Long Mynd Wild Camping Trip - Ashlet
Still on a mission to capture some of the best views in Shropshire, it was time to once again head out for a night of wild camping on the Long Mynd.
Here’s the video. A large chunk of it is the usual near-silent jobby with no talking and no music, and then there’s a BTS talking bit at the end. I do the near-silent bit with just authentic sounds, in this case mostly wind, and then the BTS section as an off-the-cuff one-shot piece. It is what it is.
Long Mynd Wild Camping Video - Ashlet Hill
It’s worth a watch, but read on for slightly more info along with some maps, images, and musings -
It’s January, and the weather forecast was a bit dodgy. We’re in the midst of another cold spell again here in the UK, with ambient temperatures down below zero, and some bitterly cold northerly winds. Whatever, I packed a load of warm gear into a bergen and headed for Chruch Stretton.
Paul, (That unfit bloke outdoors on YouTube) tipped me off with a nice spot on Ashlet Hill, and some parking too. I ended up parked in a nice easy spot on Rectory Wood & Field car park.
From here it was a little walk up the Cunnery Road before slipping in between a few houses to follow a trail marked as a public footpath to Town Brook Hollow. It took me up a load of steps that tested the lungs, and then swerved around a few no public right of way signs for private property. No problem though, this footpath is legit to use.
These steps brought me out onto the Long Mynd proper, and then it was just a short walk West up onto higher ground. The weather started to clear up a bit and views back over Church Stretton town started to develop.
The whole reason for choosing this specific location was for this view of Church Stretton. I needed it with some establishing landscape around it that says “The Shropshire Hills'“, so it was fingers crossed for the weather.
The forecast was that the low cloud would clear, but bring with it some gusty winds and cold temperatures. Wind chill would be well below -10c on the summit, and the wind speed would likely be up above 25 knots, but I fancied my chances of bagging some clear night skies. Something that has evaded me on my last couple of trips up onto the Long Mynd.
Previously, just a week or so ago, I’d been clagged in on Caer Caradoc, yes, that hill above Church Stretton in the above image, once again shrouded in cloud.
And then the time before that was a bit rough too. But I often find the best conditions are to be found just before or just after bad weather, and things were looking good. I plodded on up towards Yearlet, and took a left turn to the south along the ridge to Ashlet. Here’s the map, with red showing the route I took -
I made the very summit of Ashlet Hill my wild camping spot, just as the winds began to rise. It was perhaps 10 knots with occasional gusts to 20 knots, so not too bad. I was using the MSR Elixir 1 tent, which I don’t particularly like being out in strong winds with, but ah well. There were great night shots to be had over Church Stretton, so I took the wind risk and pitched the tent.
I like the MSR Elixir tents. I’ve used the Elixir 3 for what must now be 50+ nights, and it’s brilliant. Perfect for a 6ft 2” 17 stone bloke who likes to hike with enough camera gear to film a feature film, and without the gear, has that tardis-like feel that’s perfect for taking out my two boys, or as something a bit nicer in poor weather. Sitting in the MSR Elixir 3 in bad weather always feels great.
Anyway, today though, it was the MSR Elixir 1. This little thing is great too, and I gave it a nice wind test. Take a look at the video for that, at the end of the near-silent section you’ll see it filmed with 20-30 knot gusts ripping through. It did well.
I won’t go into too much detail about the overnight camping, you’ve probably heard it all before. Pot Noodle, steaks, no beer…
Then the skies cleared up and allowed for some pretty incredible night skies. The Long Mynd is a great place for a bit of astrophotography, so I filled my boots well into the night…
I then removed those now rather cold boots, and replaced them with my new down booties. Yes, you read that right, this old rough-looking bloke, wild camping adventurer, military veteran, who thinks he’s all manly, eats a lot of steak and eggs and squats 200kg…. wears down booties. They’re new, and I get bad toes, and I don’t care what you think.
