Discovering Shropshire

Mary, Pete and Peter - Telford station

I’m writing this entry on the train from Birmingham to London on Wednesday morning.  Pete was kind enough to drive us to the station after we dropped off the hire car in the industrial area of Telford. I asked a lady at the station to take this photo of the three of us.


Both Carmel and Pete  recommended we visit the village of Ludlow and town of Shrewsbury. We headed out on Monday intending to visit both but only managed Ludlow, as we were so taken with it (even though we did get a parking ticket - not our fault, they should make Loading Zone signs clearer!) which reminds me, the number of speed cameras in this country is phenomenal - Peter is probably sick of hearing me say, 30 means 30, not 32, not 33 but 30!

shopping in downtown Ludlow

Monday, 15^th October

We had a lovely day in Ludlow and agreed that we could easily spend two days in the little village. It  has a number of tudor buildings - the originals, not the fake that I'm used to seeing.  They are very old (derr!!) and some make you wonder how they're still standing. This building has circa 1365 on the front (it is now a pub). can you believe that?

It was quite obvious that it was a foodie’s delight.  First stop was coffee at a tiny little café/deli in a side street (we’ve found that the best/most interesting places to eat are not on the main street). I commented to Peter that the area had a French influence and pointed out the French restaurant across the way. Peter said “…and this menu is very French also”. I had a chuckle as he hadn’t noticed the name of the café was ‘The French Pantry”.

As Pete rarely eats at home, we decided to cook dinner for him. We went looking for a recipe and found just the thing in a small bookshop. Rather than buy the book (it would have been no use to Pete) Peter photographed the recipe while I spoke in a louder than usual voice to cover the sound of the clicking camera. Quite funny.  We sourced the ingredients from the recommended providers rather than the supermarket, and bought the chicken from a butcher with pheasants hanging out the front:

Ludlow butcher

We had lunch in a 13^th century pub which offered eight of its own special ales and excellent food. Peter said the ‘Spinning Well” ale he had was one of the best beers he’s ever had.

Dinner, a chicken, vegie, sherry casserole was a great success.

Thurs morning we woke to blue skies and took it relatively easy in the morning. We headed off to Shrewsbury and arrived just in time for lunch! Surprise, Surprise.  We found a little place called The Bear Steps which must be the smallest café on the planet. There is a sign at the front to “Watch your head” for a very good reason. The ceiling must have been a fraction over six foot and I’m not exaggerating! This photo gives you a little bit of an idea: 

Bear Step cafe - Shrewsbury

St Mary’s Church (C of E I think), while no long used for services, was a beautiful old church from the 11^th century, beautiful stain glass windows and some original stone work still evident. Two retired gentlemen provided us with interesting facts about the church and its history. One, a retired bank manager, has a son living in Brisbane. Lovely old blokes they were.

St Mary's

The building that houses Shrewsbury Library is where Charles Darwin went to school. It is just down from Shrewsbury castle. Here are a few pics for your enjoyment.

Mary in the tower - Shrewsbury castle

We had a lovely time at Pete’s and were made to feel very welcome.

Shrewsbury Castle