Saturday, November 26, 2016

Following the Cleobury Mortimer and Ditton Priors Light Railway 2



This is the other half of Holden Webster's exploration of this interesting little line. (Part 1 is here.)

I visited Ditton Priors years ago and once blogged my memories of the visit:
Ditton Priors, incidentally, is a strange place. My theory when walking is the more remote the place, the more certain you are of finding accommodation. In town a B&B proprietor will simply turn you away. In the country they feel more responsible and do not want you frightening the animals, so they volunteer to phone someone down the road who takes in walkers sometimes. 
My theory did not work in Ditton Priors - this is some years ago now. The pub said it had accommodation, but no one answered when I knocked. Eventually, as it came on to rain, a pretty red-haired girl opened an upstairs window and told me they did not do it any more. 
So I tried the only bed and breakfast place in the village. They said they were full and made no effort to find me a bed somewhere else in Ditton Priors. Instead, they suggested I should walk to Burwarton. "It's only a mile," they said, when I could see from the map that it was three.... 
I once read that they were still persecuting witches in this part of Shropshire until relatively recently. 
About 1978, I should imagine.
The comment on that post about a wicker man... I have always tried to convince myself it was a joke.

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