Shropshire: a secret showpiece
LOOKING OUT from the tower of Stokesay Castle on a lovely sunny autumn morning, the panorama encapsulates everything expected of the English landscape.
It is a 360-degree view, too. To the north-west over the squat tower of the church of St Lawrence are green folds of gentle hills with darker patches of native woodland. Beyond those you can see the blue outlines of the Welsh Cambrian Mountains.
Turn clockwise and you can look over the rooftop of the half-timbered gatehouse where a wood climbs up the valley side. The mild weather means the leaves have not yet started to turn. It just needs a touch of frost to create a riot of colour.
Move your perspective further and the view is of farmland along the valley of the River Onny that runs past the castle until it joins the River Teme and onwards to flow into the River Severn at Worcester.
But it’s not just the view:
