Deep & Crisp & Even

Spent Christmas in to lovely Mayfield Cottage just outside Church Stretton in Shropshire. With a backdrop of the Mynd Hills, log burner fire and occasional frost it was all very seasonal.

Marilyn and I took a walk up Carding Mill Valley to Lightspout waterfall then back to Challet Pavillion, via the Victorian Reservoir, for warm drinks and sustenance.

 

Sis arrived Christmas Eve and Christmas Day we had an amazing meal at the wonderful Royal Oak Cardington in the company of mine hosts Steve and Eira.

The following weeks highlights included:

Meander round Shrewsbury. In countryside near to the Welsh Borders, it is one of England's finest medieval market towns. packed with timber-framed black & white buildings, steep narrow streets and alley ways. The town boasts over 600 listed buildings including the Castle, now a regimental museum and the world-famous Shrewsbury Abbey, home of the fictional Brother Cadfael. Also Charles Darwin was born and educated in Shrewsbury. It also hosts the amazing Shrewsbury Flower Festival.

Walking tour of Bridgenorth which was once one of the busiest river ports in Europe, but nowadays, the Severn, clear and unpolluted, is a quiet haven for anglers, walkers and wildlife.  The river divides the town into High Town and Low Town, the two being linked by seven sets of ancient donkey steps and a Victorian funicular, the Bridgnorth Cliff Railway – the UKs oldest and steepest inland funicular railway. The Castle Keep leans at an impossible angle greater than the Tower of Pisa. Thomas Telford's church of St Mary Magdalene sits grandly next door, while the timber-framed Town Hall is set on high brick piers in the High Street.

 

A nightime trip to see the wonderful light show at Birmingham Botanical Gardens.

Mayfields provided a heaven of rest in between activities and the wonderful Berry’s Coffee House in Church Stretton provided the equally wonderful cakes and hot drinks (and occasional wifi connection :)

Sis headed back north on Thursday amid total chaos, cancellations and bus replacement systems that are now the hallmark of our once great railway network! Whilst M and I stretched our legs with a walk round the lake at Colemere Country Park near Ellesmere;

 

Marilyn and I departed the next day for Gloucester via a drive through a frost laden winter wonderland and a  walk along the Wye Valley at Symonds Yat – an eerie experience cloaked in mist and frost.