This podcast features the lives of the people who live in Church Stretton, Little Stretton, All Stretton and surrounding villages in the Shropshire Hills.
It's a tourist area and we welcome visitors from all over the world to enjoy the Shropshire Hills National Landscape. You'll find our guests not only on top of the Long Mynd, but nursing a craft beer in a snug country pub or having reasonably priced coffee and cake in one of the handful of tea rooms in town. Millions of fell-runners, walkers, hikers, campers, dog-walkers flock to the Church Stretton area every year.
We are the first village podcast and the first hyper-local community podcast in the world. We are fun, entertaining and informative without ranting, rudeness or intolerance. We're non-political, non-religious and self-funded. We prioritise the quirky, unusual, interesting, funny and curious. We only cover important things if they are also interesting.
We are village people and we want to give a voice to the villages of the Shropshire Hills.
We're independent of any organisation and publish episodes every Tuesday.
We have a website http://thestrettonspod.com/.
Producers
Sian Lovegrove, Pete Johnson
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
This podcast features the lives of the people who live in Church Stretton, Little Stretton, All Stretton and surrounding villages in the Shropshire Hills.
It's a tourist area and we welcome visitors from all over the world to enjoy the Shropshire Hills National Landscape. You'll find our guests not only on top of the Long Mynd, but nursing a craft beer in a snug country pub or having reasonably priced coffee and cake in one of the handful of tea rooms in town. Millions of fell-runners, walkers, hikers, campers, dog-walkers flock to the Church Stretton area every year.
We are the first village podcast and the first hyper-local community podcast in the world. We are fun, entertaining and informative without ranting, rudeness or intolerance. We're non-political, non-religious and self-funded. We prioritise the quirky, unusual, interesting, funny and curious. We only cover important things if they are also interesting.
We are village people and we want to give a voice to the villages of the Shropshire Hills.
We're independent of any organisation and publish episodes every Tuesday.
We have a website http://thestrettonspod.com/.
Producers
Sian Lovegrove, Pete Johnson
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
We’re off to the other side of the Long Mynd, to a mystical area of the Shropshire Hills - Stiperstones. Here we find John Sproson, who owns the Stiperstones Inn and the shop attached to it. John tells us about village life, how the pub trade has changed and the lack of rich single women in Shropshire.
Find us online
email us: thestrettonspod@gmail.com
Support the podcast
https://buymeacoffee.com/thestrettonspod
Producers
Sian Lovegrove, Pete Johnson
If you know someone we should speak to for the podcast, please get in touch with us.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Goodbye to the summer with Teas to Please at Little Stretton, All Stretton village show and we go foraging in the hedgerows and fields of the Shropshire Hills in search of free food. We visit a small specialist company doing well in Leebotwood and we head to The Bog to join a group of people studying moths and bats in one of the last warm evenings of 2025.
Timings
Bats and moths 1:00
Foraging 7:57
McMillan Holder 15:32
All Stretton village show 22:42
Soundscape - Teas to Please, Little Stretton 26:54
Moth Group and Bat Group https://www.facebook.com/goingwildinbc
Find us online
email us: thestrettonspod@gmail.com
Support the podcast
https://buymeacoffee.com/thestrettonspod
Producers
Sian Lovegrove, Pete Johnson
If you know someone we should speak to for the podcast, please get in touch with us.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
We chat to Anne Morris who brought up her young family in a derelict farm in Cardington and tells us about the struggles she and John had to grow the business. Working a job for the Milk Marketing Board, Anne also helped on the farm and brought up four children. We learn about all the people who sought shelter in her house when they had nobody to turn to.
The Memoir Service
https://thememoirservice.com/
Find us online
email us: thestrettonspod@gmail.com
Support the podcast
https://buymeacoffee.com/thestrettonspod
Producers
Sian Lovegrove, Pete Johnson
If you know someone we should speak to for the podcast, please get in touch with us.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
We visit Blakemoregate Cottages high up on the Stiperstones - an important part of the mining history of Snailbeach. Then we talk to Mary Carter, the new curate at St Laurence’s Church in Church Stretton, we visit New House Farm to see the cattle and then watch The Magpies beat Shrewsbury Junior 8-0.
Timings
Church Stretton Town FC 1:00
Blakemoregate Cottages 4:48
Mary Carter, curate 12:30
New House Farm 18:00
All Stretton TK Micro Museum 24:02
Find us online
email us: thestrettonspod@gmail.com
Support the podcast
https://buymeacoffee.com/thestrettonspod
Producers
Sian Lovegrove, Pete Johnson
If you know someone we should speak to for the podcast, please get in touch with us.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
This week we have Steve Paige, known to everyone in All Stretton as their former postie and known to many more as the head honcho of our fire station. He’s a Stretton boy through and through and in this interview he tells us about getting his first ‘after school' job as a greengrocer’s boy. What was it like to grow up in Church Stretton in the 70’s and 80’s and what did he and his friends do for fun? Let’s listen and find out.
Find us online
email us: thestrettonspod@gmail.com
Support the podcast
https://buymeacoffee.com/thestrettonspod
Producers
Sian Lovegrove, Pete Johnson
If you know someone we should speak to for the podcast, please get in touch with us.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
We're off to see the kids making bug hotels and also speaking to people at the antiques centre and in the arts festival. The ladies at the knit and natter do more nattering than knitting and Tom Norris from Cardington tells us a few stories of growing up in the area. Lastly, we catch up with the Church Stretton accordion band at Burwarton Show.
