Here’s a patchwork of fields beneath the Long Mynd, with Corndon Hill on the horizon.

In the foreground is the village of Wentnor, where a memorial in the church tells the tragic tale of a family who died in a ‘hurricane of wind and snow’ in the nearby hamlet of Asterton in 1772.

The story is recorded on the so-called Hurricane Tombstone, which is tucked away in a quiet corner of the Church of St Michael and All Angels.

The inscription reads as follows:

In Memory of Sam Pirkins and Mary
his Wife and Sam his Son Died Febry 2nd 1772
His age 55 yrs his Wife 50 his Son 15

One Sunday morn Bout Nine o'Clock as we lay in our bed
By Hurricane of Wind and snow all three were killed dead
The house and we were Blown away as many did well know
And life that day could not be found all for the depth of snow
Fourteen poor souls were under it, out with nere killed seven
I hope the Lord has Pardoned us and received our Souls in Heaven

The church dates from Norman times but was substantially restored in 1886.