Shrewsbury and Iron Bridge

As far as Thomas is concerned, staying with lovely relatives or in nice quirky cottages and flats is all very well, but you just can't beat the breakfast buffet at a standard motel. especially when cocopops are on offer.  We all put some serious effort into making a dent in the buffet before getting back on the road and heading south.

We made a stop in Shrewsbury partly because it was geographically convenient, but mostly because Robert and Helen occasionally read the Brother Cadfael novels, which are set in Shrewsbury Abbey in the 13th Century. The Abbey church still stands, but most of the rest of the town was extensively rebuilt in the Tudor period, although the medieval city plan is still evident in the narrow winding streets and tiny alley ways.  

Wandering into one twisting maze of alleys called Bear Steps led us to a tiny cafe in a Tudor building which had a roof so low that Thomas could easily touch it.

The other interesting feature of Shrewsbury is its position on a spit of land surrounded on three sides by rivers. The Severn is the main river, over which there are two bridges - the 'English' bridge and the 'Welsh' bridge, indicating the direction each road takes.

Our next stop was Iron Bridge, one of the key sites in the Industrial Revolution, and home of the world's first iron bridge. (That's Helen and Thomas in the centre of the bridge.)

Iron Bridge is in a deep valley with a fast flowing river and coal, clay and iron deposits, which meant it was perfect for the potteries, mining and foundries which sprang up along the bank. According to the museum, it was a hellish place to live in the 18th and 19th century, which is odd because today it is very beautiful.

The bridge itself was a toll bridge until the 1960s and because it was privately owned by a Quaker family, the list of tolls on the toll house specifically includes soldiers (even when on duty) and the royal family.

The sun is currently so low that it didn't make it far into the valley, so it was very cold. We had our first experiences of unexpected black ice and treacherous playground equipment.

We finally arrived in Prestigne (pronounced 'Pres-teen' - there's a mystery cleared up) well after dark, which made the icy track driveway up a steep hill even more exciting. We met our hosts, Richard and Monica and found that the cottage we had rented was actually half way up a large hill, overlooking a wide valley. Google maps didn't tell us that!