Kinver Edge is a wooded escarpment on the Worcestershire/Staffordshire border.

It is the remains of the Mercian forest and an Iron Age hillfort and home to the Holy Austin Rock houses.

As it is only about 20 miles from Selly Park, I decided to try it out as a place for a walk ……
Despite its proximity, it was a 45-minute not very interesting drive. I will need to find a better route

There are several places to park but I found that the easiest is a lay-by on Compton Road which also happens to be near a farm shop with a nice cafe.

The Austin Rock Houses also has a good cafe (with very nice views) but if you are not a National Trust member you will need to have paid for entrance to the Rock Houses (£7.50) to use it.
…. Luckily I happened to be there during Heritage Week so had free entry.

After passing the gate into the estate there is a notice with a map showing possible walking routes.
I decided to follow the Purple route (known as Rock House Trail). This is the longest, about 3 miles in length and is also an off-road cycle track.
I chose this route because it goes past Nanny’s Rock which are ancient cave dwellings.

The Austin Rock Houses are the last occupied troglodyte dwellings in England.
They were abandoned in the 1960’s being deemed ‘unfit for purpose’ but then restored about 30 years later.

Holy Austin is thought to relate to the earliest known resident in the area, a Hermit in the 16th century.

It has been suggested that these rock houses served as the inspiration for Tolkien’s Hobbit holes.

Kinver itself is a very pretty Staffordshire village with a canal supplying raw materials for a thriving iron industry.
The early residents of the rock house were mostly miners.