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27-561: The section from Shrewsbury to Leominster is advertised as the Six Castles Cycleway . The six castles on or near the route are (in geographical order from north to south): Shrewsbury Castle , Bishop's Castle , Stokesay Castle , Ludlow Castle , Richard's Castle and Croft Castle . The route begins in Shrewsbury, one mile west of the town centre, where it links up with National Cycle Route 81 . The formal start point of

54-515: A ( West Midlands ) regional route, numbered either 32 or 33. It is at present unsigned, but appears for example on the Six Castles Cycleway leaflet. This regional route is not yet signed along the route. The first stage of signing is expected to be Shrewsbury to Church Stretton and would begin at Greyfriars Bridge close to the centre of Shrewsbury (where it connects with national route 81) and end at Church Stretton railway station ,

81-487: A defensive fortification for the town, which was otherwise protected by the loop of the river. Town walls , of which little now remains, were later added to the defences, as a response to Welsh raids and radiated out from the castle and surrounded the town; the area known as Town Walls still has a small section of them and a single tower, known as Town Walls Tower , which is in the care of the National Trust . At

108-516: A length of around 15 miles. Almost all the route in on country lanes, as well as the cycle path along a disused railway trackbed in Shrewsbury, which takes the route across the Rea Brook and through Sutton Farm. The route however has to cross the busy A49 road and also runs for a short distance along the A458 near Shrewsbury. Between Shrewsbury ( Coleham ) and Church Stretton, the route passes through

135-518: A primary school. The Coleham Pumping Station is a visitor destination and is located on Longden Coleham. Greyfriars Bridge in Coleham is the starting point for Regional Cycle Route 32/33 to Church Stretton (and further on, Craven Arms ). The area suffered badly from flooding in 2000, which entirely took hold of Longden Coleham and other low-lying streets in the area. Since then a number of measures have been taken to alleviate flooding problems in

162-470: A roughly southeast direction to Cinderford, via Ross-on-Wye . At Cinderford it links up with National Cycle Route 42 . Originally the National Route 44 was planned to go Shrewsbury- Church Stretton -Craven Arms (and then continuing to Cinderford as above) but the section from Shrewsbury to Craven Arms was re-routed via Bishop's Castle. Instead the original Church Stretton route is now designated as

189-582: Is a red sandstone castle in Shrewsbury , Shropshire , England . It stands on a hill in the neck of the meander of the River Severn on which the town originally developed. The castle, directly above Shrewsbury railway station , is a Grade I listed building . A castle was ordered on the site by William I c. 1067 but it was greatly extended under Roger de Montgomery circa 1070 as a base for operations into Wales, an administrative centre and as

216-432: Is called "Longden Coleham". The Victorian suburb of Belle Vue grew up south of Coleham, and the wealthy suburb of Kingsland (which centres on Shrewsbury School ) grew up west of Coleham. The first large scale industrial building in Shrewsbury arose in Coleham when in 1790 the firm of Powis & Hodge built three factory buildings on land bought from John Carline at the junction of Longden Coleham and Coleham Head beside

243-493: The Civil War and was briefly besieged by Parliamentary forces from Wem before its surrender. It was acquired by Sir Francis Newport in 1663. Further repairs were carried out by Thomas Telford on behalf of Sir William Pulteney , MP for Shrewsbury , after 1780 to the designs of the architect Robert Adam . The Shropshire Horticultural Society purchased the castle from a private owner, then Lord Barnard , and gave it to

270-672: The A488, the route then roughly runs southeast to Craven Arms , passing to the north of the village of Lydbury North and running through the hamlet of Round Oak. At Craven Arms the route crosses the Marches railway line and the busy A49 to the hamlet of Halford, after which it runs along the B4368 east-bound for a short distance, before heading south on a country lane to Onibury and after that village, southeast on another country lane, passing through Ludlow Racecourse and Golf Club, before reaching

297-530: The Carlines into (now demolished) workers' cottages. In 1793 ironmaster William Hazledine purchased land at Coleham, where he set up a larger foundry with steam-powered equipment. The foundry eventually employed several hundred workers. In 1796 he cast the frame for the Ditherington Flax Mill designed by Charles Bage , the world's first iron-framed building. The former Trouncer Brewery

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324-423: The Coleham and Abbey Foregate areas. The Barnabas Community Church is located on Longden Coleham, where it converted and extended a former Territorial Army drill hall, acquired in 1995, for its use. The Barnabas Centre within its premises is now a multi-use church centre with many community agencies using the facilities, such as an NHS pop-up Blood Donor clinic There are also many community projects run from

351-523: The Severn. A waterwheel and steam engine powered carding engines, spinning jennies and fulling facilities. The firm failed by 1799 but the buildings were sold in 1803 to Charles Hulbert and partners from Manchester for weaving cotton calicoes. It came to employ 200 people but it was given up after Hulbert, following reversals, left the cotton industry and handed the lease back to its lease-owner John Carline (Junior) in 1825. The buildings were converted by

378-553: The Stone Bridge (now the English Bridge ). Shrewsbury Abbey and its associated lands and buildings were nearby. The Rea Brook separates Coleham from the other old suburb on this end of town – Abbey Foregate . The area gave its name to an island that sat between two streams of the river, Coleham Island , now demolished. Coleham is centered on the Shrewsbury to Longden road, which as it passes through Coleham itself

