Towards the end of 2016 the Outdoor Partnerships Team was approached by a resident in Marton, a village in Chirbury and Brompton Parish, who was interested in forming a P3 group to help improve access and possibly develop some routes across the parish which could be promoted to draw walkers into the area.  There was formerly a group in the Parish but it has since disbanded. It was highlighted that there were a number of issues which needed addressing, these were identified through a series of walks/surveys undertaken by the group of residents who were also keen to get involved with the scheme.  In a Parish as big as this one it is difficult to know where to start but an area to the north west of Marton village showed it had potential for a number of different circular routes of varying lengths.  Andy Lipa, Area Right of Way Officer, spent some time negotiating the work with the Landowners in the area to get approval for the improvements to be made.   In May, once the land had dried up sufficiently to get vehicle access, the first work day with the group got underway.  Eight volunteers came along on the day to upgrade two stiles to gates, under the guidance of Helen Beresford and Andy Lipa, on a beautifully sunny day.  The work went very well and the gates have made a vast improvement to access, particularly for those who struggle to get over stiles (see before and after photos above).  The plan is to continue with replacing the next two stiles gates along this route and also to make repairs to a number of stiles higher up along the ridge of Stockton Wood.

Whitchurch Walkers P3 are a well established group who have been improving access in their Parish for a number of years.  Last year alone they contributed 583 volunteering hours, one of the highest totals of all our P3 groups.  This year they have hit the ground running again going out in all weathers to help keep the network open and accessible, here's a bit of what they've been up to in the words of their coordinater Neil Moore.

"Over the last couple of months we have been as busy as ever with the installation of gates, stiles & way marking posts as well as clearing overgrowth, fallen trees etc. one job that was completed by our group and 2 of the rights of way team was a 14ft sleeper bridge across a brook which hadn’t seen a crossing for a long while, but with the help of Helen and Steve as well as Martin from Whixall P3 group we managed it in record time, so now we just need to install gates at either end to complete the job. Fortunately the landowner is very happy for this to happen so the list lengthens!."

You can see what the group have been up to on the Whitchurch Walkers Facebook page.

Shrewsbury Ramblers P3 have been doing their bit around the County in Stapleton and Hughley.  The group is quite unique in that, although based in Shrewsbury, they are readily available to go to wider parts of the County to help to work on improvements on the network.  The willingness of the group to work further afield is invaluable to the Outdoor Partnerships department as it helps us to plug the gaps there are in the P3 coverage of Shropshire.  The recent work in Stapleton involved clearing fallen trees, repairing a stile and installing a new bridge where the existing one had rotted through.

In Hughley, bridge repairs were also on the agenda as one had been washed 200 metres downstream after wet weather.  The group had to retrieve the bridge, drag it back to its original location and reinstall it on higher pads to help avoid a repeat of its previous escape.

To keep up with the latest on the groups activity visit their Facebook page 

Carl Stanton MBE has been the long standing coordinator of Montford Countryside Society/P3 contributing many hours annually to maintaining and improving the Rights of Way in and around his area.  He has also worked closely with Nesscliffe and District Bridleways Group to do fantastic work on bridleways in Montford Parish, mowing and clearing fallen branches and debris from routes, ensuring hedges are cut, damaged and broken signs replaced, and the routes kept clear for users to enjoy  

Carl also played his part in creating Shropshire's newest long distance bridleway the Humphrey Kynnaston Way.  To recognise his efforts Mark Weston, Director of Access, British Horse Society, presented Carl with the BHS Access Achievement Awards. 

Everyone at Outdoor Partnerships would like to extend their gratitude for the many hours of hard work Carl has contributed to keeping the Rights of Way network open over the years. 

Thanks to a grant from the Tesco Bags of Help Scheme, the Friends of Stanmore Country Park have teamed up with Shropshire Council’s Outdoor Partnerships Team, a local graphics company and a local historian to design and install new interpretation panels in the Country Park.

