The Strettons Podcast

Nick Churton is known to many people as a haulage man but there's more to him than moving stuff around the country. He tells us about growing up on Wenlock Edge and moving to Wall Bank and the mischief he used to get up to with his mates. If you know someone we should speak to for the podcast, please get in touch with us. Find us online https://thestrettonspod.com/ email us: thestrettonspod@gmail....

There’s a lot of fun to be had at the Brooksbury Fundraising in Church Stretton and then at Acton Scott, it’s a village cricket match. We speak to a couple of tourists who have fallen in love with the area, the ponies and the sheep and for those who want to dabble in decentralised finance, we’ve got a how-to guide to starting in cryptocurrency trading.  If you’d like to donate 10-15kg of clay...

The Shipping Forecast is not just for sailors. Written and Produced by Sian Lovegrove Voiced by Brad Young of The Horringer Podcast Find us at https://thestrettonspod.com/ If you know someone we should speak to for the podcast, please get in touch with us. Find us online https://thestrettonspod.com/ email us: thestrettonspod@gmail.com   Support the podcast https://buymeacoffee.com/thestretton...

Sheila Young tells us about growing up in Church Stretton and Ticklerton during the war, what it was like living next to the workhouse and the difficulty she has turning a heel. If you know someone we should speak to for the podcast, please get in touch with us. Find us online https://thestrettonspod.com/ email us: thestrettonspod@gmail.com   Support the podcast https://buymeacoffee.com/thest...

We’re careering down rectory field at break-neck speed with the scouts and then off to Condover where we prove that no dog is a lost cause when local celebrity dog, Dylan the boxer, is taken for some obedience training. We speak to trainers and young archers at The Long Mynd Archers open day and then we detain a police inspector long enough to get some local intelligence out of him. Finally, there...

This is a special bonus episode to celebrate the life of Terry Davies, scout Leader and inspirational man. He has touched the lives of so many people over a period of 50 years of scouting in the town. If you know someone we should speak to for the podcast, please get in touch with us. Find us online https://thestrettonspod.com/ email us: thestrettonspod@gmail.com   Support the podcast https:/...

Don’t be fooled by Peter Morgan’s Bolton accent. He’s the grandson of the last blacksmith in Hope Bowdler and has lived in the village most of his life. Sian sat with him in his garden on a sunny morning and chatted to him about his memories of life in Hope Bowdler and his time in the Royal Navy. If you know someone we should speak to for the podcast, please get in touch with us. Find us online ht...

Find out all the exciting activities and events going on in our beautiful villages. Support the events, get involved, be part of our rural communities. Acton Scott 4:10  00:00:32 Little Stretton 4:00 00:04:51 Ticklerton 3:26 00:08:06 Town Council 2:23  00:11:43  All Stretton 4:00 00:14:20 If you know someone we should speak to for the podcast, please ge...

Need a fury friend? Why not rescue a cat from Craven Arms? Sarah from Rose Cottage Cattery introduces us to two cats looking for a forever home. Then it’s the annual beer festival in Rectory Fields where we enjoy live music and a selection of craft ales. Cardingmill Valley is a very popular place for school groups studying rivers and we talk to two teachers with groups of students there. Finally w...

Now we’re going to hear from Lucinda Lovesey, a potter from Picklescott, whose family has lived in the village for generations. She tells us stories of her father and grandfather and the important part the Bottle and Glass pub continues to play in the life of the village, including some memorable parties there! If you know someone we should speak to for the podcast, please get in touch with us. Fi...

We speak to the first visitors of the season to Acton Scott Heritage Farm and make the journey to Hay on Wye to speak to a Strettonian on stage at the Hay Festival. Curious about the dark web? Learn how to access it and whether it’s really as dangerous as you think. And according to a group of Swiss we found on the Long Mynd, Church Stretton doesn’t bear much resemblance to the Swiss Alps. Timings...

Sian visits Oscar in his cottage at the Small Batch campsite, a business his grandmother set up and that he now runs. He talks of his life as a boy growing up in Little Stretton and the fun they used to have making bicycles from scraps and roaming the fields and lanes with his friends. If you know someone we should speak to for the podcast, please get in touch with us. Find us online https://thest...

