Long Mynd

The Long Mynd is a ridge about eleven kilometres long rising to 516 metres at Pole Bank, built of Precambrian sediments around 560 million years old, among the oldest rock in England. Its eastern flank is cut by steep dry valleys called batches or hollows, of which Carding Mill Valley is the best known, named for the wool processing once done in it. The Portway, an ancient trackway, runs along the crest and has been in use since the Bronze Age. The Midland Gliding Club has flown from the western edge since 1934, using the ridge lift that the escarpment generates in a westerly, and gliders are a normal sight overhead. Red grouse, whinchat and ring ouzel breed on the heather, and the ridge is grazed by hill ponies.

What you actually see

• The batches - steep dry valleys cutting into the eastern flank.
• The Portway - a Bronze Age trackway along the crest.
• The gliding club - ridge soaring from the western edge since 1934.
• The Precambrian rock - sediments around 560 million years old.

When to go

April to October; heather colours the ridge purple in August. Winter brings snow and the single-track road over the top closes or becomes dangerous. Weekday mornings in Carding Mill Valley are far quieter.

Honest expectations

Carding Mill Valley is very busy on summer weekends and its car park is charged and fills early. The road across the Mynd is single track with drops and few passing places, and drivers regularly get into trouble on it. The top is exposed with no shelter.

Nearby

Church Stretton is below; Stiperstones and Ludlow lie south.