CYCLING and food have been combined to create a new holiday experience in and around Ludlow.

A cycling holiday through the Shropshire Hills and Welsh borderlands, visiting small craft breweries, a vineyard and sampling the best local food, is proving popular this year.

Cycling holiday specialist Wheely Wonderful Cycling, based at Petchfield Farm, Elton, Ludlow, has responded to customer demand by devising a Slow Food Cycle Tour that focuses on the best food, beer and wine producers of the region. Slow Food and Slow Travel are global, grassroots movements aiming to reconnect the pleasure of food and travel with a commitment to community and the environment.

Wheely Wonderful Cycling’s new cycle tour is all about taking time to explore.

The features easy to moderate cycling through the beautiful scenery of the Shropshire Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Cyclists visit small craft breweries and a vineyard along the way whilst also sampling the very best of local food.

Accommodation is provided at the Baron at Bucknell on the River Teme, The Castle Hotel in Bishop’s Castle and The Feathers Hotel, Ludlow.

Cyclists can choose to pedal between 94 and 153 miles during their break, which is available until October.

Places included on the route include Brampton Bryan, Bucknell, Clun, the Kerry Ridgeway, Bishops Castle, Kerry Vale Vineyard and Monty’s Brewery in near Montgomery, Walcot Hall, Oakly Park, Hopton Castle, Ludlow Food Centre and Ludlow Brewery, Corvedale, Heath Chapel, Stokesay Castle and Tenbury Wells with its orchards and hop fields.

Wheely Wonderful Cycling was established in 1992 by Chris and Kay Dartnell who escaped to the country to share their love of cycle touring along the Welsh border.