Sunday 8 September - Shrewsbury

It is now worth taking a picture from our window as they have just removed the scaffolding from the building across the street. The sqare clock tower is on the market building.

Bright and sunny today but with a cool wind. Many of the stores are open but there are no local buses running.
We walked all the way beside the river stopping at the Quarry gardens to admire the display of flowers. 

 The ducks were on the lookout for food and several pairs of robins were twittering in the trees. A solitary pigeon was clambering around in a Japanese Maple eating the seeds.
A small circus was set up on the grass by the river.

We followed the river as far as the weir then came back into town passing the prison.
Lunch was at The Drapers, a beautiful period building that was originally built aserr t  the Drapers Hall. The service was good and the food was well prepared but the menu was restricted to fish and red meat. The Shropshire Gold was a good bitter.

A pretty salad with flowers but the Parmesan was hard and the menu was restricted to fish and red meat.

This evening we went to a concert Chantorion with a Welsh male voice choir at the Severn Theatre. The audience was definitely the older set and the songs were chosen accordingly. I didn't know any of them except for the show songs e.g. from Les Miserables. The three male soloists were excellent and they imported some glamour in thr form of a well known Welsh soprano who had a very powerful voice and sang songs of love. One of the choir introduced the peogram and was very amusing. The program was well paced and very entertaining. The choir has won a number of prizes both here and in Ireland. To me, the most impressive was a piece called " luz" which was sung a capella by the 45 strong choir. The choir came into the foyet at the break where a table of tea and biscuits had been set oit for them. Although there was a large, well stocked bar, most people were drinking a nice cup of tea while many has ice lollies on a stick. The performance was in English and Welsh. I did know the encore " Monte Christo" and the performance ended with the audience singing the Welsh National Anthem in Welsh "My hen wlad fi nadau". Happily I knew the words.

Return to the hotel took just 10 minutes and we decided to go to the Three Fishes if we could get in. It was completely empty and we enjoyed a Guiness (Mary) and a Bishops Castle award winning stout (Colin). After about ten minutes a well lubricated man came in and there was a heated discussion about the merits of London and Paris.

Bishops Castle Brewery Three Tuns stout

 

Saturday 7 September - Severn Valley Railway

We took the same bus today as yesterday but we took it all the way into Bridgnorth. The forecast was for showers but it turned out cloudy with sunny periods. When the sun was out it was hot but we needed a sweater for the cloudy periods. However, it did rain in the area so we were fortunate. We passed quickly through Much Wenlock and Bridgnorth upper town was busy, Saturdays being market days. 

We took the first train to Highley behind 43106, one of the ugliest engines ever built. 

I think these were nicknames Flying Pigs

There is now a visitor centre at Highley but it is set a little way south of the station which still retains its bucolic charm.

Highley

The visitor centre had a couple of interesting locomotives including a Hall and a 43xx 2-6-0 both types I worked with at Reading.  

 

 Shiny bits I polished while at Reading

80079 was also there with a Tilbury shed plate 33B. I certainly worked with these engines while I was on the Fenchurch Street trains.
The next train took us to Bewdley where we found a couple of good salads in the railway refreshment room. Most people were eating something with chips.
Arley station is beautiful. The staff take a great deal of effort to maintain the flower beds and period items such as luggage barrows and cases and trunks.

We had intended to stroll along by the Severn at Arley but were waylaid by the Harbour on the way and a pint of Twisted Spire bitter was excellent.

 

Arley station building

Arley signal box

The journey back to Bridgnorth was behind Sir Keith Park, with its familiar soft Battle of Britain beat.
We descended at Bridgnorth into a crowd of beer tasting/guzzling/swilling aficionados/drunks at a Camra beer festival. The platform had a lot of staff to ensure nobody fell off. Because of the crowd we had a drink at The George for a pint of Brakspear's bitter.

 We then crossed the street to the bus stop where we met a couple who came to Bridgnorth on our bus this morning. They had been at the beer festival all day and were feeling no pain.  The ride back to Shrewsbury turned into a momentous one although it could have turned nasty.  It went fine as far as Much Wenlock when an old biddy got on and complained to the driver that she had waited an hour and ten minutes (buses run every hour).  She sat next to an old man and who complained that the timetables were not accurate.  The grumbling went on for some time and they tried to get other locals involved.  The woman from the beer festival then told her to stop complaining, as she now had a bus so why not just enjoy the ride.  This shut them up for a little while until the biddy mentioned to the man next to her that there had been a beer festival in Bridgnorth to which the woman from the festival said, "Yes, there was a beer festival and it was very good".

