The History of Shropshire’s ‘Blue Remembered Hills’
The phrase ‘blue-remembered hills’ is from a poem by A E Housman, inspired by the rolling hills near the tranquil town of Clun and Bishop’s Castle (1.5 miles from Wales), which look blue in the distance and are filled with ancient hedgerows and wildflowers, with views over the Welsh border.
Shropshire is (along with Northumberland) one of England’s least-populated counties. And one of its most beautiful. From ancient woodlands to many canals, this is a county of rolling hills, green meadows and clean rivers. Even the main town of Shrewsbury is charming, nothing like a ‘city’.
Always follow the Countryside Code, to keep all creatures safe. Shropshire has more sheep than people!
Learn how to right an overturned sheep or it will die. Just firmly turn it back up, then hold upright until rain has drained off).
The Shropshire Hills are old! Long Mynd is 560 million years old, the Stiperstones are 480 million years old and Wenlock Edge is 430 million years old. These areas feature deep narrow valleys, carved by ancient snow and ice melt.
It’s believe the ‘blue’ is due to an atmospheric ‘mirage’ caused by the area’s coniferous trees.
Who Was Edward Housman?
Edward Housman was a poet who lived from 1859 until 1936. He only published two volumes of poetry in his lifetime. Born in Worcestershire, he studied classics at Oxford University and worked as a London clerk for 10 years, then taught Latin at Cambridge University.
He died in the city as a recluse, rejecting honours and avoiding the public acclaim that his poetry had given him:
Into my heart an air that kills
From yon far country blows:
What are those blue remembered hills,
What spires, what farms are those?That is the land of lost content,
I see it shining plain,
The happy highways where I went
And cannot come again.
