The Walking Festival celebrates its 25th anniversary in 2025. This is quite an achievement for our community-led festival, and as you would expect we are celebrating in style. Alongside the usual prepping and planning for the 4-day Walking Festival in May, the Bishop’s Castle Walking Festival Committee were successful in securing funding to deliver a 25th anniversary project to celebrate the town’s heritage and walking.
Drovers Routes & Scots Pines
Bishop’s Castle has always been a place of hospitality to travellers on foot through the ages. Being on the border between England and Wales, the town is surrounded by old drove routes. In the days before tarmac roads and lorries, drovers would walk livestock (sheep, cattle, pigs, ponies and even geese) great distances to market towns and cities. Our project is researching and retelling these stories of the drovers and their routes.
Scots pines are a significant feature along drove routes. Clumps of Scots pines (and other conifer) were planted on hilltops as distinctive landmarks and for shelter. These pines are disappearing from our local landscape, so the project is also planting 25 Scots pine trees to replace the dying and fallen trees.
Drovers Routes & Scots Pines
Bishop’s Castle has always been a place of hospitality to travellers on foot through the ages. Being on the border between England and Wales, the town is surrounded by old drove routes. In the days before tarmac roads and lorries, drovers would walk livestock (sheep, cattle, pigs, ponies and even geese) great distances to market towns and cities. Our project is researching and retelling these stories of the drovers and their routes.
Scots pines are a significant feature along drove routes. Clumps of Scots pines (and other conifer) were planted on hilltops as distinctive landmarks and for shelter. These pines are disappearing from our local landscape, so the project is also planting 25 Scots pine trees to replace the dying and fallen trees.
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DROVER ROUTES
Community Spirit
Volunteers at the Bishop’s Castle Heritage Resource Centre are researching the old drover routes and creating an exhibition which will be on display in the town. The Chair of the Walking Festival and the Bishop’s Castle Parish Paths Coordinator have been liaising with local farmers and landowners about suitable locations for planting Scots pines. The Bishop’s Castle Parish Paths team and other volunteers are planting the trees this winter and will care for the saplings as they become established. Members of the Bishop’s Castle Footpath Walking Group are designing two new walking trails from the town which will use drover routes and pass close to the newly planted pines. Local designer, Dave Hand, is producing the leaflets and waymarkers to promote these new walks which will include QR codes to provide insights from the farmers involved in the project. Support is also being given by local businesses and individuals to enable these project activities
(list helpers/supporters here with links to their websites – see below)
The Castle Hotel - in Bishops Castle, Shropshire, has thirteen delightful en-suite bedrooms, three bustling bars, a fine oak panelled restaurant and one of the finest hotel gardens in Shropshire. Situated in a quiet little edge-of-town square too, so no passing traffic! Red Kites soar above the castle top terraced gardens. Dogs are very welcome and stay free of charge. We serve breakfast, lunch and dinner everyday.
Herbies - breakfast and brunch cafe.
Six Bells- a family friendly pub and cafe situated at the heart of Bishop’s Castle.
Sparc Theatre - provide high quality, accessible arts opportunities for people living in Bishops Castle and the wider south Shropshire area.
Town Hall & Visitor Information - 18th Century Grade ll* listed building which sits proudly at the top of the town with wonderful views of the town and countryside.
Training
As part of the project we have also held a number of training sessions for our walk leaders. The sessions have been well attended and included a training day to learn how to guide walkers with dementia and a 2-day first aid course specifically focussed on administering first aid outdoors in remote places.
Thank you
The Bishop’s Castle Walking Festival Committee would like to thank everyone involved in both the Walking Festival and this celebration project. Without your support the festival, fringe events and anniversary activities would not be possible.
The Celebrating 25 Years project is funded by the UK Government through the Vibrant Shropshire: a Cultural Compact Grant Scheme as part of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund. Funding and support has also been given by the Shropshire Hills Landscape Trust.
Volunteers at the Bishop’s Castle Heritage Resource Centre are researching the old drover routes and creating an exhibition which will be on display in the town. The Chair of the Walking Festival and the Bishop’s Castle Parish Paths Coordinator have been liaising with local farmers and landowners about suitable locations for planting Scots pines. The Bishop’s Castle Parish Paths team and other volunteers are planting the trees this winter and will care for the saplings as they become established. Members of the Bishop’s Castle Footpath Walking Group are designing two new walking trails from the town which will use drover routes and pass close to the newly planted pines. Local designer, Dave Hand, is producing the leaflets and waymarkers to promote these new walks which will include QR codes to provide insights from the farmers involved in the project. Support is also being given by local businesses and individuals to enable these project activities
(list helpers/supporters here with links to their websites – see below)
The Castle Hotel - in Bishops Castle, Shropshire, has thirteen delightful en-suite bedrooms, three bustling bars, a fine oak panelled restaurant and one of the finest hotel gardens in Shropshire. Situated in a quiet little edge-of-town square too, so no passing traffic! Red Kites soar above the castle top terraced gardens. Dogs are very welcome and stay free of charge. We serve breakfast, lunch and dinner everyday.
Herbies - breakfast and brunch cafe.
Six Bells- a family friendly pub and cafe situated at the heart of Bishop’s Castle.
Sparc Theatre - provide high quality, accessible arts opportunities for people living in Bishops Castle and the wider south Shropshire area.
Town Hall & Visitor Information - 18th Century Grade ll* listed building which sits proudly at the top of the town with wonderful views of the town and countryside.
Training
As part of the project we have also held a number of training sessions for our walk leaders. The sessions have been well attended and included a training day to learn how to guide walkers with dementia and a 2-day first aid course specifically focussed on administering first aid outdoors in remote places.
Thank you
The Bishop’s Castle Walking Festival Committee would like to thank everyone involved in both the Walking Festival and this celebration project. Without your support the festival, fringe events and anniversary activities would not be possible.
The Celebrating 25 Years project is funded by the UK Government through the Vibrant Shropshire: a Cultural Compact Grant Scheme as part of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund. Funding and support has also been given by the Shropshire Hills Landscape Trust.