Wrecked In The Wrekin
Jul. 5th, 2014 12:10 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lupestripeOn the way back from Bristol last Sunday, we opted to call off at Tamworth in the Midlands, where Lapres and Ellis now live. Lapres used to live in Pudsey and has been a regular at Leeds meets for a while, even designing the Leeds furs flag. As their house is roughly equidistant between Bristol and Leeds, we thought it would be great to stop off and have a look around, plus she had loads of goodies for me which I ordered at CFz, including a bracelet, a necklace and a con badge.
Tamworth is deceptively large as a place, as I since discovered it appears bigger than it is as it's a large sausage in shape. And we all know how puppies feel about snausages. Finding their place was quite easy, where we were met with a lick and a wag from Bailey, their new white German Shepherd puppy. They had only got her the week before so she was very excited to see us, and it was great playing with her, even though she tried to bite everything with her sharp teeth. She is adorable though, even looking knowingly at us while she was having a wee wee on the carpet. Bad dog! She also dug up some flowers in the back garden and came back into the house rather muddy. She was very naughty! Best of all though, she was very inquisitive and spent a lot of time wanting scritiches and huggles. I emphasise a lot with puppies so it was great getting on the floor and playing with her - she was super cute and adorable.
Wanting to see some of the local sites, we sadly had to leave Bailey behind as she had not yet had all of her vaccinations. It was a bit of a wrench locking her in the kitchen and saying goodbye, but we were soon heartened by a visit to Ironbridge, home of the oldest iron bridge in the world. Built in 1779, the cast iron bridge spans the River Severn over Ironbridge Gorge and it is a true marvel of engineering. It is a UNESCO World Heritage site and the town is described as the "Birthplace of the Industrial Revolution". The old toll sign still adorns the top of the door on the old weighhouse but the bridge is now solely for pedestrians. It is quite steep on both sides, as noted when you walked over it, but the real thrill was underneath where you got to marvel at this wonderous piece of engineering. Walking by the river on this lovely summer's day, dodging the nettles and puddles and watching old people sat in their gardens through which the path bisected, it was all rather lovely and genteel. Very English. As was stopping to look at the house prices and discovering actually that they weren't too bad.
What with this being the "Birthplace of the Industrial Revolution", it's quite interesting that in the middle of this stunning countryside there is a large coal-fired power plant at Coalbrookdale. You see it as you walk along the river, rising above the gorge, towering over it as you head back towards the car park. There are many museums and visitor centres around here - eleven in all - but as it was a Sunday afternoon, most were closed. We had opted instead to take in a local pub where we got a delicious two-course meal (I had pate and roast beef) for a princely sum of £10.95. The local ale was a Brazilian themed effort for the World Cup and the black and red decor was very similar to that of our dungeon. We felt most at home. And it was a rather nice meal, the four of us gathered around the table, chatting. A very relaxing afternoon indeed and a nice gastronomic edition to the rather excellent pork pie we had picked up at a farm shop service station off the M5. Seriously, this was one of the greatest pies ever, filled with tender meat and topped with a delicious jaundiced jelly. It was made by Legges of Bromyard in Herefordshire and it was so good, I may swallow the £10 postage and get some pies delivered up here sometime. Truly sublime - £3.60 for a pie may be steep but it was worth it. It's just a shame we had only one of their flavours rather than all five which were on offer. The service station was dug into a hillside, very hippie and bohemian, but the quality of the food was excellent, far better than your standard Roadchef.
After the meal, the trip to the iron bridge and the genteel walk around this quintessential village with its post office, Grade 2 listed estate agents, chintzy antiques stores and local eateries, we bade Lapres and Ellis goodbye and headed off to find The Wrekin, a famous hill after which the local authority is named. I don't really know how this hill became so popular in folklore. It does dominate over the Shropshire skyline but only in one direction, the opposite one from which we were heading. From our perspective, it was just one hill in a series of hills, and not a particularly distinctively shaped one either. Having said that, the sat nav had initially directed us to a golf course for some reason so perhaps I was a little weary by this stage. The roads up to the hill wound through picturesque little villages which must be a nightmare to leave in winter before we eventually found a parking spot from which we could enjoy the view. Unfortunately, a family of five was also there, listening to loud classical music with the windows down, the father passively staring out of the window as if to suggest his general dissatisfaction with life. After 30 seconds we had had enough and opted to head home. Anyway, we didn't get chance to climb the Wrekin due to the growing lateness of the day, but appearently there is an iron age fort and a transmitting station up there, the latter of which was quite apparent from the base. I get the impression, being a prominent hill, it became part of local life and grew in reputation throughout the ages. Certainly, from an outsider's perspective, it is just a flat-topped hill in the middle of the countryside.
