After a day's walk, a chance to relax and enjoy the company of other walkers and walk leaders. We have various events arranged during the Festival and feel sure they will be as popular as the walks. Evening events fill up quickly so please don't leave it too late!
WEDNESDAY 14TH MAY 2025
6 - 7.30pm, Welcome Evening.
Join us for a warm welcome at the Castle Hotel gardens and meet some of the walk leaders and fellow Festival walkers. Enjoy the fine views from the gardens, take a look at our exhibition retelling the stories of the old drover routes that surround the town and find out more about our 25th Anniversary Celebrations.
The Castle Hotel is at the top of the town, SY9 5BN.
Join us for a warm welcome at the Castle Hotel gardens and meet some of the walk leaders and fellow Festival walkers. Enjoy the fine views from the gardens, take a look at our exhibition retelling the stories of the old drover routes that surround the town and find out more about our 25th Anniversary Celebrations.
The Castle Hotel is at the top of the town, SY9 5BN.
|
|
THURSDAY 15TH MAY 2025
|
4 -5pm, Bishop’s Castle Town Tour.
Discover the history, buildings and layout of this 'plantation market town' and hear about some of the characters and events that shaped it. Meet at the Lytchgate of St Johns church at the lower end of town. Cost £3 per person – just turn up and please pay the guide. |
|
Film - I'll Push you - SpArc
|
SPECIAL opening by House on Crutches Museum - Friday 16th May 2025
|
"In addition to its regular opening on a Saturday and Sunday afternoon between 1.30 and 4.30 pm, the House on Crutches Museum will be open during the Walking Festival on Friday 16th May between 3.00 and 5.30 pm. This small and characterful museum is devoted to the history of Bishop's Castle and the local area. Among the displays is one telling the history of droving, how it affected the growth and development of the town, and the legacy that can still be seen today. Admission is free but donations are welcome as they are relied on to keep the museum open." |
FRIDAY 16TH MAY 2025
7pm, ‘Along the Stony Ridge’ Illustrated talk by Ric Morris.
Enjoy this beautiful landscape from a different perspective. Ric will regale his tales and views along the Stiperstones ridge from a hot air balloon. Sit back and enjoy as we explore the Shropshire Hills with our feet up.
In 1998, local photographer Ric Morris teamed up with Ian Bridge, six times national champion hot-air balloon pilot and local operator of Espiritu Balloon Flights. Over the next eleven years they worked together to build an impressive portfolio of aerial photography of the south Shropshire landscape in all seasons. Many of these images now appear in a host of Ric's beautiful photography presentations.
For this recently revived talk, we will drift back in time to a sunny evening in the late summer of 2001, flying south in a highly manoeuvrable small-basket balloon along the west side of the Stiperstones ridge from Plox Green to Bishops Castle and beyond, under the expert pilotage of Ian Bridge.
Our gorgeous local countryside and villages change subtly with the passing seasons and years, and as these are all photographs from almost 25 years ago, why not spend an evening enjoying the landscape of our recent past from a whole new perspective?
Doors open at 7pm for 7.30pm start at the Bishop’s Castle Town Hall, SY9 5BG. Cost £5 in advance and £7 on the door.
Shelve Pool and Corndon in the background
SATURDAY 17TH MAY 2025
Festival Dinner - Church Barn
Join walks leaders for a three-course celebratory Festival Dinner, with some added fizz and sparkle. The event will look back over the last twenty-five years, but also to the future, and there will be lots of walk-talk!
Doors open at 7pm and dinner at 7.45pm, Church Barn, Bishop’s Castle SY9 5AF. Cost: Starter and main £15, main and pudding £15, and three courses £18; includes a celebratory drink for all guests. We will also have a bar to buy drinks from.
STARTERS: Leek and Potato Soup with Cottage Roll or Prawn Cocktail with Granary Bread
MAIN COURSE: Chicken Fillets Stuffed and Wrapped in Smoked Bacon served with seasonal Vegetables
Vegetarian Nut Roast with Vegetables
Pudding: Apple Crumble and Custard or Meringues with Fresh Fruit
Cost £15.00, Starter and Main or Main and Pudding / £18.00, 3-courses
Doors open at 7pm and dinner at 7.45pm, Church Barn, Bishop’s Castle SY9 5AF. Cost: Starter and main £15, main and pudding £15, and three courses £18; includes a celebratory drink for all guests. We will also have a bar to buy drinks from.
STARTERS: Leek and Potato Soup with Cottage Roll or Prawn Cocktail with Granary Bread
MAIN COURSE: Chicken Fillets Stuffed and Wrapped in Smoked Bacon served with seasonal Vegetables
Vegetarian Nut Roast with Vegetables
Pudding: Apple Crumble and Custard or Meringues with Fresh Fruit
Cost £15.00, Starter and Main or Main and Pudding / £18.00, 3-courses