The Shrewsbury loop

Are you sitting comfortably? Then please do fasten your seatbelts, as I'm taking you on a short trip in the time machine, back to the second week of our holiday in June.

For any new readers, or those joining me from outer space, we were in Shropshire, our holiday cottage being a former cowshed in a remote valley in the shadow of the Long Mynd, a heath and moorland plateau which is part of the Shropshire Hills.

It was Tuesday, the 20th of June, and the rain which had done its best to throw several spanners in the works when we were visiting Chirk Castle on Monday, had reached our little valley overnight and had been overstaying its welcome.

There was a brief lull in the downpour when Jos peaked through the curtains just before 5 am. The rain had left a veil of low-hanging cloud in its wake which effortlessly blotted out the landscape beyond the garden. The sun was doing its best to participate in the first light of day, adding to the otherworldly view in the process.

Soon we could hear the rain beating down on the cowshed's roof and lashing against our bedroom windows again and there seemed to have been no let-up by the time we dragged ourselves out of our bed a couple of hours later.

The landscape had been washed clean of any lingering snippets of mist but was otherwise looking quite dismal and bedraggled, the only sign of life two sad-faced rabbits sheltering beneath the hedge.

On the menu that day was a shopping trip to Shrewsbury, Shropshire's county town, and one of England’s finest medieval market towns.

Not all that far from the cottage as the crow flies, it still took us well over half an hour on a myriad of country lanes before we reached the main road leading into the town. As usual, we availed ourselves of its excellent Park and Ride service after tackling a rather tricky roundabout to get there.

The rain had eased off by the time we'd arrived, parked our car and made a run for the bus whose idling motor indicated that it was about to leave. In our haste, however, we forgot our umbrellas in the car, so that we could only hope for the best, the worst case scenario being that we would have to fork out for new ones.

It was drizzling slightly when the bus dropped us off at The Square, but it would soon stop altogether for the rest of the day, while the temperature would easily reach the forecasted 22°C.

We walked back into the direction we'd come, along the High Street and towards Wyle Cop, as I'd seen quite a few charity and other interesting shops while coming up on the bus. Our browsing, however, only yielded some books, by which time we'd started feeling peckish. After walking up again - and you can take that quite literally - to our starting point, we dived into Costa for a simple lunch of toasted cheese and ham sandwiches washed down with our usual cappuccinos.

Thus fortified, we continued our rummaging in the many charity shops lining Mardol, making a tiny detour to a delightful shop called Memory Lane Antiques and Vintage on Roushill which is literally crammed full of treasure. 

Here, I found two gorgeous brooches, while separately, Jos and I found vintage bottle: his an early 20th Century Coca Cola bottle and mine a Babycham one to keep my small collection of glasses company.

A rare as hen's teeth cotton petticoat, an orange, black and pink floral midi dress and several more brooches were our spoils from the Mardol charity shops. Let's have a closer look at the latter, shall we?

The two heavy silver-tone Brutalist style ones in the top photo unfortunately turned out to be scarf clips rather than brooches, but are definitely worthy of joining my collection. 

Like the faceted purple glass brooch in its pleated gold-tone frame and the early plastic cameo one, they were picked up for a mere snippet.

All shopped out and thirsty, our penultimate stop for the day was at the award-winning Shrewsbury Market Hall on Claremont Street, where we had a sit-down and a drink before exploring the eclectic mix of stalls.

This indoor market boasts over 60 stalls, which include cafés, artisan producers, vintage sellers, quality gift boutiques, as well as artists and craftspeople, all thriving alongside the traditional fresh fruit and veg stalls and family butchers.

We finished our day of shopping at Marks & Spencer and buying two more pairs of Clarks shoes for Jos, before hopping on the bus which would bring us back to the Park & Ride car park.

Shopping and sightseeing proved to be an impossible exercise so, fast forward two days to Thursday the 22nd of June, when we made a return visit which would just involve the latter.

With temperatures up to 25°C and sunshine from the word go, the weather gods definitely made up for their bad behaviour earlier that week.

Once again, we pointed our Satnav into the direction of the nearest Park & Ride, stopping for fuel along the way. The driver of the car in front of us at the petrol station, having clocked our car's Belgian licence plates, waited for Jos to return from the shop in order to strike up a conversation with him. Turned out that he'd lived in Brussels for 8 years and knew the country - and its flea market culture - quite well. What a nice guy he was!

