Aston-on-Clun

Aston-on-Clun and its surrounding villages offer a peaceful alternative to Shropshire's better-known honeypots, with accommodation ranging from cosy village B&Bs to characterful inns in nearby Clun, Craven Arms and Bishop's Castle. Self-catering cottages are plentiful throughout the Clun valley, many converted from old farm buildings and set among the same rolling hills that surround the Arbor Tree itself, making them a good match for walkers, cyclists and anyone hoping to time a visit around the famous Arbor Day celebrations in late May. Further afield, Ludlow adds a wider choice of boutique hotels and food-focused inns for those willing to drive twenty minutes for a livelier evening out.

Because Aston-on-Clun is so small, booking ahead is worthwhile even outside the Arbor Day weekend, when accommodation across the whole Clun valley can fill quickly with visitors coming for the tree-dressing ceremony and village fete. Outside that one weekend, the area remains wonderfully uncrowded, and a stay here suits anyone wanting proper countryside quiet: no traffic noise, no crowds, just the Clun murmuring past the garden and the Shropshire Hills rising beyond. Many properties are dog-friendly, reflecting the strong walking culture of the area, and hosts are generally well versed in pointing guests towards the best local footpaths, from gentle riverside strolls to the more serious hill walking on the nearby Long Mynd.

Aston-on-Clun makes a compact but rewarding base, with the wider Shropshire Hills and the Marches towns of Clun, Bishop's Castle and Ludlow all within easy reach.

• The Arbor Tree — The village's famous black poplar stands at its centre and is dressed with flags every Arbor Day, the last Sunday in May. The custom is said to date to a 1786 wedding, though folklorists have traced the tree-dressing itself only to the early 20th century; either way, it is the last surviving Oak Apple Day tree ceremony in the country, and the current tree grew from a cutting of the original, which came down in a storm in 1995.
• River Clun towpaths and footpaths — Quiet riverside paths follow the Clun as it winds past the village, giving easy, level walking with views up towards the Shropshire Hills.
• Shropshire Hills AONB — The village sits inside this 310-square-mile Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, with the high ground of the Long Mynd, Caer Caradoc and the Clee Hills all visible from tracks above the nearby Onny valley.
• Stokesay Castle — A short drive north near Craven Arms, this is one of England's best-preserved medieval fortified manor houses, cared for by English Heritage and well worth an afternoon.
• Clun and Clun Castle — A few miles upriver, the small town of Clun has its own ruined Norman castle above the river and gave its name, via A.E. Housman's poetry, to the phrase "the quietest places under the sun".
• Bishop's Castle — A characterful market town within easy reach, known for its independent shops, historic pubs and the House on Crutches Museum.
• Craven Arms and the Shropshire Hills Discovery Centre — The nearest town has a visitor centre backing onto the Onny Meadows, with riverside paths and wildflower meadows, plus the wider Onny valley walking network.
• Long Mynd and Carding Mill Valley — A little further north, this National Trust landscape offers some of the best hill walking in Shropshire, with sweeping heather moorland above Church Stretton.

The village pub, the Kangaroo Inn, is the natural hub of Aston-on-Clun, first licensed in 1840 and named after a 19th-century sailing ship rather than the animal. It offers a cosy mix of bars, a snug and a dining room with log burners, real ales and home-cooked food, and hosts its own beer festival over the August Bank Holiday weekend. Beyond the village, Craven Arms and Clun both have traditional pubs serving Shropshire produce, while Ludlow, one of the country's most celebrated small food towns, is within easy driving distance for those wanting a wider choice of restaurants, delis and its long-running food festival. Farm shops and honesty stalls are a feature of the surrounding lanes, reflecting the strong agricultural character of this part of the Marches.

Aston-on-Clun sits at the edge of the Shropshire Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and camping here means proper hill-and-valley scenery without the crowds of the Lake District or Peak District. As in the rest of England, wild camping remains illegal without the express permission of the landowner, so campers should stick to licensed sites — of which the area has a good, if select, choice. The long-established Wayside Camping and Caravan Park sits barely two miles from the village on the B4368 towards Craven Arms, with a mix of grass and hardstanding pitches, electric hook-ups and a genuinely quiet, family-run feel; it makes an excellent, well-placed base for exploring the Clun valley, Ludlow, Bishop's Castle and Church Stretton, all within about fifteen minutes' drive.

The terrain around Aston-on-Clun is classic Marches country: gentle river valleys giving way quickly to steeper, open hills, so pitches tend to be sheltered in the valley bottoms while the walking climbs fast onto exposed ridgeline above. This makes for a good contrast between cosy, wind-sheltered camping and genuinely big-sky hill days on the Long Mynd or around Clun. The camping season generally runs from March to October, mirroring the opening dates of most local sites, with the driest and warmest window from late May through to September; late May also happens to coincide with Arbor Day, making it a popular and atmospheric, if busier, time to pitch up nearby. Given the region's reliably damp spring and autumn weather, waterproof kit and a decent groundsheet are worth the extra weight.

For those who prefer a roof over their heads without giving up the outdoor feel, glamping options are increasingly common throughout south Shropshire, from shepherd's huts and safari tents to converted farm buildings on working smallholdings around Clun and Bishop's Castle. These tend to combine easy access to the same footpaths and river valleys with proper beds and wood-burning stoves, making them a good shoulder-season option when a canvas tent might feel like a stretch. Whichever way you camp, the pace of life here is slow, the night skies are properly dark, and the Kangaroo Inn in the village is never more than a short walk or drive away for a pint at the end of the day.