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 .....

A bike ride around Bala Lake (Llyn Tegid), North Wales.

Bala is known as an activity destination to the lover of the outdoors with the Lake at the southern end of town being the beauty spot attraction. The weekend I signed up for with the group of people I was partly acquainted with, but largely didn't know, was an activity weekend involving canoeing, cycling and badminton. The accommodation we were staying at offered Table Tennis, Volleyball and Putting.
As there was enough focus, time and expense on the first three afore mentioned activities, the group gave the nearby exciting White water rafting (www.ukrafting.co.uk) a miss this time.

I shared a room with another three men, one from Manchester who liked his bed !!, he had a friend who seemed illusive to his room and everybody else and someone from Leicester who liked early morning walks amongst the other sports activities he indulged in.

On the Saturday morning, as I was rousing from under the duvet, I heard Leicester lad rustle out of the room at an unearthly hour ... well it was a long car journey the previous day and social interaction with so many new people (that seem to know each other from past experiences) can be tiring after a day like that.

He returned later with excitement in his voice as I was about to leave the room for an amble down to breakfast. Recognising that I had been wielding a camera on images of the house (previous Bala post), he inspired me to get up sooner the following morning to watch the mist burn off the lake with the rising sun.

I was inspired enough to join him for an early morning sunday walk and share in the additional spectacle of Bala Lake beauty.

The assistant co - host for the weekend joined him for an early morning chat at a picnic table while I was otherwise engaged !!

Along with the title image, the last shots before breakfast.

My Saturday morning machine !

Just to fill you in on some biographical background, My walking friend that I have referred to in many posts (aka The Scarborough Sandcastle manager !) had not only encouraged me to go on different social walks as opposed to the mountainous solo routes I did, but he also encouraged me to buy a bike on numerous occasions over the years. He had an idea in his head that a group of us could go cycling for the day in nearby countryside.

I had the thought in my head of buying a bike when I moved house in early 2006 as I was 5 minutes ride away from a long distance cycle track. However the pressures with house renovation, refurbishment and regular trips to Bristol at the time kept the reality at a distance for quite a few years. I had a bit more time on my hands in 2010 and caught up with both some serious solo and group walking, a bit more with the camera and ... errr ...  I started writing a blog ... haha. (so many blogposts in that last sentence !!)

This advertised activity weekend appealed to me as it included the optional bike ride around Bala Lake. The number of people were limited proportionally to the amount of bikes hired from R.H. Roberts Cycles (7-9 High Street, Bala). At the time of booking the weekend those requesting the bike ride were allocated into groups of three half day sessions by the organiser and because I booked late, I was fortunate enough to get a cancellation on the saturday morning as a few more opted for the only session of canoeing. As I made a day of travelling to Bala on the friday, I arrived earlier than most at the accommodation and was asked by the weekend organiser to go and help collect the bikes just before the shop closed at 5pm. It wasn't the experience I had wanted to ease myself gently into ... cycling down Bala High street in ... errr ... rush hour as it had been more than half a life time since I was last on a bike !!

There are many cycle routes from Bala, the professional would probably prefer the circular tough route over the hill to Lake Vyrnwy but as this was a sampler for a mix of grades, including myself as the least experienced, a 10 - 14 mile (depending on which guide you read) clockwise tour of Bala lake was on the agenda.

The direction of travel was chosen so that riders could get used to the bike on the quieter roads before a half way coffee break, returning on sections of a main road where there were occasionally no adjacent cycle paths. All of the lake shots were taken in the first third of the journey where the views seemed more interesting, ideal stops for those unfamiliar with cycling !!

It may be a surprise to know that this beauty spot has links with the industrial revolution as Thomas Telford had his hands on it. It was at one time the largest natural lake in Wales until he raised the level to assist the water flow of the Ellesmere canal. Not an obvious thought considering the Shropshire Union canal system is miles away and essentially in another country !! Regular readers will remember from previous posts that the engineer Thomas Telford was no stranger to Wales. There's a link to him in the right hand side bar of this blog under "Labels : general" with two pages of posts.

In keeping with the engineering theme, that leads me nicely into the scenic Bala Lake railway running along the south east lakeshore. The only other occasion I have been in this location was when I pushed my holiday day tripping to the limit back in 1992. I just caught the train with 5 minutes to spare travelling from Llandudno by car.

Slate mining was at one time one of the most common industries in North and Mid Wales. Railways were built to transport the slate on narrow gauge track. There are at least 10 of these narrow gauge railways throughout Wales (http://greatlittletrainsofwales.co.uk) that now give the tourist a different kind of day out whilst attracting steam enthusiasts from further afield. Bala Lake railway doesn't quite fall into that category as it was once a conventional railway that was closed due to the infamous Beeching report of 1963.

These days railway preservation is taking off as more than just a weekend hobby for engineers, but back in the day (1972), an engineer and a councillor had the foresight to see the potential in using nearby regional abandoned narrow gauge slate mining railway stock to start a business.

Time for that half time coffee break at Llanuwchllyn  !

Signal box moment

We left refreshed and ready for our assault on the main road back which I was now prepared for in many ways.

The journey to a bike purchase was a little more difficult as it wasn't a case of picking one from off the shelf. It was some time later when I could meet up with my friend and spend a day looking in bike shops. Other than my knowledge of a mountain bike versus a racing bike, it was a whole new world I was introduced to of the hybrid, the hybrid road and the hybrid off road. The first shop essentially had mountain bikes, the second had two suitable bikes, a budget version and a one well outside what I expected to pay. The final shop was packed with bikes but apparently none were suitable except one that I could buy from the internet site for trial ... I wasn't keen on that idea as I felt pressure to purchase. I was a bit despondent about it all and put the issue behind me as other life concerns raised their heads.

