About the reserve

This is heathland, high up in the Clun Forest above Bishop's Castle. It is much loved by local people, who come in late summer to pick whinberries and breathe in the scent of heather, and all year round for a bit of a blow and some grand views.

The Lower Shortditch is an ancient monument predating the Kerry ridgeway’s drovers’ route and is thought to have acted as a checkpoint regulating the flow of people and livestock across the Welsh border.

Heathland once covered the tops of the Clun Forest hills, now only fragments remain. Come here in winter and you might catch sight of over-wintering snipe, here to escape the harsher weather on the continent; in April to hear the cuckoo, which lay its eggs in meadow pipits’ nests; in summer for the starry flowers of bog asphodel. Botanists have scoured the common and found 123 species of plants, including marsh violet, heath milkwort, common cottongrass, deer grass, lots of sedges and marsh speedwell, with its whitish flowers, unlike the vivid blues of many of its relations.

How to get here

The lay-by for parking is best accessed from Bishop's Castle, this postcode take you to the vicintiy of Lower Shortditch Turbary: SY16 4EZ. At Bishop's Castle, at the crossroads, take the turning off the A488 on to B4385. Turn off the B4385 on to Kerry Lane at the Three Bells pub. Follow Kerry Lane northwestwards to the junction with Moat Hill road. Turn left here, following signs for Bishops Moat/Mainstone. Approximately 2.5 miles out of Bishop's Castle, there is a triangular junction. Take the middle road to stay on Kerry Ridgeway. Follow this road for just over 1 mile until you reach a junction; turn left at this junction for Lower Edenhope/Mainstone. You will then reach another junction where you should turn right up the hill towards Two Crosses. Follow this road for three miles; before you reach a junction turn sharp right. Follow the road for just over 1 mile (you will pass Mason's Bank reserve) and the lay-by will be on your right hand side.