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Telford & East Shropshire Group

We are the Telford & East Shropshire Ramblers. We open the way for everyone in our local community to enjoy the pleasures of walking.

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Join the Ramblers and enjoy

  • unlimited free access to 50,000 Ramblers group walks
  • a library jam-packed with thousands of tried-and-tested routes
  • a welcome pack teeming with top tips plus our Walk magazine
  • exclusive discounts from our partners
  • knowing your support is opening up more places to walk and helping more people discover the joy of walking
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Overview

Nesscliffe Hills and the Cliffe Countryside Heritage Site is 70 hectares including wooded hills and a heather covered ridge, and gives expansive views over the Shropshire countryside and Welsh hills.

Sunday, 21 September 2025
Start time:
10:00 am
Estimated finish time:
3:00 pm
Difficulty:
Moderate
Distance:
10.6km / 6.6mi
Ascent:
196m / 643ft
Type:
circular

Nesscliffe Hills and the Cliffe Countryside Heritage Site covers two wooded hills and a heather covered ridge, and gives expansive views over the Shropshire countryside and Welsh hills.

Visitors have a 70 hectare area of mixed woodland and heathland to explore; that’s about the size of 140 football pitches! Within the site there is an iron age hill fort, a series of impressive quarries which supplied stone for some of Shropshire’s castles and churches, and a cave hewn into the sandstone, which is said to have been the hideout of the medieval outlaw Humphrey Kynaston. There is a wealth of evidence of human activity stretching back 3000 years including saw pits where trees were planked by hand on site, world war two trenches, squatters cottages, an observation post and a terrace where archery competitions were held two hundred years ago. Many of these features are not obvious but visitors can have fun searching for them.

The natural heritage of the site includes an extensive area of lowland heath and mixed woodland with an unusually wide variety of conifer trees, almost an arboretum. The variety of habitats including ponds and steep cliffs gives rise to a wide variety of wildlife, particularly birds and insects. The Cliffe heathland is a rare habitat nationally and looks stunning in August when the purple heather is in flower.

The site has an extensive network of tracks, paths and trails giving a variety of walking and riding experiences from level tracks to steep narrow footpaths suitable for all different ages and abilities.

Walk suitable for well behavied dogs who are not reative to livestock. 

There is the potential to extend the walk into Ryton-XI-Towns if walkers want to visit the 12th Century church and medieval castle ruins. At the end of the walk, there will be the opportunity to explore some of the parts of the Heritage Site not visited during the walk.

The Ramblers now operates a Walk Leader to participant ratio, please book on with the leader prior to the walk to reserve your place.

Features

  • Car parking available
  • Dog friendly
  • No Stiles

Starting point

Grid reference:
SJ 38974 19859
Nearest postcode:
SY4 1DG
what3words:
rivals.valid.udder
Start time:
10:00 am

Pines car park, Nesscliffe Hills Countryside Park

Join the Ramblers and enjoy

  • unlimited free access to 50,000 Ramblers group walks
  • a library jam-packed with thousands of tried-and-tested routes
  • a welcome pack teeming with top tips plus our Walk magazine
  • exclusive discounts from our partners
  • knowing your support is opening up more places to walk and helping more people discover the joy of walking