Day Four of our West Midland road trip saw us heading south west from Shifnal for the short drive to Ironbridge. Somewhere that we had always wanted to visit ever since Sam, our middle son, went on a school trip and came back raving about it. In fact it was one of the reasons that we decided to tour this area in the first place (Bridgenorth, Shifnal, and RAF Cosford).
Ironbridge
Ironbridge is a town on the River Severn in Shropshire that was named after the world famous Iron Bridge built there in 1781 by Abraham Darby the third. It’s claimed to be the ‘Birthplace of the Industrial Revolution‘ but that may be a bit of an exaggeration as it didn’t start in any one place. It’s now a World Heritage site and the town is full of fabulous coffee shops, quirky shops, and great restaurants. The centrepiece of the town is the Iron Bridge though, the first structure in the world constructed from iron.
After an initial wander over the bridge and a read of all of the information plaques available we headed out of the town to climb to the Rotunda for ‘amazing views of the bridge‘. A long hard climb up hundreds and hundreds of steps got us to the viewing area at the top of the hill where we found absolutely no view, no rotunda, and a lot of ivy! Disappointing indeed.
Although the views were disappointing the walk did result in us seeing something amazing. On the way down we passed a line of small terraced houses and noticed a blue plaque. This was one that got my attention too!
Billy Wright! You know? Billy Wright of Wolverhampton Wanderers and England! The first England footballer to reach 100 caps and one of the most most famous players ever! Don’t tell me that you’ve never heard of him …….
Back down to town explore the much more impressive shops on the river front. Being early it was fairly quiet and as the sun broke through we sauntered slowly up the street enjoying every single thing we saw. The bridge looked incredible and the whole town looked like a Victorian film set. Stunning.
Pork Pies
Now anyone that really knows me will be aware that I have a certain fondness for pork pies. In fact, in my youth (many, many years ago …) they were almost a daily occurrence. Now I’m older and a tiny bit wiser and realise that the health aspects of a pork pie are not what they seem, I try to limit my intake. Special occasions only.
Walking through Ironbridge produced one of those occasions. The fabulous pork pie shop was like a magnet drawing me in. What was I supposed to do in the wake of such attraction? I was powerless to resist.
Eleys of Ironbridge – World Famous Pork Pies. Was it worth falling off the wagon? Well Yes it was. It may have been partly due to the location, or to my devoted JWalking companion, but it was one of the best I’d had. Small but full of oomph!
Gorging and Walking
Not really gorging, just liked the sound of the title, but walking through Ironbridge Gorge. We love a circular walk so seeing that there was one back across the bridge was something we just couldn’t ignore. A long walk along the gorge followed by a picnic overlooking the bridge in the glorious September sunshine. What could be better?
Much Wenlock
From Ironbridge we headed south again towards our next overnight stay in Shrewsbury. First though we decided on a quick visit to the fantastically named town of Much Wenlock. Sounding like the name of a character in Much Ado about Nothing or the Merry Wives of Windsor it’s actually just a little market town in Shropshire with heaps of character.
A slow sunny walk around the impressive tudor buildings of the town brought us up through the park to the windmill before taking us back to a quintessentially English scene. Between the oak trees in the shade of the local school we stumbled upon a wonderful cricket match. Now we both love cricket of any level and the fact that there were 3 or 4 huge oak trees spread around the pitch just made it more special.
Crazy Old Mitch and the Bear
As we returned to the town square an old chap stumbled out of a shop in front of us leading a huge unkempt dog, or rather as we immediately discovered, being led by the huge unkempt dog. Bag of sausage rolls in hand he stumbled away around the corner behind his bear of a pet.
Five minutes later as we crossed the square we turned to see the Bear walking briskly with his owner, the now-named Crazy Old Mitch, being dragged behind him. Mitch was virtually running and twisted and turned as The Bear navigated bins and curbs on the way across. The sausage rolls looked intact. Trying not to laugh we continued on.
Fifteen minutes later as we were heading out of town towards the Priory, who should come careering around the corner in the middle of the road towards us but Crazy Old Mitch again. This time breathing heavily and begging The Bear to stop! He crashed past us desperately gripping his cold snacks.
Finally as we were about to leave we heard a kerfuffle behind us and turned to see Mitch and The Bear blasting through pedestrians! Grasping a mess of a sausage roll bag he disappeared up another sidestreet quietly begging The Bear to slow down.
We loved this guy ………
Next stop Shrewsbury.