Until now there has only been one information board at the park giving very limited information. The new boards number six in total and form a circular walk around the site at different points of interest. We are most grateful to local historian Gwynne Chadwick who runs the RAF Bridgnorth webpage. Gwynne was very helpful in locating where former buildings were on the site and also for providing us with old photographs of the site in RAF days. These photos, together with information about how the site is managed today have been included on the boards to tell the story of the site. Also thanks must go to Kyoti Graphics who designed all the panels and arranged for their manufacture. The boards have a border in RAF colours and also include a map of the site so people can find their way around.

On Sunday 14th May the volunteer group were joined by volunteers from Severn Valley Country Park and installed the boards in the ground. All the boards are designed to be at a height suitable for wheelchair users as the main paths are flat and suitable for wheelchairs. The kissing gates at Stanmore can be opened with a RADAR Key for ease of access.

The Friends of Stanmore meet most moths of the year and carryout conservation work on the site and also hold special events at certain times of year. New volunteers are always welcome! For more information click on this link and

We are always looking for new volunteers at our country parks, please call 01746 781192 for further information or visit our volunteering webpage.

Shropshire Council’s Outdoor Partnerships Team in Bridgnorth have launched a second day of volunteering at it sites in South Shropshire and are looking for new people to join its weekly group.

Until now a volunteer group has been active every Tuesday for over 20 years and we have now reached capacity for that day. A new group has been set up on Thursdays and so far we have five to six regular members and we would love to have more people join our band of helpers.

The group meets every Thursday, 9am – 3.30pm, mainly at Severn Valley Country Park at Alveley, between Bridgnorth and Kidderminster, but the group will also work on other Country Parks and Nature Reserves in the local area from time to time.

Volunteers are asked to wear old clothes and steel toe capped boots, bring waterproofs and a packed lunch and drink.

Tasks can include anything form coppicing in our woodlands, building fences, vegetation management to helping with large events such as our 10K Trail Run.

Please call 01746 781192 to register your interest and for further information.

All the teams have been out  looking for curlew again this year. Miles of paths have covered searching for the bird around Pontesbury and Worthen, as well as further south around Silverton Common and Bitterley, unfortunately all was quiet. They’ve also been checking bird boxes for pied flycatcher and redstart numbers down at Ratlinghope. While the flycatchers were evident in a few boxes the blue tits had bought up most of the real estate in the area.

All the teams have also been working alongside Caring for God’s Acre in keeping many church yards from completely over growing and enabling ideal habitats for many wildlife species. This also includes working with Shrewsbury Council’s Countryside and Green Spaces team at Longden Cemetery. The National Trust continues to welcome the teams on the Long Mynd and at Dudmaston, whether it is cutting back the hillsides of bracken or laying down woodchip and clearance work for children’s play areas. Natural England at Whixhall Moss have also welcomed our efforts to clear the mosses of encroaching silver birch.

Not your shy and retiring types, the teams certainly like to get around. In the coming weeks the teams are helping out with a bit of Himalayan Balsam clearance for the Shropshire Hills AONB as well as more bracken work at Corbet woods. They will also be helping out with gate installation for the Shropshire Way Main Route. Finally, they are also now helping with the Outdoor Partnership’s annual Rights of Way audit, which will tell us if access along our public paths has improved or declined. Lots more walking then!"

Whitchurch Walking Festival was used to launch Walk 11 in a series to commemorate the impact of the War in Shropshire.  It was fully booked and told the story of eight Whitchurch people whose lives were affected directly by the War.  The leaflet is available in Whitchurch library and the museum.  This picture was taken outside Richmond House, the home during the war of John Edgar Young.  He was a veterinary surgeon and enrolled for service in 1914.  He was awarded the Military Cross for an act or acts of exemplary gallantry during active operations against the enemy.  He also received the Victory Medal, The British Medal and 1914 Star.