Thinking of planning an overnight trip in the area, is there enough decent riding for 2 days? I hear a lot of good things about Minton Batch so will be including that. Any suggestions on the best base?

Plenty of riding. How about stopping in one of the log cabins next to Blazing Bikes at Marshbrook. Pub there too.
http://www.shropshire-outdoor.com/

log cabin….he he…. they are wooden tents 😀

Yeah. Pod would be a better description I guess but they’re ok for a couple of nights.

Minton Batch is fine when dry but it can be like a stream, even when the top is dry. There doesn’t seem much logic to it either. Ridden in the rain and it’s fine, ridden in the sun after a few dry days and it’s a stream. 😕 I like the Cardingmill Valley descent but often full of walkers so leave it till the end of the day or hit it early morning.

There are a bunch of way marked routes that you can find out about on
http://www.mtb-shropshire.co.uk/trails/
Map: http://www.mtb-shropshire.co.uk/content/uploads/map5.jpg

Here’s some other routes on my site.
http://www.composite-projects.co.uk/mountain-biking/routes/long-mynd-routes/

Great riding & easy to follow trails!

DSC_0380 by oxym0r0n, on Flickr

Bridges pub is good for lunch, between Mynd and Slipperstones. Nice hot beef sandwich.

It’s pretty open on top, lots of steep sided valleys cutting into a whaleback ridge. You can do loads of really excellent trails. Nothing mega-rocky, mostly very fast with some pretty steep stuff.

A really good place to ride except if you like every descent to be a tech-fest.

Thanks guys, it’s looking good. Those pods look fine, and I’m guessing there won’t be a problem hauling the bikes in there too? Oxymoron I’ll be packing an OS map and ride a lot around the Beacons so navigation should hopefully not be an issue!

They’ve locked bikes up for us in the past.

They have secure bike storage.

Ahhh The long minge!

You almost don’t need an OS – the trail map & numbered markers ed most of the work for you

This might help:

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/long-mynd-bbs-and-tech-level#post-4528472