The Wrekin

A Memory of Donnington.

In the 50s/60s we would go and spend the day on the Wrekin. We would cycle from our home on Charlton Hill and leave our bikes at the Forest Glen (no need to lock them up) and make our way up the first part of the climb which was quite sharp; then we would stop at the Halfway House tea room and sit ouside with a glass of lemonade. There were it seemed, hundreds of people there all dressed up in their Sunday best. We would then go and have a ride on the swing boat and see how high we could go. Then we would start the next stretch, this was an easier climb but longer, it seemed you would never get to the top. On some visits we would have to wait so far up, if the army were doing target practice down below. There would be a soldier standing on guard with his red flag, so you would have to wait until they had finished. Onward we would go stopping off to go and have a look at the beacon - it was massive with big slats that would flash at night and could be seen all over Shropshire and beyond; a welcoming site when coming home at night. Onward we go, there would be people everywhere sleeping in the warm sun having a picnic or just resting before carrying on. Then onto the highest point we would check out the Trig point - you could see Liverpool docks and the cathedral, the views were breathtaking. And then on to the Needles Eye, we would climb down to it and walk through it and look down towards Ironbridge and Buildwas.
We would stay and play with other children, and then as the sun started to drop down towards Shrewsbury we would make our way down and hope to get home before dark or PC Ellis would skin us alive if he caught us with no lights on our bikes...oh happy days!

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