I visit friendly village with best views in the West Midlands and found good old-fashioned community spirit

You won't find a doctor's surgery or village store in this tiny townlet off the A518 between Telford and Newport.

That isn't to say Lilleshall is devoid of things to do: there is a cricket club, a tennis club, a church, a village hall, a primary school and a pub, the Red House, albeit a little way from the village centre. 

And if the Red House counts as Lilleshall, then the town has a cafe too, in the form of The Hundred Acre Kitchen situated just off the busy A-road at the bottom of Lilleshall Hill.

The village would no doubt be proud to claim it, given it serves (in my opinion) the best bacon sandwiches in the borough of Telford and Wrekin.

This absolute treasure of a cafe is run by a local farming family, who have been serving up meat produced at their 780-acre Newport farm alongside locally baked treats from the shepherd's hut since 2020.

Boasting some of the best views in the borough, the village is popular with visitors, particularly walkers.

This includes Gill Lavery from Newport, who we bumped into on a dog walk with her 10-year-old son, Leonardo, during our visit. 

"Lilleshall's lovely. It's such a pretty little village. There's a great park up by the school and everyone's so friendly," Gill said. "It's a really nice community, it's just a nice, safe place." 

Community was the first thing on the mind of local parish councillor Tom Hoof.

"There's a great community in Lilleshall, there is an old-fashioned look-out-for-your-neighbour community spirit," he said.

"We have a scarecrow festival that raises funds for the preschool and the summer fair that raises funds for the cricket club and WI, it's a community-powered village." 

It would be wrong to write this much about Lilleshall without talking about the 21-metre monument that looms over the town.

If it could, the Wrekin would probably argue its case for the best views this side of the Shropshire Hills. But there's one issue with the view from Telford's tallest hill: the lack of the Wrekin.

Enter Lilleshall, with views stretching far out towards the Wrekin and the Ercall, Haughmond Hill and Grinshill, reaching as far as the Long Mynd and Wales on clearer days. 

In the end, Lilleshall is one of those places that proves a village doesn’t need shops or a bustling high street to have a beating heart.

Its strength lies in its people, its traditions and the landscape that surrounds it. For visitors, it’s a hill worth climbing. For those who live here, it’s home - and that’s what gives it its height.