My cute little duck down booties for tiny soft girl toes AMAZON LINK
The temperature was down near -7c on the summit, and with the windchill, I’d easily put it at -15c. I spent the baltic astrophotography session wearing my Buffalo shirt, a down jacket, and then a big double-layered winter coat that I was given in Korea, (I had -37c there!). Two layers of gloves, a beanie hat, and down trousers on top of insulated trousers. I still wasn’t particularly warm, that wind was rather nippy, but it was manageable.
Manageable, but I was pleased to turn into my sleeping bag. Which, by the way, is a summer sleeping bag. Yes, I’m using a summer sleeping bag in -15c winter conditions. That’s just how I like to do it.
I use this one… it’s a fairly cheap goose-down ultralight bag made by Aegismax.
The reason I like this one is that I like to use layers. This is how I was taught back in the day, and this is how I operate now. The small size, lightweight and low cost is a bonus, but having the ability to add or remove layers is what it’s all about for me. I adjust my sleeping system depending on the weather, and so in this case I slept in most of my clothes, in a thermal sleeping bag liner, in this summer sleeping bag, and on a cheap foil roll mat. Simple, and I was toasty and warm. It’s easy to adjust up or down by adding an extra liner, or removing a layer of clothing. I’d much rather this than use a super-duper heavy-lined Rab bag that costs more than my car.
Anyway, maybe I’ll discuss my wild camping sleeping system more in the future, I’m old-fashioned on this, but for now let’s crack on.
Let me share with you another night view. It shows the tent on Ashlet Hill, the lights of Church Stretton under Caer Caradoc, and a clear night sky. Wild camping…. does it get any better than this? (Temperature aside)
That’s a headtorch BTW, not a lightsabre.
Here’s another one, with the Space X Starlink satellites rising up over Pole Bank. A marvellous sight…
After the remainder of that long cold -15c January night in my summer sleeping bag, I woke up to a cracking pre-dawn sky and some yet stronger wind gusts.
Let me tell you about a strange little event that then unfolded…
I got out of the tent into that bitterly cold wind to take a leak and look around. The lights of the commuter’s cars were lighting up the A roads in the distance, and the thought of hot coffee and a bacon sandwich filled me we deep joy as the wind nipped at my twig and berries.
I turned to the left and saw, maybe 200 metres or so away, a group of wild ponies, maybe 8 of them, staring at me in the low light. For the ponies, the up-until-now-closed tent door was now flapping viscously and loudly in the gusty wind, and there was me standing beside it with a camera and tripod in his hands.
They all suddenly started sprinting towards me. 150 metres away. 100 metres away. 75 metres away.
I’d like to think I’m not a wuss, and I spend a lot of time with racehorses, but I’m not gonna lie, I felt a bit intimidated. Maybe they caught me off guard.
50 metres away.
I was about to jump into the tent and use that 1mm flexible tent material to protect me from the big scary Long Mynd monsters when I found my balls and decided to stand my ground. My tripod was fitted out in off-road mode, with sharp spikey feet instead of the usual rounded rubber versions, so I waved this in the air and made a bit of noise.
Think Braveheart or 300…
They then stopped to a sharp halt maybe 5-10 metres away, sniffed the air for 30 seconds, turned on their heels and immediately sprinted off back in the direction they had come from, a few hundred metres over the hills. I’m not gonna lie. I got my heart pumping, but it was a nice sight, even if I was ready to unleash hell with a spiked foot Benro tripod.
Don’t let my tale of the evil Long Mynd wild ponies put you off. It’s a great place for a hike and wild camp, with awesome views and a real opportunity for solitude. I didn’t see another soul the whole time I was there. It’s January, but still, not bad for wild camping in England.
The temperature sucked, but the hot coffee and morning bacon sandwich more than topped off another successful wild camping photography trip on the Long Mynd. I highly recommend watching my video if you have the time, and in 4K on the telly if you have the technology.
Cheers
Chris
Long Mynd Wild Camping Video