Tamworth is deceptively large as a place, as I since discovered it appears bigger than it is as it's a large sausage in shape. And we all know how puppies feel about snausages. Finding their place was quite easy, where we were met with a lick and a wag from Bailey, their new white German Shepherd puppy. They had only got her the week before so she was very excited to see us, and it was great playing with her, even though she tried to bite everything with her sharp teeth. She is adorable though, even looking knowingly at us while she was having a wee wee on the carpet. Bad dog! She also dug up some flowers in the back garden and came back into the house rather muddy. She was very naughty! Best of all though, she was very inquisitive and spent a lot of time wanting scritiches and huggles. I emphasise a lot with puppies so it was great getting on the floor and playing with her - she was super cute and adorable.
Wanting to see some of the local sites, we sadly had to leave Bailey behind as she had not yet had all of her vaccinations. It was a bit of a wrench locking her in the kitchen and saying goodbye, but we were soon heartened by a visit to Ironbridge, home of the oldest iron bridge in the world. Built in 1779, the cast iron bridge spans the River Severn over Ironbridge Gorge and it is a true marvel of engineering. It is a UNESCO World Heritage site and the town is described as the "Birthplace of the Industrial Revolution". The old toll sign still adorns the top of the door on the old weighhouse but the bridge is now solely for pedestrians. It is quite steep on both sides, as noted when you walked over it, but the real thrill was underneath where you got to marvel at this wonderous piece of engineering. Walking by the river on this lovely summer's day, dodging the nettles and puddles and watching old people sat in their gardens through which the path bisected, it was all rather lovely and genteel. Very English. As was stopping to look at the house prices and discovering actually that they weren't too bad.
What with this being the "Birthplace of the Industrial Revolution", it's quite interesting that in the middle of this stunning countryside there is a large coal-fired power plant at Coalbrookdale. You see it as you walk along the river, rising above the gorge, towering over it as you head back towards the car park. There are many museums and visitor centres around here - eleven in all - but as it was a Sunday afternoon, most were closed. We had opted instead to take in a local pub where we got a delicious two-course meal (I had pate and roast beef) for a princely sum of £10.95. The local ale was a Brazilian themed effort for the World Cup and the black and red decor was very similar to that of our dungeon. We felt most at home. And it was a rather nice meal, the four of us gathered around the table, chatting. A very relaxing afternoon indeed and a nice gastronomic edition to the rather excellent pork pie we had picked up at a farm shop service station off the M5. Seriously, this was one of the greatest pies ever, filled with tender meat and topped with a delicious jaundiced jelly. It was made by Legges of Bromyard in Herefordshire and it was so good, I may swallow the £10 postage and get some pies delivered up here sometime. Truly sublime - £3.60 for a pie may be steep but it was worth it. It's just a shame we had only one of their flavours rather than all five which were on offer. The service station was dug into a hillside, very hippie and bohemian, but the quality of the food was excellent, far better than your standard Roadchef.
After the meal, the trip to the iron bridge and the genteel walk around this quintessential village with its post office, Grade 2 listed estate agents, chintzy antiques stores and local eateries, we bade Lapres and Ellis goodbye and headed off to find The Wrekin, a famous hill after which the local authority is named. I don't really know how this hill became so popular in folklore. It does dominate over the Shropshire skyline but only in one direction, the opposite one from which we were heading. From our perspective, it was just one hill in a series of hills, and not a particularly distinctively shaped one either. Having said that, the sat nav had initially directed us to a golf course for some reason so perhaps I was a little weary by this stage. The roads up to the hill wound through picturesque little villages which must be a nightmare to leave in winter before we eventually found a parking spot from which we could enjoy the view. Unfortunately, a family of five was also there, listening to loud classical music with the windows down, the father passively staring out of the window as if to suggest his general dissatisfaction with life. After 30 seconds we had had enough and opted to head home. Anyway, we didn't get chance to climb the Wrekin due to the growing lateness of the day, but appearently there is an iron age fort and a transmitting station up there, the latter of which was quite apparent from the base. I get the impression, being a prominent hill, it became part of local life and grew in reputation throughout the ages. Certainly, from an outsider's perspective, it is just a flat-topped hill in the middle of the countryside.
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Date: 2014-07-07 10:37 am (UTC)Yay for good pub food! As you know, that's one of my favorite styles of dining - no formality, no pressure, so you can just arrive and while away an evening. ^_^ (As indeed I did on Saturday, with the White Horse running their American Beer Festival, with several casks and many more kegs available. Arrived a bit before 4pm, left a bit before 11pm. Started with a delicious pork & apple terrine, wrapped in bacon, served with toast, piccalilli, and a candied baby apricot; then, monkfish tail wrapped in pancetta, with artichoke puree)
Mail order pies! Indeed, that'd be worthwhile, especially if you can put together an order with a couple others. Frustratingly, I found the place for the best pasties around also does such, but they charge £15 for delivery, good for up to around 50 large. Arg! If the delivery were only a bit lower.. trouble is, we don't really have much freezer space, so an order couldn't be all that large. Maybe the cost's due to being right down in Cornwall? But then, Master of Malt's charges start at about £5, good for several bottles, and they're up in Scotland.
I see there's now a beacon on the Wrekin. Makes me wonder if they built it just so people could say that sentence. =:)