Trip to Shrewsbury

This past Friday I set off from the Oxford train station, transfered at Birmingham and arrived at the Shrewsbury station just after noon.

My first stop was the river cruise.  It was a pleasant sunny day.  I was joined by two other women. The riverside was green with parks public and private.  At one point a group of five or six young men gave us a wave.

The scenery included  bridges, 

many for pedestrians,

and a few for automobiles.

Next I went to the Shrewsbury Castle.  It is now a museum of the Shropshire Regiment, the one that surrendered to Washington at Yorktown.  The castle was once a private home and even now has a wedding book with photos of all the couples who have been married here.

The gardens were magnificent, especially when you realize that this part of the castle would have been the basic reception area, with mud and dirt and horse dung.  The difference is amazing.

Across the yard is Laura Close, the highest point around.  Very good from a military perspective.

I was interested that the castle was built on high ground and on the river.  It is so close that the original timber fortification at this site was undercut by the river. The stone lookout, from which this photo was taken, replaced the wooden structure.

I then walked across town to the Shrewsbury Abbey.  I did not take any photos because they asked for a fee to photograph inside the abbey and the outside photo was blocked by cars.  But I did buy a couple of Brother Cadfael books and other mementos at the shop.  The church did a good job of being a place of worship and a tourist attraction.  As I sat in the pew and looked at the beautiful stained glass over the alter, I felt that I was breathing in a holy atmosphere.

On my way back through town, I saw this building. It was once a Presbyterian church and is now the offices for a woman's organization.

I also came across this shop that sold nothing but hats, and elegant ones at that.

Many of the stores have been here since the Victorian times.  In fact, the 1984 version of A Christmas Carol was filmed here.  They changed the signs and brought in snow.

I spent the night a the Sydney House B and B.  A little out of the way when one is walking, but the price was right.

The next morning, after a full English breakfast, I trudged over the river and up the hill to see Darwin's birthplace.  It is now the County Assessor's Office.  I was rather surprised to see the obvious opulence that Darwin was born into.  For some reason I had thought that he worked himself up from nothing.

With helpful instructions from a local, I found St Chad Church, where Darwin was baptized, and one of the few round churches. A woman decorating the church, echoing the tourist information, informed me that Darwin eventually attended the Unitarian Meeting House, because they were free thinkers as opposed to the congregation at St Chad who were bold in proclaiming what they thought.

The interior was beautiful.  They were decorating for the Harvest Festival and the organist was practicing.  I had a time of quiet contemplation at the end of my journey.

I then made my way back to the train station and on to Oxford.