[1] Leave the Square at its south-west corner and walk along Churchway. Pass the parish church on your left. Cross Church Street and go through a gate into Rectory Field. Go straight ahead along a well used path and up some rough steps to reach a gate at the boundary of Rectory Wood. Go through the gate, turn right and follow the path around the edge of the wood to enter the Town Brook valley. Cross the brook below a pool then take a path on the right which climbs up steps to the edge of the wood.
Turn right onto a track running round the outside of the wood. This soon brings you to the Burway, the precarious road leading up onto the Long Mynd. Cross over the Burway and take a gravel track sloping gently downhill. This diminishes to a footpath running along the slopes of the Carding Mill valley.
[2] Join the track through the Carding Mill valley just before the National Trust visitor centre (with tea room and toilets). Continue up the main valley, disregarding the path to New Pool Hollow which is on the left just past the visitor centre. After about one kilometre the valley divides, with Dr Mott's Road on the right and the path to Light Spout on the left. You would not want to miss Light Spout, the only waterfall on the Long Mynd, so take the left fork.
The path from this point on is very uneven with rocky outcrops in places. Continue up the valley as it narrows. Eventually the waterfall comes into sight. It is quite a small waterfall but puts on a respectable display if there has been recent rain. The path continues up steps in the rocks to the right. Above the waterfall the valley starts to open out. There are a number of paths turning off to the left which could serve as short cuts but the most heavily used path swings round to the north east. As you follow this path a view of the Clee Hills opens out to your right.
[3] Turn left onto the gravel track which has come up Dr Mott's Road. Turn left again when you come to a junction of trackways. The next section is part of the Port Way, an ancient ridgeway running north to south along the Long Mynd. You have also joined the Shropshire Way long distance footpath and should follow this route as it keeps to the highest ground heading south-west.
At the Shooting Box you cross the east-west road over the Mynd. The hut that gave its name to this spot has been removed. The conspicuous mound to the right of the path is a Bronze Age disc barrow. Continue in your former direction to reach the highest point on the Long Mynd at Pole Bank. A toposcope has been placed here to aid in the identification of distant hills. On a clear day Snowdon can be seen (it is in line with the car park on the Stiperstones). Resume the path ahead as it descends to meet a road. Turn right and walk along the roadside.
[4] Where the road dips and crosses a small stream, with a gate and trees on the right, look for a faint path on the left at about 45 degrees to the road. You are leaving the Shropshire Way at this point. Follow the faint path which eventually joins a broader track heading south-east. Walk along the track over the next summit, Round Hill, and down to a saddle between two hills, known as Barrister's Plain. The path takes you through a dyke constructed across the ridge in the distant past, evidently to control movement along the route you are following.
In one of the most scenic lengths of the walk the path now winds around the southern side of Grindle, high up above narrow valleys. After crossing another saddle the route steadily descends the northern side of the next hill, Callow. Dramatic views open up of the eastern side of the Long Mynd and the Stretton Hills beyond. At the bottom go through a gate to a track through trees above a stream. This brings you to a ford with the Small Batch camping ground on your left.
[5] Cross the ford - there is a footbridge. On the left hand side of the road, by a farm gate, there is a stile with a public footpath sign. Go over the stile and follow the footpath as it makes a steady ascent around the edge of a field. The path then keeps to the left side of a low ridge with oak woodland on the hillside. Go over a stile by a barn into open grassland and walk parallel to the right hand boundary. As you move from grassland into trees follow the fence on your right to find a path going downhill. Continue over a stile by a gate and you will soon descend to a road. At the road turn left and then immediately left again into a bridleway behind houses. The bridleway climbs steadily through woods and eventually expands to become a suburban road.
[6] Just after a sharp right hand bend in the road you should see the Cunnery Road car park on the left. Go through a car park to find a gate leading to the upper part of Rectory Field. Turn right and walk down a grassy slope to rejoin your outward route.
Alternative route if you have started from a different point and have no need to go down to Church Stretton. From the gate at waypoint 5 go straight ahead along a path that climbs up a hillside. Go ahead into Rectory Wood and follow the marked path which turns left and descends into the Town Brook valley. Walk up the path beside the brook to reach a small reservoir and take the path to the right, marked Carding Mill, which skirts the boundary of the wood. This will bring you to the Burway and you are back on the main route.