National Cycle Route 44

National Cycle Network, Route 44, part of the National Cycle Network, connects Shrewsbury, Shropshire with Cinderford, Gloucestershire. The part of the route from Shrewsbury to Bromfield is signed - the remainder of the route is currently unsigned.

The section from Shrewsbury to Leominster is advertised as the Six Castles Cycleway. The six castles on or near the route are (in geographical order from north to south): Shrewsbury Castle, Bishop's Castle, Stokesay Castle, Ludlow Castle, Richard's Castle and Croft Castle.

Route

Shrewsbury-Bromfield

The route begins in Shrewsbury, one mile west of the town centre, where it links up with National Cycle Route 81. The formal start point of the route is on Shelton Road (the B4380), at the junction with Woodfield Avenue, where route 81 exists on its way between Shelton and the town centre. Route 44 heads southeast along the B4380 to Longden Road Roundabout, where it turns off onto Longden Road out of Shrewsbury, passing the Priory and Meole Brace secondary schools. The first village outside of Shrewsbury is Hook-a-Gate. After passing through Hook-a-Gate and the neighbouring hamlet of Annscroft, the route turns off along country lanes to Arscott and then Shorthill, where it meets the A488. The route crosses over the main road and along country lanes again to the large village of Pontesbury, where again it meets the A488.

After Pontesbury the route again follows country lanes and heads south to Habberley and then after this village, west to Minsterley, where the route again meets the A488. The route then heads along the B4499 to Priest Weston, on the Shropshire-Wales border, passing to the west of the Stiperstones hills. It briefly enters Powys, including the village of Churchstoke (or Church Stoke), where it meets the A489. After Church Stoke, the route is on country lanes again and heads roughly southeast to the small (English) town of Bishop's Castle.

After passing through Bishop's Castle and crossing the A488, the route then roughly runs southeast to Craven Arms, passing to the north of the village of Lydbury North and running through the hamlet of Round Oak. At Craven Arms the route crosses the Marches railway line and the busy A49 to the hamlet of Halford, after which it runs along the B4368 east-bound for a short distance, before heading south on a country lane to Onibury and after that village, southeast on another country lane, passing through Ludlow Racecourse and Golf Club, before reaching the village of Bromfield. At Bromfield is the Ludlow Food Centre and the route meets the A49 again.

Bromfield-Cinderford

After Bromfield it passes just to the west of the historic market town of Ludlow and then continues in a southerly direction into Herefordshire, first to Leominster (where the route goes through the town) and then to Hereford, where it joins up with National Cycle Route 46. After Hereford, route 44 heads in a roughly southeast direction to Cinderford, via Ross-on-Wye. At Cinderford it links up with National Cycle Route 42.

Regional Route 32/33

Originally the National Route 44 was planned to go Shrewsbury-Church Stretton-Craven Arms (and then continuing to Cinderford as above) but the section from Shrewsbury to Craven Arms was re-routed via Bishop's Castle. Instead the original Church Stretton route is now designated as a (West Midlands) regional route, numbered either 32 or 33. It is at present unsigned, but appears for example on the Six Castles Cycleway leaflet.

This regional route is not yet signed along the route. The first stage of signing is expected to be Shrewsbury to Church Stretton and would begin at Greyfriars Bridge close to the centre of Shrewsbury (where it connects with national route 81) and end at Church Stretton railway station, a length of around 15 miles. Almost all the route in on country lanes, as well as the cycle path along a disused railway trackbed in Shrewsbury, which takes the route across the Rea Brook and through Sutton Farm. The route however has to cross the busy A49 road and also runs for a short distance along the A458 near Shrewsbury.

Between Shrewsbury (Coleham) and Church Stretton, the route passes through the villages and hamlets of Betton Strange, Condover, Great Ryton (and Little Ryton), Longnor and All Stretton. The route is downhill from Church Stretton to Shrewsbury, descending from 190 metres (620 ft) to 55 metres (180 ft).

External links

Shropshire Council Six Castles Cycleway
Shropshire Cycling
Regional Route 32/33 (Google Maps)

Sustrans' National Cycle Network

Main routes	1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

National routes	11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 32 33 34 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 81 82 84 85 88 91 92 93 94 95 96

Regional routes	125 136 137 141 151 155 162 164 165 166 167 168 169 172 174 177 178 179 195 196 207 208 212 221 222 223 224 231 232 235 236 244 246 248 250 253 254 255 256 264 267 270 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 305 326 334 338 339 341 344 403 410 413 416 423 425 426 436 437 438 439 440 442 446 447 448 451 455 461 465 466 467 468 469 475 476 477 478 481 482 485 492 523 524 525 526 533 534 535 536 539 544 547 548 549 550 552 554 555 558 559 561 562 566 568 573 576 577 585 622 627 633 636 638 646 647 648 656 657 658 665 668 672 674 676 677 680 681 686 688 689 696 697 699 715 725 753 754 756 764 765 766 767 768 775 776 777 780 810 811 818 819 820 822 825 862 881 882 883 884 885 887

Coordinates: 52°23′13″N 2°45′50″W / 52.387°N 2.764°W / 52.387; -2.764

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