405-744: The bones of a pike and possibly a swan. The museum combines the collections of the King's Shropshire Light Infantry and the Shropshire Yeomanry . holding items such as a lock of Napoleon Bonaparte's hair, the Grand Admiral's Baton belonging to Karl Dönitz , and the Victoria Crosses of Captain Alfred Kirke Ffrench , Private Charles Irwin and Sergeant Major Harold Whitfield . Laura's Tower overlooks

432-463: The inner bailey of the castle; the outer bailey, which extended into the town, has long ago vanished under the encroachment of later shops and other buildings. Having fallen into decay after c. 1300 (at the end of the Welsh wars) the castle became a domestic residence during the reign of Elizabeth I and passed to the ownership of the town council c.1600. The castle was extensively repaired in 1643 during

459-416: The neighbouring hamlet of Annscroft, the route turns off along country lanes to Arscott and then Shorthill, where it meets the A488. The route crosses over the main road and along country lanes again to the large village of Pontesbury , where again it meets the A488. After Pontesbury the route again follows country lanes and heads south to Habberley and then after this village, west to Minsterley , where

486-694: The route again meets the A488. The route then heads along the B4499 to Priest Weston , on the Shropshire-Wales border, passing to the west of the Stiperstones hills. It briefly enters Powys , including the village of Churchstoke (or Church Stoke), where it meets the A489. After Church Stoke, the route is on country lanes again and heads roughly southeast to the small (English) town of Bishop's Castle. After passing through Bishop's Castle and crossing

513-582: The route is on Shelton Road (the B4380), at the junction with Woodfield Avenue, where route 81 exists on its way between Shelton and the town centre. Route 44 heads southeast along the B4380 to Longden Road Roundabout, where it turns off onto Longden Road out of Shrewsbury, passing the Priory and Meole Brace secondary schools. The first village outside of Shrewsbury is Hook-a-Gate . After passing through Hook-a-Gate and

540-562: The start of the civil war between King Stephen and the Empress Matilda the castle was held by William Fitz Alan , lord of Oswestry and Clun , on behalf of Matilda. After a short siege in 1138, King Stephen took the castle and had the surviving garrison hung from the battlements. The castle was briefly held by Llywelyn the Great , Prince of Wales , in 1215. Parts of the original medieval structure remain largely incorporating

567-477: The sub charity 'Barnabas Community Projects.' These include a foodbank, a money advice centre and a '360 Journey to Work' programme. Also run by the Church in term-time every week is a toddler group, 'Barneytots;' a youth group, 'Impact,' and a children's (aged 5–11) after school club, 'Kidzklub.' The Welsh Marches Line (and Cambrian Line ) runs through the area, partially on a long brick viaduct which crosses over

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594-466: The surrounding townscape and countryside and is sometimes used as a backdrop for functions and weddings . Coleham Coleham is a district of the town of Shrewsbury in Shropshire , England. It is located just south, over the River Severn , from Shrewsbury town centre. Coleham grew up as a village outside medieval Shrewsbury, with the nearest crossing over the Severn to the town being

621-599: The town in 1924 and it became the location of Shrewsbury's Borough Council chambers for over 50 years. The castle was internally restructured to become the home of the Shropshire Regimental Museum when it moved from Copthorne Barracks and other local sites in 1985. The museum was attacked by the IRA on 25 August 1992 and extensive damage to the collection and to some of the Castle resulted. The museum

648-542: The village of Bromfield . At Bromfield is the Ludlow Food Centre and the route meets the A49 again. After Bromfield it passes just to the west of the historic market town of Ludlow and then continues in a southerly direction into Herefordshire , first to Leominster (where the route goes through the town) and then to Hereford , where it joins up with National Cycle Route 46 . After Hereford, route 44 heads in

675-403: The villages and hamlets of Betton Strange , Condover , Great Ryton (and Little Ryton), Longnor and All Stretton . The route is downhill from Church Stretton to Shrewsbury, descending from 190 metres (620 ft) to 55 metres (180 ft). 52°23′13″N 2°45′50″W  /  52.387°N 2.764°W  / 52.387; -2.764 Shrewsbury Castle Shrewsbury Castle

702-575: Was established in Coleham on the banks of the Severn in 1807: it closed in 1954 when acquired by Ind Coope . The brewery buildings are listed Grade II and have since been converted to private residences. Today, Coleham is connected to the town centre by a pedestrian footbridge, the Greyfriars Bridge , though the nearest vehicular crossing remains the English Bridge. There are shops and public houses along Longden Coleham, as well as

729-677: Was officially re-opened by Princess Alexandra on 2 May 1995. In 2019 it was rebranded as the Soldiers of Shropshire Museum . In 2019 and 2020 an archaeology project by Shropshire Council and the University of Chester undertook excavations in the castle. Work in 2019 found the remains of the original ditch surrounding the motte of c.1067, along with a range of medieval pottery and two arrow heads or crossbow-bolt heads. Excavations in 2020 failed to locate St Michael's chapel , but did recover evidence of 'high-status feasting', including

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