Wrekin Area - Hike not Bike Day

As a group we enjoy all kinds of cycling but also many of us enjoy hiking and socialising. Hence on this occasion we intend to leave the bikes at home as some of us will also be on an organized ride on Sunday 16th with the Chase Riders group. The hike will be as a group at a comfortable pace to enjoy the scenery. On Saturday 15th December the plan is to hike to the top of the Wrekin and then onto the Ercall. The total distance will be around 6 miles and could take up to three hours with taking in the views and stopping for a snack etc. There is a car park and on road parking near to the start of the main track leading up the Wrekin. For those starting here we will meet at the bottom of the main track. Other group members will be travelling together from the Cannock and Wolverhampton areas to meet here. The Wrekin area is very popular with walkers and cyclists so we also intend to plan some cycling outings in the area in the near future. The Wrekin is Shropshire’s best known hill with a height of 1335 feet and on a clear day has nice views far into the distance. It was created from layers of lava and volcanic ash that exploded out of nearby volcanoes around 560 million years ago. The Wrekin may have had people living on it from Neolithic times and still has the visible remains of a hill fort dating from the iron age between 2000 and 2500 years ago. The hill fort is a scheduled ancient monument and is likely to have been the tribal capital of Cornovil. The Wrekin hill fort was abandoned or possibly taken by force around the time of the roman conquests and there is no evidence of reoccupation since then. From the meeting point we will walk a short distance to a less used track which will take us through wood land around the base of the Wrekin to the far side of the hill. Next we will climb steeply up a track through a wooded area to the top of the Wrekin for some excellent views from the top if the sky is clear. Usually unless it rains it’s nice to sit at the summit for a few minutes and possible eat a snack if desired. From the summit we will descend a wider less steep main track down past the start point and then onto the nearby Ercall. The Ercall is another hill but smaller in height than the Wrekin and has woodlands around it. The Ercall has interesting visible layers in the rock face where quarrying has exposed the ancient rock layers. Around 500 million years ago the area was a sea shore lapped by a sub-tropical sea. The ancient rock layers here mark the exact boundary where simple soft bodied creatures evolved into hard shelled creatures. The area is a famous geological feature known as an unconformity. After visiting the Ercall we will return to the car park area and say our good byes for the day. The Wrekin is only a few miles from Telford town centre and also a large retail park with all the usual conveniences at Junction 6 of the M54 motorway. On the actual Wrekin there is a just a small café that serves drinks on the way back down the main track. The Wrekin is sign posted from Junction 7 of the M54 motorway. The postcode I have provided is the closest one I could find as the track begins in a lane. The postcode is within a few hundred yards of the Wrekin.