What’s going for it? When I was a tweenie, I used to read the Lone Pine adventures by Malcolm Saville, tales of derring-do by a secret society of children in wartime Shropshire, set among the moorlands of Wenlock Edge and the Long Mynd. The landscape was as dramatic as the plotlines, a savage character in itself, thrilling to someone like me, exposed only to the benign hills of Buckinghamshire. Truth here follows fiction, or vice versa. Church Stretton itself might be a cute affair, a small, rather slumbering market town of delis and tea shops, decked out in black and white half-timbers. But the Victorians who flocked to the spa here, and began the rambling over the moors that continues to this day, nicknamed the area Little Switzerland. The Long Mynd won’t exactly give the Matterhorn an insecurity complex, but there is a touch of the incongruously wild and gothic about the Shropshire Hills, as if Heathcliff had got lost and wandered a bit far south.
The case against A little snoozesome. It lacks the cultural vibrancy of its neighbour, Ludlow.
Well connected? Trains: hourly-ish to Shrewsbury (15 minutes) and Crewe (50) and Manchester (100-130 minutes); or south to Ludlow (15), Hereford (41) and Cardiff (just under two hours). Driving: 25 minutes to Shrewsbury and Ludlow, 70 to Birmingham.
Schools Primaries: the town’s St Lawrence CofE is “good”, says Ofsted; as are nearby Rushbury CofE, Wistanstow CofE and Corvedale CofE. Secondaries: Church Stretton secondary (rated “good” by Ofsted); outside town are Mary Webb School in Pontesbury and the “good” Community College in Bishop’s Castle.
Hang out at… Berry’s is the local stalwart, for frothy coffee or something stronger. The Royal Oak in nearby Cardington is your ideal country pub for end-of-walk conk-outs.
Where to buy This is a small market town, so you can’t really go wrong. The old centre has Tudor cottages, Georgian town houses, gabled Victorians, plus Edwardians. The market, like the town, moves slowly. Check out surrounding villages too, or the even prettier, even more half-timbered Bishop’s Castle. Large detacheds and town houses, £400,000-£600,000. Detacheds, £240,000-£400,000. Semis, £180,000-£400,000. Terraces and cottages, £175,000-£250,000. Flats, £130,000-£250,000. Rentals: very, very little round here. A three-bedroom house might be £600pcm.
Bargain of the week Remove the PVC windows and you’ve got a period gem: three-bedroom semi for £149,950 with mccartneys.co.uk.
From the streets
John Whitelegg “It is a friendly, vibrant community in a truly beautiful area. The current problem is Shropshire Council’s plan to close our wonderful library in its present historic building – everyone has rallied round to ‘keep it where it is’.”
Emma Alston “The landscape is awesome. But it’s full of elderly folk.”
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- This article was amended on 29 October 2015. The town does have a secondary school: Church Stretton, on Shrewsbury Road.
