On Saturday 17th June we were delighted to launch the latest in our series of self-guided walk leaflets - the Walk through Bridgnorth’s Green Spaces - which has been produced in partnership with South Shropshire Climate Action, Sustainable Bridgnorth and Bridgnorth Library with the support of other groups including Shropshire Wildlife Trust, Energize, Bridgnorth Town Council, Community Resource and Buglife. 

15 of us turned up in the first rains we had had in June for the inaugural walk which was led by the Chair of Shropshire Wildlife Trust, Bridgnorth branch.  The walk was done at a leisurely pace, taking 2 hours to explore the green spaces around Bridgnorth’s High and Low Town including churchyard gardens, parks, a riverside walk, and the old alleys and paths in the town.   During the walk we saw house martins swooping around Bridgnorth Bridge and geese and their baby goslings resting on the banks of the River Severn.  A kingfisher was seen by one of the party darting under the bridge. We heard chiff chaff, wren and greenfinch from a spot overlooking the cliffs on the other side of the river which are also the haunt of peregrine falcons.

A pitstop was made halfway round the walk at Our Green Shop (Bridgnorth’s zero waste refill shop) to buy much needed refreshments and snacks. We then headed back up to the High Town and leant about the fascinating history of the town and the history of Bridgnorth Libraries from members of Sustainable Bridgnorth and Emma Spenser, Branch Manager, Bridgnorth Library & Visitor Information Point.  We finished with a stroll through Castle Park Gardens, where the second Bridgnorth Green Festival will be held on Saturday 9th September, and viewed the bug house and swallow boxes installed in the grounds of St Mary’s Church.

If you are interested in doing the walk around Bridgnorth you can find the walk leaflet on the South Shropshire Climate Action website. The walk contains a variety of accessible route and more strenuous routes which include steps. 

The original walk leaflet, A Walk through Ludlow’s Green Spaces has also recently been revised and updated and can be accessed via the SSCA website too.

We hope both walks will be used by people and groups of all ages to promote their physical and mental wellbeing through connecting people to the pockets of Nature that exist in our urban spaces and to promote sustainable tourism in south Shropshire.  The more people connect to, and care about, Nature, the more they will act to protect it.