On a Thursday made a bride,
On a Thursday broke her leg,
And on a Thursday died.'
'Hesba Stretton,' the novelist, took her pen-name from this village, where she lived for many years.
Near Church Stretton the site of Brockhurst Castle is passed over. Bodbury Ring, to the left beyond Church Stretton, is said to have been occupied by Ostorius Scapula previous to his great battle with Caractacus. The site of the engagement is on the right, and a mile farther on the road leads under Caer Caradoc Hill, 1,506 feet high, with a perfect camp, vallum, and ditches upon the summit, wherein Caradoc entrenched himself previous to the fight. The district under the Long Mynd is extremely picturesque, with deep gullies and cross valleys running into the great ridge, whose elevation in places reaches to 1,600 feet. It is a paradise for geologists, deposits emerging from underneath the Silurian which are of more than ordinary interest. The Caradoc Range is an old volcanic outburst. The line of the Roman road traversing the valley already mentioned may be noted running parallel with the railway.
(For description and plan of Shrewsbury, see [pp. 76-79].)
LOOP No. 6—SECOND PORTION
SHREWSBURY TO HEREFORD, 81¼ MILES
DISTANCES ALONG THE ROUTE
| Miles. | ||
| Shrewsbury to Buildwas | 11 | ¾ |
| Buildwas to Ironbridge | 2 | |
| Ironbridge to Bridgnorth | 7 | ¾ |
| Bridgnorth to Birdsgreen | 7 | |
| Birdsgreen to Kidderminster | 7 | ¼ |
| Kidderminster to Worcester | 14 | ½ |
| Worcester to Malvern | 8 | ¼ |
| Malvern to Ledbury | 8 | |
| Ledbury to Hereford | 14 | ¾ |