Day 1. 15th of January and we set off for our first excursion of the new year; no need for an early start, we’re only going as far as Shropshire.
On the recommendation of a friend we’re heading for Bridgenorth with a little detour on the way.
I wanted to visit TheNational Memorial Arboretum at Alrewas in Staffordshire which is on the way (loosely speaking). Not being familiar with the route I managed to avoid any breakfast stops beginning with G or Mc. but, courtesy of the Volvo satnav, managed to cover about 5 miles on the M6 toll for the extortionate price of £11.
Arriving at the Arboretum (free entry, £8 to park all day) things started to look up; they served freshly cooked breakfast baps and Mrs. M was paying. We spent a couple of hours wandering around what is a very interesting place before returning to the cafe for coffee. As we stepped outside it had begun raining heavily.
Having set the satnav for the car park of The Falcon Hotel in Bridgenorth we set off and within a few minutes we’re back on the M6 toll for what seemed to be a slightly longer stretch but cost “only” £9!
Arriving at the hotel at about 2pm we checked in and set off to explore. Bridgenorth is split into two, The High Town and (surprisingly) The LowTown. The hotel is in The Low Town but getting to The High Town isn’t a problem as the two levels are linked by the only working inland funicular railway in the country, only it isn’t working as there are sewer repairs interfering with the operation of the track! At least this saved us £5 for each return trip.
Walking up Cartway into the High Town wasn’t as onerous as it looked and we were soon browsing the charity shops and stocking up with essential supplies from Tesco Express. After a couple in The Royle disaster struck; the bottom fell out of the Tesco bag (it may have been free but that’s no excuse) and the bottle of wine contained therein crashed to the floor, the Royle landlord very kindly swept it up for us. After replenishing the lost supplies (and getting a stronger bag) and calling in for one at The Black Boy on Cartway we returned to the hotel and managed to get a table in their Thalia Restaurant despite not having a reservation (at least one other table was occupied). The restaurant serves “Indian street food” which we quite enjoyed.
Day 2. Breakfast in the hotel restaurant followed by a short walk along the river Severn before returning to the car and setting off for the Blists Hill Victorian Town museum, a series of buildings and displays, often manned by actors / volunteers, depicting life in a Victorian town. This is not something that we would normally do, perhaps because of the £27 per person entry fee but we really enjoyed it. The Victorian fish and chip shop selling hake and chips cooked in beef dripping proved to be an excellent lunch stop although the Victorian singalong in The New Inn was not quite to Mrs. M’s taste. The site is being taken into The National Trust shortly although I’d be amazed if membership covered the full entry cost, we’ll see!
Returning to Bridgenorth we traipsed up Cartway agin and into the High Town via the castle grounds where what remains of the castle walls still display holes from cannonballs and leans at an extremely precarious angle. After 3 pub stops (The Shakespeare, The Royle and The Black Boy) we returned to the Low Town and purchased dinner in the form of sandwiches from M&S before turning in after a couple in the hotel bar.
Day 3. An early breakfast and we arrived home at about 10:30 am, an enjoyable trip. There are some images in the (newly created) Shropshire and Staffordshire Gallery.