Rivers Lugg & Teme

The Lugg

Park at the B4362 bridge at Mortimer’s Cross layby. Cross the bridge and take the footpath over a stile, across two fields and a low hill into which the river cuts. About half a mile downstream the path descends into a water-meadow, and the river meanders between shingle banks. There are few deep pools – it’s impossible to get out of your depth – but it’s private. We met no-one on a sunny Saturday in June. Grid reference SO428634

The stretch of Lugg upstream of the A4110 bridge (around SO420656) is also allegedly good, but the river in front of the Riverside Inn didn’t look enticing and I couldn’t get access from the north bank.

The Teme

Just upstream of Leintwardine bridge at the junction of the Teme and Clun is a well-known spot (click here), but I didn’t know about that. The pool below the weir and road bridge looked enticing, but public.

Instead I followed the minor road downstream past “The Sun”, a traditional pub. Immediately after passing a small factory right, a footpath runs to the river. The deep pools in the meanders, easily accessible from shingle banks, are very private. Grid reference SO478736

This stretch is labelled on the Ordnance Survey as Leintwardine Fishery, but we saw no fishermen in June. Downstream of Ludlow there is said to be a good spot at SO532687, accessible from the footpath from the A456, but not personally tested.

Jim Thornton