This time, we had a wait at the Park & Ride as a bus was just seen driving off when we arrived. After the bus driver dropped us off at The Square, we strolled through narrow Grope Lane towards Bear Steps, which is home to many of Shrewsbury’s independent eateries and shops.

The 'polite' version of how Grope Lane got its name is that people had to grope their way along it in the dark to get from one end to the other. However, the real reason is down to the fact that it was once a very busy red light district!

Soon our meanderings took us past St. Mary's Church, whose spire is one of the tallest in England. The church is Shrewsbury's only remaining complete medieval church and, for over 500 years, it has dominated the town's skyline. Together with St. Chad's, St. Julian's and St. Alkmunds, it is part of the 'steepled crest' portrayed in A.E. Housman's A Shropshire Lad:

High the vanes of Shrewsbury gleam

    Islanded in Severn stream;

    The bridges from the steepled crest

    Cross the water east and west.

After our explorations of the church, it was high time for lunch, for which we were determined to walk towards the Welsh Bridge crossing the River Severn and the local Wetherspoon's, The Shrewsbury Hotel, which is directly opposite.

Creatures of habit that we are, we opted again for a small fish & chips (me) and lemon chicken with mash and peas (Jos). 

After lunch, we crossed the street to have a look at the The Quantum Leap (below, bottom left), a sculpture created to celebrate the bicentenary of the birth of evolutionist Charles Darwin, who was born in Shrewsbury in 1809. 

There's a fine view towards the Welsh Bridge from here. 

Crossing the bridge, my eye was drawn to the 'Commit No Nuisance' inscription on the bridge's parapet, which turns out to be archaic injunction to not urinate in public!

Continuing past the bridge, a backward glance is rewarded with a view of the Theatre Severn which was opened in 2009.

Walking on Victoria Avenue, away from the Welsh Bridge, we were overtaken by the Sabrina boat, Shrewsbury's only passenger boat, which you can board for a 45-minute river cruise to the English Bridge and back. We enjoyed the experience back in 2018, when we were lucky enough to grab the two last places going as we hadn't had the presence of mind to book ahead.

Here, it was just about to pass under Porthill Footbridge, a cable suspension footbridge constructed in 1922. The Bridge connects Porthill with The Quarry and the town centre and provides easy access to the Boathouse pub on the other side of the river. It vibrates significantly, even when only a few people are crossing it, which must be quite an experience when you're coming back from the pub!

We were aiming to walk towards The Quarry, a 29-acre parkland, encircled by the majestic loop of the river, which has been Shrewsbury's most important site for recreation since the 16th Century.

However, with the weekend's upcoming Food Festival, preparations were in full swing and most of the site was closed off. 

Thankfully, we were able to access the Dingle which lies at its heart, a floral extravaganza cultivated by Percy Thrower (1913-1988), a renowned gardener, horticulturist, broadcaster and writer who served here as Parks Superintendent for 28 years. 

It's a delightful sunken garden landscaped with alpine borders, bedding plants, shrubbery and charming water features.

And look, here's another bandstand! A proper old Victorian one this time, built in 1879 and donated to the park by the Shropshire Horticultural Society.

We climbed out of the Dingle and walked to the town end of the park, passing the St. Michael Archangel War Memorial (above, top right) which was unveiled in 1922.

Across the road, the mighty bulk of St. Chad's loomed. The current church building was built in 1792, and with its distinctive round shape and high tower it is a well-known landmark in the town. On November 15th 1809 Charles Darwin was baptized here.

We lingered for a while in its atmospheric churchyard, with the clock tower of the 1960s Market Hall peeking rather incongruously through the trees.

We did not search out the mysterious gravestone bearing the name Ebenezer Scrooge this time, but you can catch a glimpse of it here. The gravestone is a prop left over from the filming of  'A Christmas Carol' in 1983!

And with that, we'd come to the end of our Shrewsbury loop. From here it was just a question of walking up Claremont Hill, past the Market Hall and to the bus stop on the High Street.

I've two more Shropshire adventures to tell you about, both involving National Trust properties, for which I'm hoping to see you again!