HEART OF ENGLAND

Shropshire, West Midlands: this area is crossed by a network of canals and rolling hills, an easy link from our Stratford and Derbyshire routes. The region is home to the World Heritage site of the Ironbridge Gorge and settlement- the world's first Iron Bridge and the beautiful Malvern Hills, inspiration for Edward Elgar.

One of the mightiest castles of Medieval times - Warwick Castle. A ‘must’ visit to see whilst in this region. Live jousting in the extensive grounds of the castle take place in the summer months along with many other events. You can even have a medieval dinner at this castle served in real style by serving wenches and entertained by medieval court Jesters.

Visit Beautiful Stratford-Upon-Avon. Birthplace of William Shakespeare. Take a stroll down the street where his house still stands and maybe take in one his plays in the towns theatre.

To the north, made up of the 6 Potteries towns is Stoke-on-Trent, where there's a chance to learn about Wedgewood, Royal Dalton, and other great potters. See the production of these high quality and famous crockery etc and even throw your own pot

The huge Red house Glass Cone near Stourbridge showcases glass-making, while in Hereford you can learn the art of traditional cider and Perry making, and even taste the brandy cider distilled on site.

The Shropshire Hills area is of Outstanding Natural Beauty and has a great variety of rock types, with amazing views from such as Long Mynd, Striper stones and the Wrekin. Iron Age hill forts top many of these peaks as at Bury Ditches, aptly named, one of the best preserved in the country.

Offa's Dyke, the famous 8th century earthwork passes through this area, built with merely men and shovels

England's National Forest covers 200 square miles of central England with 7 million trees offering wonderful forest trails. 150 acres of this are planted as the National Memorial Arboretum, including meadows, woodland, riverbanks and marshes.

William the Conqueror in the 11th century used the Cannock Chase area here as his royal hunting forests. Little has changed except the wild boar and wolves no longer roam, though you may spot descendants of the deer herds.

Canals; Staffordshire has more canals than any other English county, where their network helped to kick start the Industrial Revolution, shipping coal, clay, ceramics and much more before the onset of rail travel. A short trip on any of the 7 canals will give you a sense of the slow pace of life in the country, as barges cannot exceed 4 miles per hour!. Working your way through the lock gates is an experience in itself.

Other things to see:

Shugborough Estate, 22 acres of Grade 1 listed gardens and parklands.

Weston Park has 1000 acres of parkland designed by Capability Brown, an elegant stately house, imposing lakes, a formal garden, follies, orchard, deer park, Temple of Diana and Roman bridge. A major rock festival called the V Festival is held annually at Weston Park. Normally held in August. It rivals Glastonbury and the Leeds Festival for a live rock music experience

Other gorgeous buildings include Sugnall Hall, Biddulph Grange and Trentham Estate
The Leasomes in the Black Country is a Grade 1 listed landscaped garden, a ferme ornee or ornamental farm with temples, cascades and waterways in wooded valleys and open grassland

Acton Scot Historic Working Farm, near Church Stretton, as seen on a recent BBC series
The market town of Ludlow with its Norman Castle, medieval streets and mainly 16th century town centre. Here there are regular food and Shakespeare festivals.

To experience real local life come to the Chorley Show in August, a classic small village show

Michaelmas Fair, Bishop's Castle in September.

Clun Valley Beer Festival in the first weekend in October.

The Staffordshire Hoard was a recent historical event of great significance when one man and his metal detector found 3,500 items of gold and silver in 2009. This Anglo-Saxon war booty is on display in 3 venues in the county from July-September

Tamworth Castle, visited by Henry I, Henry II and Edward II has 15 rooms open to the public and re-enacts a "haunting" for visitors

Uttoxeter Race Course has events through to December including Armed Forces Day, Gentleman's Day, and Beer Festival etc.

There's a steam railway through the Churnet Valley and even a snow dome in Tamworth to try your hand at indoor skiing and tobogganing

If you are a ceramics collector there are 7 named factory outlets in the Potteries such as Portmeirion, Poole and Moorcroft and lovely independent browsable shops in Leek, where there's a market on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.

Food; Shropshire is known as a "foodies" county as already suggested and a gourmet's paradise can be enjoyed at the Stone Food and Drink Festival September 30th - October 1st
This is a great area for walking, cycling, even hot air ballooning. There are several small local breweries and regular farmers' markets