Shrewsbury, Shropshire.

As a result of a conversation with a blog friend on her site (cheriesplace), I have been inspired to do a three part series about Shropshire.

(September has been a busy month trying to balance my summer inactivity with the greenery in the back garden and friends wanting to go places as a group on returning from their July/August family / solo holidays.
I'm sure that you've guessed by now that I've a back log of material with this post proving that point. These images are taken over two visits in late 2012 where the weather was generally damp, wet and cold whilst the second in 2013 was quite the opposite.
Just for some biographical background to the post ... As a result of my friendship with certain people from Yorkshire with links to another northern organisation, a friend affiliated to the group from the second organisation thought it would be a good idea to arrange a weekend in his home town of Shrewsbury.
The following year a friend of mine more local to me, thought it would be a good idea to to attend a walking weekend with another national organisation. However due to a double booking of an out of town Hotel, the rearranged accommodation was in the centre of Shrewsbury ... an opportunity to update or add additional material.
In reality, there is no end to what I could depict here, so hopefully I've covered variety as it took far longer to publish due to altering some images to suit the text.)

Sun not being kind to The Welsh Bridge

Shrewsbury is the county town of Shropshire which sits near to the Welsh Border and indeed was the scene of many English / Welsh battles. In a sense it was chosen as a settlement due to the natural defence of the River Severn meandering around most of the town.

The Welsh were finally defeated in 778 by King Offa of Mercia and upgrading to town status occurred soon after in 800 AD. The last unsuccessful assault in 1069 proved futile as William the Conquerer held the town and subsequently donated the town to Roger de Montgomery.

Shrewsbury Castle

Five years later in 1074 he built a castle to improve defences at the riverless north east corner of the town. The castle became a touch paper for internal English rebellions and battles until the Middle Ages, the most famous of which was immortalised in William Shakespeare's Henry IV part 1 Act 5.

Laura's Tower, Shrewsbury.

Thomas Telford the great Civil Engineer who left his mark on the county of Shropshire and beyond in later years can't be omitted from this post as he also got in on the act.  Telford had just arrived to the region as a young stonemason and started working for local MP Sir William Pulteney, the wealthiest man in Britain at the time. Pulteney who had previous famous building interests in Bath and Weymouth, gave Telford the task of restoring Shrewsbury Castle from a ruin to become his residence.
One of his other projects on site was the building of a summerhouse folly in 1790 at the high point of the castle grounds with extensive views over the east side of Shrewsbury and Shropshire. Laura's Tower might be what dreams are made of as a budding young stonemason builds a house for the daughter of the richest man in Britain ... no, you've just read into that :-)
It's rather poignant though that the Civil Engineers work now immediately overlooks the major railway junction to the south and the railway station built over 50 years later.

One of Sir Pulteney's most recent political predecessors was Robert Clive who was immortalised on a plinth in the square. In addition to his great oratory skills in politics, he was a Major General, an explorer and imperialist on his travels to India at a time when European nations were fighting for territory to gain supremacy in trade and power.

The Old Market Hall in the square built in 1596 dealt in Welsh Wool upstairs, Farmers corn downstairs and ... wet weather everywhere else !!

At least it's a great shelter nowadays where one can view woollen products from the modern age at a safe distance !

Night falls and it's not that I've waited for the rain to stop ......... have I been here for that long !!

It would be unfair not to show you the ... err ... modern 1960s Market Hall tower which is an imposing structure on the skyline. Local opinion still seems divided on it's place in the historic town, although this viewpoint in my opinion was my only photogenic capture of it. Partly because it tries and almost blends in to this street with the light.

One of the most surprising aspects of the towns history was the petition to Henry VIII for a grammar school. It was founded in 1552 and as a result of its success, was expanded by Queen Elizabeth in 1571, moved to purpose built facilities in 1630 and then relocated to a former workhouse and hospital next to the river in 1882. No doubt you guessed that rowing is one of the schools many activities.

Shrewsbury's business was steeped in the woollen trade and eventually became an important market town particularly as it was on the route from London to Ireland via Holyhead. The Lion Hotel was a typical coaching Inn where we were relocated to on my second visit.

The circular shaped church of St Chads was rebuilt on a new location following the collapse of a previous structure due to expansion attempts in the crypt. Interestingly it was Thomas Telford who advised the workers to stop the renovations just a short period before the collapse.

One of Shrewsbury's famous sons, Charles Darwin, was baptised here by his father although its not surprising what he ended up doing as he attended the more liberal unitarian church with his mother.

Quantum Leap, Shrewsbury

The town celebrated Darwins 200th birthday with a bizarre sculpture called Quantum Leap. Not the best viewpoint given the circumstances of crossing a 4 lane ring road around the outskirts of the town centre, whilst trying to keep track of where the complex walking tour was proceeding to next !!

Quarry bandstand, Shrewsbury

The Bandstand is situated in Quarry Park adjacent to St Chads church. The park incorporates gardens and a river walk area incorporates a popular river walk as the the River Severn curves around and encompasses the town. This large space is home to a variety of events including a top Horticultural show, river regattas and occasional pop concerts.

Riverside pub, Shrewsbury

Catching the light at one of the many Tudor buildings ... funnily enough yet another woollen seller loved by tourists ... The Edinburgh Woollen Mill !!

One of the things about being with a group of friends from different parts of the country is that I have been privileged to see towns and countryside that I wouldn't normally have chosen to visit. The downside of that is I have a small amount of time on my own with the camera ... to wait for people at a designated point when one needs contact lens solution, another needs the toilet and a third has to get a birthday card or something for a relative. haha. The meeting point that I didn't move from was a famous Chocolate shop about to get ready for their Christmas haul. It was a very busy pedestrianised shopping street and so it took me the full 15 minutes to get the correct balance of shop window art, tudor building and more importantly no-one walking in and out of my frame !!

Strangely enough I remembered where there was a post box for the birthday card !!

Awakening from sleep and opening the curtains at the Lion Hotel, the view from my bedroom window may not have been interesting although the view was extensive. It was more than just next doors chimney pot ... it was also the focus of the next post in the centre of the image !

It's nice to know that austere looking hotels from the past don't take themselves too seriously as I caught sight of a print on the wall on the way to breakfast .....