My interest was rekindled with the bike hire from Oban last year to Island of Kerrera (blog post ... A plane trip and bike ride) and my friend later gave me a magazine from a cycle chain store with an article about a budget version. I followed it through on my own but chose the next model up which took six weeks to arrive from the initial order.

2013 ... investment !

Little did I know that the extras fitted onto the bike cost half the price of the bike again ... so much for the budget. Was I tricked ? ... my friend said it was an investment but I was pleased to wait for the better version.

In conclusion, buying a bike is never quite what it seems in the same way that I learned an inversely proportional lesson in photographing my first heron on the Bala bike day ...

I was maintaining a comfortable speed cycling into Llanuwchllyn looking for the railway station when all of a sudden I spotted a large heron in a field standing next to the river bank. Trying to bring the bike to a halt quickly, I just about fell off with excitement. I retraced my tracks quickly by about 20 - 30 metres and was delighted to notice it was still there, surely it would fly off as I got my camera out .... no, it was still there ....

Then I noticed something about it that wasn't quite right, I had been tricked ... it was a plastic one !

Tobermory, Isle of Mull

Tobermory has been made famous by a mixture of interesting and bizarre things most superficially the coloured buildings that encircle the bay.

After disembarking the MV Isle of Mull (previous post) at Craignure, I was met with a strange sight of a hive of activity with a packed temporary bus and coach station ready to take passengers to the onward destinations of their dreams. This moment occurs at least twice a day before returning to an insignificant and desolate village beside the waters edge.

Bowmans Coaches seem to have a monopoly on Mull & took me some time to find the right one.

Although the coach to Tobermory looked like something for the tourist, it operated as a local bus service along the north of the island connecting with a smaller ferry terminal on the return route.

Arriving in Tobermory for the agreed 4 - 5 hour stop to fit in with the bus service times, I seemed to have proved my Guest House host wrong with my choice of weather day.

To be fair, there was a mix of clouds and weather throughout the day but was fortunate enough to be able to enjoy being outdoors !!

The Tobermory Galleon !!

Legend suggests that back in the year 1588 there was a large Spanish Galleon full of Gold hiding from the English fleet in Tobermory Bay. The crew supposedly had a dispute over payments with local traders as they were taking on supplies and subsequently the vessel caught fire from an explosion of gunpowder and was sunk without trace.

Attempts were made to locate it in 1950 without success although it did help with the development of products in this process.

Fishing port founded on the bicentenary in 1788 by Thomas Telford !, Tobermory Harbour

Ten years later, with an abundant supply of water and the new access route open, the distillery was founded. The business has had a chequered history with the most notable occasion being its closure in 1930 due a drop in demand from the prohibition of alcohol law in the USA for 10 years. It took until 1972 for the doors to re-open but subsequent problems with the production and suitability of the buildings caused further disruption before the present owners (A finance company in Trinidad ! ) took it on in 2002.

Due to the coloured buildings, the town was chosen to become famous in more recent times as a location for the children's television programme Balamory from 2002 - 2005. It was good enough to last 254 episodes but only the kind of thing very small children would like !!

Imagine the disappointment on a child's face when they realise that Archie's Castle is on the other side of the country.

With the passage of time, the town may have readjusted to tourist normality whatever that is, but the tourist board continue to flog the nostalgic horse years after the programme ended. Who would have thought that Balamory would have become the focus for an intellectual media tourism study paper  ...

media tourism with Balamory study

It's a long pdf paper that is tedious at first but there are figures in a table at the end that gives an interesting public survey overview along with a map of the island depicting the difficulties of travel to such a place for large numbers of people.

I have to say about the next bit here ... this is totally alien to my blog as I didn't come on blogger to do this !! haha ...
I couldn't find a short clip of the programme but in the interests of journalism, a few shots of the town (and a North Berwick Castle !!), children's TV, a local otter,  me being a completist & if you have up to 20 minutes of your life to waste !!! well here it is.... haha

youtube Balamory episode example          .... back to reality !!!

Tobermory pier was built for the larger boats at the advice of Thomas Telford in 1814. Today the old ferry waiting room now houses a cafe with the ferry ticket office and tourist board information room next door. An award winning quality restaurant is located upstairs called Cafe Fish. The main ferry link from Calmac is to Kilchoan on the remote peninsula of Ardnamurchan that is a community link for the local people. It is also an exit route off the island for those tourists on a Calmac Island Hopscotch ticket that want to explore a variety of places on a preplanned tour of the Inner Hebrides.

Stopped for a lunch break in a cafe that was converted from an old church ... What a fantastic viewpoint I had from the the table just inside the doorway.

Next door was an active church with a sign outside that gave me meaning both then and now. No doubt the weather can often seem grim in places like this although I had no reason to complain today. I thought it was worth capturing and sharing, a help to others in recent times of difficulties.

"Anyone for Balamory today ? " ........ errr no

Just to give you a close up flavour of some colour and the shops available in 2013

Lastly, as I was fixed to a time slot for the coach back to Craignure, I was starting to repeat my images with brighter skies and not much left to see. I thought it was time to sample some coffee shop wares and took a fancy to a chocolate orange cheesecake. There was no doubt in my mind that this was the best piece of cake for 2013 ... if not the decade !!  On leaving the Tobermory Bakery, I said to the cashier .....