Easter Tour 2001

Four motorhomes and a car/caravan camped at a super site near Albrighton for Easter and along with four members who stayed in a hotel nearby made a total of 16 cyclists taking part. The site was in a quiet paddock attached to and almost disused livery yard and had views towards Cosford aircraft museum about half a mile away.

Easter Saturday took us west into a cool breeze towards Telford dropping to the river Severn down a steep poorly surfaced road containing a tricky right hand bend to Coalport. A narrow single-track bridge was negotiated over the river followed by an equally steep climb out of the valley up to Broseley.

The road continued to climb through attractive pine forests and then opened up giving marvellous views over the hills as we descended into Much Wenlock for lunch.

The old wooden framed houses in narrow streets make this quaint town very attractive. A short climb out of the town was followed by a long descent down a tree-lined valley to cross the Severn again at Buildwas. Then turning east down the side of the Severn took us to Ironbridge where we stopped for a while to admire Telfords famous structure.

Continuing on down the valley, the narrow road was severely affected by subsidence caused by the recent flooding. After passing a number of the old steel furnaces we turned north to climb out of the valley past the Bliss Hill archaeological site. With the wind now behind us we enjoyed an easy ride down pretty country lanes back to the campsite.