All aboard the shuttle bus! We’re off to Stiperstones over the Long Mynd on the seasonal magic bus from the team at Shropshire Hills National Landscape. Then we hop on the Fire Engine and race through the lanes to a smoke-filled house and finish with a trip to peaceful Nant Valley in Wall Bank to see how land can be successfully managed for biodiversity. Long Mynd Shuttle Bus https://www.shropshir...

This week we’ve been travelling on the Ring & Ride bus as it drives along the narrow lanes of The Strettons picking up passengers with cakes and dinner dates. Then we meet a handful of cyclists who’ve made an epic cycle ride across Shropshire to visit Cardingmill Valley. In our new business slot, we’ve been to see Reuben in his new secondhand bookshop and then it’s gardening time. We’ve surrou...

Book on the move in the mobile library this week. Find out what’s hot on the shelves and speak to some of the customers. Then we climb up The Burway to the gliding club and speak to the cafe owner, a glider pilot and a paraglider waiting for the wind to change. Finally it’s our in-house mental health practitioner, Sara with some advice about cross-generational communication. We finish with an Apri...

We went to Ratlinghope to see everyone's favourite coal merchant - John Sankey. He talks about his early days in The Strettons, epic walks across the Long Mynd with his father and the difference between attitudes of visitors to the area then and now. He shows us his campsite which hosts dozens of school and scouts groups each year and lets us sit in some of his classic cars and steam engines. If y...

We hear from a new cafe on Sandford Avenue and go for another walk with Colin, this time it’s Caer Caradoc. Sian’s been down at the cemetery and the allotments talking to people about life, death and everything in between and then she pulled up a garden chair and sat at the side of the A49 waving at passing trucks. It’s all going on in Church Stretton as the weather improves and people get out and...

What's going on in our villages? Samantha finds out. All Stretton 0:44 Hope Bowdler 04:50 Rushbury 8:57 Cardington 13:00 Leebotwood 17:04 If you know someone we should speak to for the podcast, please get in touch with us. Find us online https://thestrettonspod.com/ email us: thestrettonspod@gmail.com   Support the podcast https://buymeacoffee.com/thestrettonspod Producers Sian Lovegrove, Pet...

It’s International Shropshire Fidget Week and we celebrate this with a special feature on the elusive but very tasty creature. We hear from Hough’s butchers about the best cuts and from Tom Saxton about the difference in flavour between farmed and wild fidgets. Alex, the chef at the Ragleth Inn in Little Stretton has put on a special fidget menu for this week only and we also hear from Mark who wa...

This time Pete has been talking to the long-time tenants of Acton Scott Farm, Edward & Mary Jones. If you know someone we should speak to for the podcast, please get in touch with us. Find us online https://thestrettonspod.com/ email us: thestrettonspod@gmail.com   Support the podcast https://buymeacoffee.com/thestrettonspod Producers Sian Lovegrove, Pete Johnson Hosted on Acast. See acas...

Sian’s back from India and has taken the bus for a trip through the villages to The Kings Arms to join a group of Friday friends for a laugh and a drink. Glyn’s Garden near the cemetery is getting ready for spring and has a whole programme of improvements to welcome volunteers and nature enthusiasts of all abilities. We also hear from the Town Council about a fundraising campaign to raise £40,000...

Bill Kerswell is a local legend both in Picklescott and in the greater Strettons area. Instead of going to school, Bill taught himself to read using the Times Newspaper and the complete works of Dickens. He has a wealth of historical knowledge and unbelievably detailed memory of the local characters who formed the backdrop of his childhood. If you know someone we should speak to for the podcast, p...

We’re back on the farm this week, this time in Harton, looking at cattle and sheep and talking about the challenges of fluctuating prices. Then it’s TikTok and a brief introduction to those who have yet to fall under its spell. Learn how it works, why it’s controversial and then we’re straight into the fake news again. After a piece of advice from our psychotherapist about coping with caring for s...

This time Sian’s been chatting to Steven Pennington from Woolston Farm about the memorable characters who lived and worked in the area, the challenges of owning Caradoc, and what’s really in the cave there. If you know someone we should speak to for the podcast, please get in touch with us. Find us online https://thestrettonspod.com/ email us: thestrettonspod@gmail.com   Support the podcast h...

This week, we’re featuring Stretton Climate Care’s Repair Cafe where we meet the customers and volunteers who help to reduce waste and encourage environmental responsibility. We also go down to the boxing club where we find a happy group of women keeping fit and making friends while learning their craft. The first of a new series of walks takes us up ashes Hollow with Colin, a local mountain guide...