I’ve booked the day off work to go biking next Wednesday & I’d like to try somewhere I’ve not been before. I live nr Stoke so was tossing up between Delamere or the Wrekin. Was tentatively leaning towards the Wrekin as obv more elevation.

Trying to plan a 3/4hr ride incorporating the wrekin so would welcome any tips/online route maps or any advice about the area.
There looks to be some trails in the Ercall just next to it so perhaps up n down the big hill by the same main track to start, thru ercall and loop back around up to wellington and then back through some wood labelled ‘Limekiln wood’ on an OS map, next to the golf course, possible cheeky?!
or on the other side after a bit of road there is a bridleway starting from a village called Uppington, that’d bring me back to the side of the Wrekin for a possible attempt at that side back to the top? possible?

Thanks all. 🙂

*watches with interest* I am moving over to that neck of the woods in a few weeks.

nowt wrong with the Wrekin, there are some good trails, but the good trails are not all on the map, and the whats on the map are often heavily walked. A local guide would be your best bet. the hill is private property and the owner has a fairly liberal view towards access – thank you sir.
also 3-4 hours might be a push.
If you haven’t done the Mynd-stiperstones-eastridge i’d recommend them, certainly fill your day.

I need this local knowledge 😀 (sorry for the thread hijack)

Wrekin has plenty of tracks about but its not really XC as such, more for sessioning dude or riding up and over. Ercall is good for get chased off cheek, or it used to be.

Is Ercall the hill next to Wrekin? Think there were some decent trails there I spotted when I went walking. Nice ride up and a decent ride down but a fair few walkers and dogs and no bike specific tracks as I recall.

Not local, but ridden round there a bit. Main drag up the Wrekin is a good climb, you’ll feel like a champion if you get up it in a oner. Dropping off it on the fp to the west is ok, very steep ( you can’t cycle up the Wrekin from this end AFAIK, it’s too steep). Local knowledge would help here for alternative descents.
The n side of the Ercall seems to be the local jump spot, loads of stuff there. A lot of fun if you can figure out some lines. You can get up top from round the back by the quarry, all fp stuff so not sure what the attitudes to access are.

The footpath running west to east through limekiln woods, to limekiln lane, is v good riding.

Yep, you don’t want to try and ride up the backside, and I don’t remember that trail being particularly great as a descent either (although it was terrifying on a 15sp Peugeot Ranger with steel rims in 1988!!).

There are certainly options for a way down, probably more that when I last rode there circa 2006, but if it’s a quiet day and you have a short travel bike / hardtail there’s something to be said for just blasting back down the rough fireroad, Repack style. Not really an option on a weekend though.

you don’t want to try and ride up the backside,

😯

Heh.

Morning Scruff!

I used to live in Wellington, so know the area well.

The Wrekin is great for a quick blast, but is not that big. Lots of great tracks all round the back, so go exploring. Pretty difficult to get lost, but, it’s gets VERY busy with walkers, especially at the weekend, so best to do a dawn raid.

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE do not ride in Ercall woods. The quarries are actually a designated SSSI, and are managed by the Shropshire Wildlife Trust. The Wrekin is for biking, and it is pretty much tolerated up there ( as long as we all behave ), but riding in Ercall Wood is just going to pee people off.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ercall

Having said that, the bombholes at the bottom of the woods by the road are ace, and they are accepted as fair game, but please don’t ride up at the top, tempting as it is.

*climbs off soap box*

Thanks

^ While I agree (and IIRC the stuff at the bottom is the best for messing about on anyway), it’s somewhat amusing that the place has been quarried to hell and had a motorway built straight through it!! Still, it’s great that what is left is being preserved.

I’ll stash all this knowledge for the future as I’ve binned this idea off in favour of Hopton Woods and/or a trip up the Long Minge.
Thanks all.

look out for ex Brummie Pikeys pretending to ride around the area,they will try and lure you to the nearest pub….

I used to ride the Wrekin a lot, me and me mates back in the day.. It ain’t that big but it’s good fun climbing and blasting around but 3 hrs? Hmmm you’ll be done in 2..
So I’d suggest you hack it until you ar bored then head over to Ironbridge and sucker into Brosley Woods on the opposide side of Ironbridge Gorge, head for the Power Station and all along down to Jackfield and back, that should take you about 2-3hrs by which time you’ll be bored of climbing up steep bits..
Have fun, don’t wreck Shropshire please 😆

Walleater – Oh, I completely agree. I now live back in the North, and do a lot of riding back in the Lakes, especially round Coniston, where half of the mountains were decimated for slate mining on an industrial scale, and all the tracks we ride on were cut through the woods and fells for pack horses, yet it’s now a National Park.

Different times. Still, we have to keep people sweet to keep our access, even if that means keeping out of certain places*

Right ?

*Stop laughing Scotland, it’s not funny. 😉