Roger Butler finds a puzzle in the Shropshire hills

THERE ARE PLENTY of secrets to discover in Shropshire’s quiet hills, but few can match the tumbling contours at the south end of the rugged Stiperstones.

Here, the wooded valley of the West Onny cuts a gorge-like course below

Black Rhadleyand continues south to squeeze its way between Heath Mynd and Norbury Hill.

There was just enough room to leave the car where a track started to climb towards a conspicuous avenue of mature beech trees on the crest of Linley Hill. These weather-beaten veterans were planted after the Napoleonic Wars to provide work for local men returning from military service and