Written by Shropshire lover Marie Kreft, it places an emphasis on car-free travel, local produce and characterful accommodation and includes detailed descriptions of place, historical overviews, ghost stories and folk tales, and first-hand accounts from Shropshire locals. It also offers hand-picked restaurant recommendations based on long-standing knowledge and consultation with locals.

New for this edition is coverage of the ever-expanding food and drink scene, from craft beers to gingerbread heritage, plus details of new independent shops and galleries. Ludlow is acknowledged as the Slow Food capital of the UK, while the region as a whole is much celebrated, described by PG Wodehouse as the ‘nearest earthly place to paradise’.

The guide is unapologetic in taking you the long way round: through ancient woodland, over bridges and ‘Blue Remembered Hills’, back in time, down footpaths, into castles, churches and interesting pubs, cheerfully savouring the authentic, the offbeat and the local.