Farewell To Church Stretton

We left Church Stretton in early May with the expectation of not returning, at least not this year anyway.

Sadly, while we were in Austria Mary became aware that her aunt Helen had unexpectedly taken a turn for the worse, so we abandoned our plans for the rest of Austria and the south of France to be by Helen's side for her final days.

Church Stretton had certainly become picture postcard scenic since we left, as Spring rolled towards Summer.

Given that in a few weeks time we would be walking 117km over a week of the El Camino in Spain, we thought that, in between visits to Helen and working in the cottage garden, a bit of hill walking in Shropshire might be excellent training. Even better, just over the railway in Church Stretton is an iconic hill: Caradoc. Perfect! Let's climb that. 

Caradoc is hardly Mt Everest and, as is apparent in the photo above, is surrounded by fairly open farmland. While steep in places, we figured it would be a straightforward if slightly vigorous climb. 

We got lost.... 

Yes, in open farmland. 

Yes, we were not amused. 

The problem was that the online guides were gloriously vague in a very English manner. After all, this is a country where part of the official postal address for our accommodation was 'Near Church Stretton', and all the online guides were similarly imprecise. 

Yes, we could see the summit. What we couldn't see was the track, and staying on track was pretty much mandatory, due in part to a veritable plague of stinging nettles and in part to avoid upsetting the local farmers.

We thought "No problem, there will be track markers, so let's just find and follow those". The track markers were duly found, but proved to be even less helpful than the online instructions. They simply and very clearly directed us to the main road, not to the summit. 

In the end we completely ignored both the instructions and the track markers, and by doing so easily found the correct track to the summit! 

The views were as panoramic as expected, but on reflection it did not bode well for navigating the El Camino where there was no possibility of seeing the end point from the start of each day. Hmm.... 

We had to confess our shortcomings to one of the locals who was surprised to say the least... 

and who couldn't believe anyone could be that incompetent... 

To rub it in even further, she then told Helen all about this unfortunate incident, much to Helen's great amusement. 

After this, it was clear that we couldn't be trusted so, with the assistance of some other locals, we were given navigation lessons over the next few days... 

and steps were taken to ensure that in the future we exercised in a safe and supervised environment... 

Speaking of meeting locals, we spent a fair bit of time in Helen's garden, and while digging out the compost pile met another cute family:

I don't know why, but I always assumed shrews were larger, perhaps the size of a large rat. In fact they are tiny, smaller than the average mouse. I can report that all 5 in this family were safely rehoused... 

The shrews may or may not have appreciated our efforts, but by the time we had finished, the garden was looking very trim, tidy and inviting:

Mary also took in some of the flowers to the nursing home every day, much to Helen's delight. 

The other 'garden' task we had to perform was a bit more solemn, to select a burial plot that met Helen's specific requirements. The South Shropshire Remembrance Park proved to be the perfect garden. 

This may seem a bit macabre, however it was of very significant concern to Helen, who wanted a Green Burial. This Remembrance Park is in native woodland, literally with wild deer roaming free, and on a steep slope overlooking the Shropshire Hills that Helen loved so much. Helen was thrilled with Mary's choice, and overjoyed to know that, in the appropriate season, a native oak tree would be planted on the site. 

Essentially, our return to Church Stretton gave Mary the opportunity to tie off some loose ends that had really been worrying Helen, including the burial plot. 

A week or so later, with Mary by her side, Helen passed on. Mary arranged a beautiful service, and we laid Helen to rest. 

So it was a final goodbye to Helen, to Church Stretton, and to all the wonderful new friends Mary has made over the last 11 months.... 

Unless we have to return. 

Again.