HUNDREDS of walkers descended on Ellesmere last weekend to complete a very ‘tasty trail’ at the Oteley Estate.
The hugely-popular event organised by Shropshire Festivals was held over two days last weekend, on April 9-10, as visitors enjoyed walking and eating over 7.5 miles.
The Oteley Estate, run by the Mainwaring family, granted exclusive access through their fields, home to native breeds of British cattle, a flock of sheep and some pigs.
And there was a nice surprise for organiser Beth Heath, Shropshire Festival’s ‘Director of Fun’.
A spokesman said: “Walkers were given a true rural experience with the surprise arrival of a baby calf.
“A group of walkers were asked to wait patiently while the mum was given some help – the new calf is doing well and has been named ‘Beth’.”
Beth added: “It was a fantastic two-day event celebrating local food and drink, as well as advocating getting people out into the countryside and getting active.
“The Tasty Trail is all about leaving muddy footprints not carbon footprints, with our low food mile offering.
“Our trail walkers enjoyed pork and beef raised on the farmland they walked through – it doesn’t get more local than that.”
The starter was a Yorkshire pudding stuffed with Oteley Estate’s shredded beef brisket and washed down with Joule’s Brewery’s Pale Ale or Heartsease Ginger Beer.
The main course, served in Welshampton Village Hall, was a sausage casserole using Oteley’s pork, served by Su Casa. This was paired with Hare Moon Cider from Oswestry or Heartsease Traditional Lemonade from the Welsh border.
The meal was finished off with Gourmet Brownies and Brooklands Ice Cream, accompanied with an After Noon Citrus Grey Tea liqueur cocktail from Ellesmere’s Shropshire Distillery or a Heartsease Elderflower Presse.
