Wellington Shropshire

Jackfield/Coalport/Ironbridge walk

Wednesday 25th February 2015

The weather was kind to us and it was the perfect day for this walk.

Because of the very wet weather we had had we adapted our original route, which was exceptionally muddy and steep, to walk the lower path of Lloyd's Coppice.

We started our walk by tackling the steep steps behind the Bedlam Furnaces, to prepare us for any uphill climbs ahead! We then followed the road by the side of The Golden Ball (Wesley Road) with views across the river to the Jackfield Bridge.

At the end of the lane, we turned to walk up the path into Lloyd's Coppice. The path was very muddy and steep, but steps take you up the steepest parts. We emerged opposite the coach park for Blists Hill and crossed the road and turned onto the Silkin Way; from here on the route was an easy walk along to Coalport.

We crossed the river at the Memorial Bridge and stopped at Scarlett's Cafe in Maw's Craft Centre, where we had refreshments and took some time to plan our next walks.

Refreshed, we walked on, through the massive stabilisation works that are being done at Jackfield, and left them behind and continued along the path to the town of Ironbridge.

We crossed The Ironbridge, took the steps down to the river path and followed this along until it joined the road – and we had a short walk back to Bedlam Furnaces where we had parked.

We all enjoyed the walk and hope to tackle some longer, more challenging walks in the future.