25/09/2020
JWalking 
What a good ‘ol walk-about! I love wandering around a town I’ve never been before, and such an interesting place. Fabulous bridge! Some good leg workout with all the pointless step climbing too (made me smile), and gorgeous oldie worldie looking shops, pork pie self indulgence and one of the most English of scenes – cricket. You also had the fortune to be entertained by the local characters, Mitch & Bear 🤣 By the way…Billy who?
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Don’t you dare!! It was a fascinating place though, one of those that we had always fancied visiting and just made it to. Shropshire was a revelation. Such a beautiful and interesting county.
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The iron bridge is gorgeous! It’s funny, but it looks quite quaint to me now, because modern bridges have fewer embellishments; It’s funny to think of this as one of the first iron bridges.
I could really do with a pork pie! I’ve never seen them on this side of the pond.
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It’s an impressive structure especially if you think that’s its over 240 years old and still being used. Amazing. I think pork pies are particularly English aren’t they? Delicious.
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Yes I think so. Those and scotch eggs make me think of English picnics. 🙂
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Love the punny connections with ‘gorging’ and the misadventures of the guy with uneaten sausages.
Was the bookstore open? I hope it stays in business throughout this COVID crisis. It looks like a place made in heaven to explore!
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Bookshop was open, all the shops were, although they are obviously struggling through the crisis. It’s a fabulous place to explore, so much to see and do.
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That’s somewhere else that I’d love to visit and I’d quite fancy one of those pork pies as well.great trip!
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It was a brilliant day, so much history and character in Ironbridge plus the pie was great. Well worth a visit, in fact all of Shropshire is worth one.
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I know I’ve been here many years ago, but it looks so much better than I remember it. Maybe because it was dull and damp. Everywhere looks nicer with a bit of blue sky!
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We were so lucky with the weather, absolutely lovely sunny day. Everywhere looks so much better in the sunshine doesn’t it?
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Certainly does!
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Billy Wright, pork pies, a river, gorge, forest and iron bridges! It’s got the lot!! What a little gem that is. Like you never been to Shropshire but might have to change that even if it’s just for an artisan pork and pastry snack.
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Ironbridge has everything!
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What a bizarre incident to witness! I can’t say I’ve ever seen a bear being followed by a man holding a cold lunch. Quite extraordinary and maybe a contender for highlight of the day!
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Certainly was entertaining. I did get a photo but decided against publicising the poor fellas face.
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You went to Much Wenlock and didn’t meet Tish? That’s a cardinal sin. And a great loss on your part.
https://tishfarrell.com/ 🙂 🙂
I don’t think we saw Ironbridge at its best, many years ago. We probably should have revisited a couple of years ago when we stayed in Church Stretton (and met Tish 🙂 )
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Not heard of Tish but will head off and have a look at her site. Shame you didn’t see Ironbridge at its best, it is a fabulous place.
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She is an authoress and a garden guru, and a lovely person. Tell her I sent you 🙂 🙂
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I’ve been to Ironbridge as part of the whole Ironbridge Gorge experience (including Blists Hill, which I love), but I remember being a bit underwhelmed by the town, which just seemed really busy and touristy. I enjoyed your sausage roll story though!
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It’s a quiet understated place I suppose but we found it all fascinating. Currently not that touristy though.
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Ahhh yes, Ironbridge, noe that was one place I did visit for a few days….absolutely fabulous. The bridge is amazing. As a matter of interest, did you happen to notice if the 3 chimneys were still standing?
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Three chimneys? Didn’t notice any but not sure where they would be.
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Apologies….the correct name is cooling towers …I just referred to them as chimneys. But I did a quick Google search and it seems they were demolished in Dec 2019, which us a real shame since they were so distinctive. There’s a short video online if you’re interested in seeing them pre-demolition
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What a shame they’ve disappeared. We would have loved to have seen them .
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Ironbridge looks very pretty. Yet another place I have never heard of but would like to visit. Not a big fan of the pork pie but that one looked tasty. Hope The Bear 🐕 got Mitch home safely😁
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Not a big fan of a pork pie? Unbelievable. No idea what happened to Mitch and the Bear. Perhaps we need to go back.
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This is a place I’ve heard and read about but am yet to visit. It’s long been on my list. Hopefully one day…
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It’s a fabulously interesting place to go, so different and full of history and character. Our sort of town
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Great photos in this blog. Looks like you’ve found some nice English scenes, and that bridge looks quite spectacular! Unfortunately I have never heard of Billy Wright! Ian Wright, Mark Wright, but no Billy?!
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You’ve never heard of Billy Wright? Call yourself a football fan Ben?
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It was quite difficult to keep reading after THAT picture of the pie … 😊 … but I’ve managed to read all the way to the end! It’s a beautiful place and love your pictures … but hey, THAT pie!!
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It was absolutely delicious.
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