get lost in nature and nurture your creative side, head for these hills
In the Shropshire Hills you’ll find lush valleys and big skies
In the Shropshire Hills you’ll find lush valleys and big skies
EDDIE CLOUD/ALAMY
Tim Palmer
Friday March 15 2024, 6.00am, The Sunday Times
Shhh! Hardly anyone is in the know about this enchanting landscape. For all the beauty of the scenery and direct trains to Manchester, Crewe and Cardiff, few tourists come this way, and there’s a sense of space that’s hard to find elsewhere in England. Here you’ll discover lush valleys, big hills and bigger skies whose strange rocky outcrops and names — the Stiperstones, the Long Mynd — add an air of mystery.
Incomers to the handful of characterful towns and villages have up to now mostly been adventurous retirees who fell under their spell en route to Eryri (Snowdonia). That’s changing. Reprogramming the family for a wholesome, outdoor life of adventure is easier when you only have to go into the office once or twice a fortnight.
Church Stretton is a neat, well-mannered little town with useful independent shops and restaurants, full of new downsizers sporting puffy walking jackets. It is also known as Little Switzerland for its fresh air and easy access to countless glorious walks.
Wander around Stretton Antiques Market, enjoy a peaceful coffee at The Maltings Cafe in Clun, or simply admire the scenery near Church Stretton
Wander around Stretton Antiques Market, enjoy a peaceful coffee at The Maltings Cafe in Clun, or simply admire the scenery near Church Stretton
ALAMY
The bold option is quirky Bishop’s Castle. More handknit than Gore-Tex, it’s a town bursting with character behind its rough-and-ready façade. From houses painted with spots or a giant zip and an elephant-themed art trail (in honour of circus animals stabled here during the Second World War to avoid city air raids), they do things differently here. The star of the high street is the Poetry Pharmacy, a bookshop and café where bottles of poetic remedies for a broken heart or existential angst are dispensed, the words of wisdom rolled up inside pill capsules. Life is one long round of crafts, festivals and concerts, and storytelling sessions in the town hall, thanks to the energy of a population with an unconventional approach to life.
Behind the eccentric exterior, BC also scores highly on practical appeal. There’s a post office and a bank (HSBC), both endangered species in a town of this size, as well as a leisure centre with a swimming pool.
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If you really want to get away from it all, tiny Clun is the place for you, beautiful, timeless and still: as the poet AE Housman wrote of Clun in his 1896 collection, A Shropshire Lad, one of the “quietest places/ Under the sun”.
What are the best shops and restaurants in the Shropshire Hills?
The nearest big supermarkets are in Shrewsbury or Ludlow, but day-to-day needs can easily be met in Church Stretton or Bishop’s Castle. Church Stretton is all indies, apart from a useful Co-op, including a good bakery (Mr Bun the Baker) and an excellent deli (Saxtons), along with Vine & Co, the general store which claims that it sells “just about anything — and if we don’t have it, just ask”. Heather & Batch is a great spot for coffee or brunch. Bishop’s Castle has a Co-op and a Spar, and an excellent café in the Happy Bap. The pub scene is lively: try the Three Tuns, or the Crown & Anchor Vaults for live music.
If you want to get lost in nature and nurture your creative side, head for these hills
