Shrewsbury.

After our walk around the locale we had a quiet night that included a couple of pints at the Navigation. They were very busy with only two staff, and I think that included the chef!

We had decided to retrace our steps to Queens Head and catch the bus in the opposite direction to Oswestry, to Shrewsbury, or is it 'Shrowsbury'? I think even those that live their can't make up their minds! There are one or two places on the canal that the reeds are doing their best to reclaim. I suppose, as on the Droitwich Canal, being a SSSI the paperwork to reduce a reed habitat must be a lot worse than the ire of passing boaters. The bus took about 35 minutes and on a day rover ticket was £6-20 each.

We made our way to the museum/Art gallery and Tourist Information. They wanted £4-50 to go in the museum. We are from the land of free culture so declined, but went for a cup of coffee in the place. We didn't see anybody enter the museum in the 30 mins we were there. In Hull 400 or 500 are passing through the doors on a normal week day. Outside was the Old Market Hall. It was built in 1596 following the demolition of one built on the site in 1260's. The upper floor house the Guild of Drapers and below was the corn market for farmers. In the 1800's it fell into disrepair and many were for knocking it down and building another, but they refurbished it. The Drapers moved out and their space was used as a warehouse, a dance hall, drill hall, auctions, lectures etc. In the 1870's two courtrooms and offices were created, and hangings took place right outside! In WWII the undercroft was bricked in and made into an air raid shelter. By 1995 it became unused and fell into disrepair, but as by then it was Grade 1 listed it has been saved.

There had been a St. Chad's in Shrewsbury since 7th Century. St. Chad was the first Christian Bishop of Mercia. The Church had developed over the years but by 1788 Thomas Telford himself had warned the vicar that it was in danger of falling down, and it did in 1788. All that is left is the S wall of the Chancel, the S transept E wall and the Lady Chapel. The former were both from the 12th Century and the later from late 15th Century.

We walked down to the river Severn and as we passed under Kingsland Bridge, that was built in 1883 as a toll bridge and it still costs 20p for a car to cross, we could see that there were dragon boat racing from the Shrewsbury School Boat house to the Pengwern Boathouse. The School Rowing Club was founded in 1866 and the boathouse was built around this time. It was shared with the Pengwern Rowing Club for a short time until they went their own way in 1876 when they built their own club house a little further down the bank.

On the heights above the river at Kingsland stands the 'new' Shrewsbury School. The school was started by Royal Charter of Edward VI in 1552. It moved here from the centre of the city in 1882. The main part of the building had been built in 1765 as a Foundling Hospital and then a workhouse. The School is one of the original seven Public Schools as defined in the 1868 Act of Parliament.

Shresbury is built in the middle of a huge loop of the River Severn and today, to the south west is a vast park called the Quarry, running down to the river. There are also parts of it set out as formal gardens in the Dingle. In the Dingle, among the beds, is the bust of Percy Thrower, whose name is well known to those of my generation from gardening programmes on TV and Radio. Between 1946 and 1974 he was the Parks Superintendent in Shrewsbury and remodeled the park after the war and replanted the avenues of trees by the river.

The new St. Chads Church is built looking down across the Quarry park to the river. After the old St. Chad's fell down a new site was found here and designs were commissioned from a Scottish architect. By some 'misunderstanding the one with the circular nave was built. It is unique and the pews are arranged in a maze pattern to fit in. The church is normally open but there was a wedding on. However the thirteen bells were ringing out making a lovely atmosphere outside. Charles Darwin was baptised in the church in 1809.

The park gates near St. Chads were presented to the Council in 1881 by the Shrewsbury Horticultural Society. The park is the site of the annual Shrewsbury Flower Show.

We were loosely following a trail of places associated with the town's most famous son, Charles Darwin. In the background is Morris Hall, but the object of interest is in the foreground and is the greenish rock called the Bellstone. When Darwin was at school his master had told him that 'the world would come to an end before anyone would be able to explain how it had come to be here' as the nearest point where this type of rock can be found was north of Cumbria! This piqued Darwin's interest in geology. He had already taken to collecting bugs and beetles in Quarry Park and the river. Ofcourse we know now that it was likely to have been left here following the retreat of the ice.

On the Mardol, a road whose name means 'The Devil's Boundary', stand the Kings Head. It is a late15th Century Inn that has three floors and is timber framed and is jettied, ie each floor sticks out beyond the one below. There is also the remains of a 15th Cntury mural that depicts the last supper.