The biddy replied, "I wasn't talking to you."

"Yes, you were, you were talking to the whole bus."

The biddy got up and found a spare seat and sulked for the rest of the journey.  Peace in our time.

Dinner this evening was at a fish restaurant called Loch Fyne.  The fish was properly prepared (pickled herring and scallops), the wine was good and the service was attentive.
Click here to see all pictures of the Severn Valley Railway
http://www.flickr.com/photos/colinchurcher/sets/72157636301387373/
Click here to see pictures in slide show format

Friday 6 September - Much Wenlock

The weather forecast was for the rain to stop at 0945. It did - but it started again at 0955 and has been raining on and off all day.
The 436 bus took us to Much Wenlock which is a pretty small village. We climbed up and over a limestone ridge known as Wenlock Edge well known from a poem by Hausman and set to music by Vaughan Williams.  There were two markets today, fruit and vegetables under the Corn Market and a farmers market under the Guildhall, cheese, meats etc. The Guildhall, built in 1540, had a jail on the ground floor but the court room and council chamber were above. The wooden carvings in the council chamber were exquisite, some having come from a local manor house.

The Corn Market

Guildhall from the street. The market is at street level.

Guildhall market.  The door to the jail is at the back on the left.

Prisoner in the dock

Council Chamber

Council Chamber

The small local museum was worth a visit and the curator had a wealth of local knowledge. It isn't generally known that the Modern Olympics were started in Much Wenlock.
There is just one main street (High Street) and we checked out all of the pubs/restaurants before deciding on the Talbot.

The red snapper looked more like salmon but the beef and Stilton pie was tasty.  Everything was overcooked. The best part of the meal was the Holy Cow beer which wasn't very good.

We took a walk down a narrow lane and picked a few blackberries. There were many fields of sheep but also much mixed growth woodland.

Guildhall from the town burial ground

We had about an hour to wait for the bus so we had a drink in the George and Dragon
The Cornish Tribute beer was much better.

 
The ride back in an empty bus was uneventful although the sun came out just after we got back to the room.

Thursday 5 September - Shrewsbury

We spent the day looking around, getting information and planning the next week or so. The cooked breakfast at the hotel is very good and will be the main meal of the day. The room is adorned with suits of armour and weapons, pikes, muskets etc.

Breakfast was eaten with this gazing over us

Before going out we explored the hotel.  It is an agglomeration of buildings, many of  which date back to the 1200s.  Our own room is quite recent as it only dates from the 1700s. The hotel rooms are laid out like a rabbit warren and I would think that several people have become lost between their room and reception. 

The Prince Rupert room is used for small private parties.

The Tourist Information Bureau provided a great deal of info about the area and their brochures will require some study.
The Severn Theatre quickly produced the tickets for the three performances we had booked and the balcony overlooking the Severn is a great place to relax over a latte. 

Welsh Bridge from the Severn Theatre balcony

Welsh Bridge

The bus station is just a short way away over a pedestrian suspension bridge. It is very well ordered and we were able to get printed timetables for the routes we are interested in. 

Some of the buses have LCD destination boards which show up very well indeed. These are similar to those being introduced in Paris, which, so far, only uses LCD for route numbers.

The Railway Station

We bought tickets at the station for our trip to Newport to see Hilary next Tuesday. The Senior's Rail card is certainly saving a lot of money.

Shrewsbury has many narrow alleyways tucked away.  You never know what you will find around the next corner.

After plumbing the depths of Marks and Spencer we had lunch at The Bull, next door to the Prince Rupert.
Bean salad
Ploughman's with Shropshire Blue cheese, pickled onions. Very good but too much.

Marston Bitter was gnat's p.
We are still getting over jet lag and relaxed this afternoon

A Victorian mailing box (VR)

The Prince Rupert hotel - our room is to the top right

A visit to The Loggerheads produced an excellent Banks's bitter and I was happy to see the Jennings' mild is still on tap.