Timings
Bug hotel 00:01:08
Tom Norris 00:06:12
Knit & Natter 00:12:12
Vox pop 00:16:00
Soundscape CS Accordion band 00:25:28
Find us online
email us: thestrettonspod@gmail.com
Support the podcast
https://buymeacoffee.com/thestrettonspod
Producers
Sian Lovegrove, Pete Johnson
If you know someone we should speak to for the podcast, please get in touch with us.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Chris Foulkes tells us what it’s like living in a farm which features heavily in the famous Malcolm Saville children’s books. He talks about the fans who come from across the world to stay in his cow sheds. He reminisces about growing up in a simpler time, when food was delivered by the local grocer, and the best fun was to be found with his friends playing in the fields and hills around his farm.
The Memoir Service
https://thememoirservice.com/
Find us online
email us: thestrettonspod@gmail.com
Support the podcast
https://buymeacoffee.com/thestrettonspod
Producers
Sian Lovegrove, Pete Johnson
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Summer is bringing archaeology to The Strettons and this time, we’re digging for dinosaur bones with The National Trust in Carding Mill Valley and then chatting to race horse breeder, Richard Wilding about how to breed and break horses. Hand me that helmet and head torch and we’re down the mines at Snailbeach with some volunteer guides and then just up the road, we stop for a piece of quiche and a cup of tea at the famous Bog Visitor Centre. We finish with a very traditional English scene - men in rags and bells, dancing in the Square.
Timings
Race horse breeding at Ragdon 00:56
Snalibeach mines 07:23
The Bog Visitor Centre 12:56
Carding Mill archaeology 18:31
What’s On 24:08
Morris Dancing 27:11
Find us online
email us: thestrettonspod@gmail.com
Support the podcast
https://buymeacoffee.com/thestrettonspod
Producers
Sian Lovegrove, Pete Johnson
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
There’s a lot of fun to be had at the Brooksbury Fundraising in Church Stretton and then at Acton Scott, it’s a village cricket match. We speak to a couple of tourists who have fallen in love with the area, the ponies and the sheep and for those who want to dabble in decentralised finance, we’ve got a how-to guide to starting in cryptocurrency trading.
If you’d like to donate 10-15kg of clay to Halima Cassell’s installation, check out the missing countried here https://www.virtuesofunity.com/virtues-of-unity-required-locations
Timings
Brookbury Fundraiser Dog Show 00:56
Village cricket at Acton Scott 04:09
Cryptocurrency trading for beginners 09:28
Vox pop 15:44
Glyn’s Garden 18:37
Scrappies 22:40
Brooksbury soundscape29:24
Find us online
email us: thestrettonspod@gmail.com
Support the podcast
https://buymeacoffee.com/thestrettonspod
Producers
Sian Lovegrove, Pete Johnson
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
The Shipping Forecast is not just for sailors.
Written and Produced by Sian Lovegrove
Voiced by Brad Young of The Horringer Podcast
Find us at https://thestrettonspod.com/
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
We’re careering down rectory field at break-neck speed with the scouts and then off to Condover where we prove that no dog is a lost cause when local celebrity dog, Dylan the boxer, is taken for some obedience training. We speak to trainers and young archers at The Long Mynd Archers open day and then we detain a police inspector long enough to get some local intelligence out of him. Finally, there’s a crunch match between Church Stretton and Clun bowling club which ends, as always, in tea and cakes in the pavilion.
Timings
Archery01:08
Dog Training 06:47
Police Report13:26
Bowling club18:55
Scouts 21:30
Soundscape27:58
Find us online
email us: thestrettonspod@gmail.com
Support the podcast
https://buymeacoffee.com/thestrettonspod
Producers
Sian Lovegrove, Pete Johnson
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Find out all the exciting activities and events going on in our beautiful villages. Support the events, get involved, be part of our rural communities.
Acton Scott 4:10 00:00:32
Little Stretton 4:00 00:04:51
Ticklerton 3:26 00:08:06
Town Council 2:23 00:11:43
All Stretton 4:00 00:14:20
Find us online
email us: thestrettonspod@gmail.com
Support the podcast
https://buymeacoffee.com/thestrettonspod
Producers
Sian Lovegrove, Pete Johnson
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Need a fury friend? Why not rescue a cat from Craven Arms? Sarah from Rose Cottage Cattery introduces us to two cats looking for a forever home. Then it’s the annual beer festival in Rectory Fields where we enjoy live music and a selection of craft ales. Cardingmill Valley is a very popular place for school groups studying rivers and we talk to two teachers with groups of students there. Finally we’re off to the Bridgnorth constituency office of Stuart Anderson, MP for South Shropshire.
Timings
Rose Cottage Cat Rescue 0:01:00
Beer Festival 0:06:56
Cardingmill Valley vox pop 0:15:11
Stuart Anderson MP 0:19:48
What’s On 0:26:31
Soundscape 0:29:23
Rehome a cat from Rose Cottage Cattery, Bushmoor, Craven Arms. Contact Sarah Wells on 01694 781433 to make an appointment. https://www.facebook.com/Rosecottagecatrescuebushmoor/?locale=en_GB
Acton Scott Village Fete
contact cherylbettspsla@aol.com
Find us online
email us: thestrettonspod@gmail.com
Support the podcast
https://buymeacoffee.com/thestrettonspod
Producers
Sian Lovegrove, Pete Johnson
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
We speak to the first visitors of the season to Acton Scott Heritage Farm and make the journey to Hay on Wye to speak to a Strettonian on stage at the Hay Festival. Curious about the dark web? Learn how to access it and whether it’s really as dangerous as you think. And according to a group of Swiss we found on the Long Mynd, Church Stretton doesn’t bear much resemblance to the Swiss Alps.
Timings
Acton Scott Heritage Farm
Swiss walkers
Hay Festival
Tech corner: The dark web
Pete’s what’s on listing
Soundscape
Find us online
email us: thestrettonspod@gmail.com
Support the podcast
https://buymeacoffee.com/thestrettonspod
Producers
Sian Lovegrove, Pete Johnson
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