Tuesday-Wednesday 3-4 September - Travel Ottawa to Shrewsbury

Air Canada sucked us in at Ottawa and blew us out at London Heathrow where it was a slow day. There were a lot of babies and young children but it was a very quiet flight. The flight was short and we arrived early having passed over Haverfordwest, Cardiff and Bath. There were not many at Immigration and Mary's bag was already on the carousel. I didn't check a bag. The man at the money change also sold us tickets for the Heathrow Express. There was ample time at Paddington to drop into the Mad Bishop and Bear for a pint of Fuller's London Pride and a vegetarian breakfast.
More luck as the 205 bus to Euston arrived at the stop just as we did. Euston was hot and busy and we had almost two hours before our train. There were no seats in the concourse but our luck held as we found the first class lounge where we were able to wait in air conditioned comfort. The sim card I bought from a machine at Heathrow worked first time.

Euston

 

Our train left on time. It was a Virgin Trains electric Pendolino, first stop Crewe. The route is uninteresting and I dozed. We came to a stop at a signal at Stafford. There was a long stand and the Manager said we would be 15 minutes late because of signalling difficulties. I could have told him that. Virgin Train Managers are good at falling on their swords. He apologized profusely but we missed our connection and had to wait 45 minutes for the next train to Shrewsbury. It was going to Pembroke Dock of all places via Shrewsbury, Cwmbran, Cardiff, Swansea and Carmarthen. Goodness knows how long it took as it stopped at all stations.
It was a quick walk up the hill to the Prince Rupert Hotel where we received a warm welcome and an offer of a glass of sherry. The room is excellent with lots of electrical outlets. There is a four poster bed and we were treated to a bowl of fruit and a box of chocolates.
We had a short walk around and decided to eat at The Chambers a bistro owned as part of the hotel but physically separated from it although in the same block.
Pint of Boddington's draft.
Poached salmon
Grilled chicken

Painted on on one of the rafters of the restaurant.  Bruce M. will like this one.

Tuesday 3 July - Return home.

Paddington station is filthy, particularly at the buffer stop ends where the 1970s era diesels are idling. The train shed is black and one wonders at the quality of the air. Isambard Kingdom Brunel must be turning in his grave at this desecration of his work. This is much worse than in steam days.

We had some time to spare and walked through Hyde Park. The animals and birds provide plenty of interest for the passers by. A couple of herons provided good photographic subjects while a squirrel entertained some tourists. 

There were also swans, grebes, coots and moorhens. We particularly enjoyed watching a moorhen with two young in a fenced off area of weeds in one of the ponds. The moorhen had pushed down the netting in one part and the young were small enough to go through unhindered. There are several areas fenced off which have been allowed to grow as undisturbed bush. This is a good example of man reacting in the environment and allowing the flora and fauna to develop relatively undisturbed in the centre of a large city.
The Heathrow Express was its normal efficient self as was the Air Canada check in. The same could not be said for the security check. The flight was quite uneventful and we caught the 97 bus home.

Monday 1 July - London

Breakfast was at the Mad Bishop and Bear in Paddington station.  Before 10 a.m. they can only serve alcohol with a meal.  An old lady was eating breakfast along with a pint of Guinness.  My grandmother's neighbor used to get a prescription from her doctor for Guinness.  I tried that with my GP but it didn't work.

We had a good crowd of Eltham College classmates at the Skinners Arms.
Dai Rhys-Tyler, Derek Browne, Dai Bamford, Peter Gregory, Rob Carter, John Palmer, Mike Fulford, Clive Grenyer and me. We had a great relaxed time with lots of laughter and lots of reminiscences - just good fun. There was some money left over in the beer kitty so the Treasurer, Dai Rhys-Tyler, is keeping it for the next event tentatively set for Monday 2 December.

This being the last night of a memorable month, Mary had found a good restaurant in which to have dinner, Browns Bar and Restaurant just off New Bond Steet.
http://www.browns-restaurants.co.uk/locations/mayfair/
The food and service were both very good, the scallops, trout and duck breast were all prepared very well indeed.

Browns is located in a beautiful listed building

A good way to finish the vacation.