My Shropshire Adventure: Day Three (22 May)

Bronwen woke up singing at 6:30 this morning, which isn't really a bad way to greet the day, early though it may be. After my unconventional serenading, I made my way down to the kitchen, whose fairy-tale door is typical of the rest of the house:

Waiting on the other side of the door was Bronwen herself! Clearly she had places to go, things to do, but the door latch was out of her reach.
Today's jaunt was to Shrewsbury, about fifteen minutes away by car. In spite of its location, we didn't drive right into town,where parking can be a hassle; we took the park-and-ride from the edge of town. Bronwen seemed quite pleased with the bus, as it gave her the chance to watch the world go by free from the annoying confines of her car-seat.
Our first stop in Shrewsbury was for something very important: coffee! The old market hall has been converted into an airy café and arts centre, perfect for a nice sit before we began our day.
Before I set out on this trip to Shropshire, I must admit that I knew next to nothing (okay, nothing) about the county, but quickly found out that Shropshire has several worthy claims to fame, including having Britain's finest Tudor town (Shrewsbury); being the birthplace of the industrial revolution (at Ironbridge Gorge); hosting the annual Much Wenlock Olympics, begun by William Brookes, who was recently acknowledged by the Olympics Committee as the "founder" of the modern Olympics; and containing Charles Darwin's hometown (Shrewsbury). Not bad, huh? One of Darwin's old school buildings now houses the Shrewsbury library, with a statue of Darwin greeting library patrons as they enter.
The library interior is beautiful
and on the right side of this photo, there is a wooden ledge
where students have carved their names for posterity.
We glanced around for Darwin's name, but he was apparently too upstanding of a student to deface school property! The upper storey of the library also provided some lovely views of Shrewsbury Castle and the nearby streets:
Of course, Shrewsbury also makes the most of its association with Darwin. Good old Charles would be proud.
By this time, Bronwen was itching for a good crawling session, so we began to wander through town, toward a place where she could do just that. The Quarry Park (which unsurprisingly used to be a quarry) is Shrewsbury's main park. The middle of the park contains the Dingle, a beautiful manicured garden:

Of course, Bronwen wasn't here to fuss over flowers. She wanted to crawl and crawl she did!
The River Severn, the longest river in Britain, runs through the park,
and this idyllic view features a rower on the river with the looming presence of Jonathan's alma mater, Shrewsbury School, in the background. Oh and another Salopian (someone educated at Shrewsbury School--I hope Jonathan will be proud that I threw in that term) that you might also know is Charles Darwin.As we made our way back into town to meet Graham for lunch, Bronwen tried out some of her walking skills,
but cute as she was, we needed to pick up our pace, so Lisa helped Bronwen along:
Just before lunch, we sat for a bit in a small churchyard, with this wonderful building next door.

While we waited for our food to arrive at lunch, Bronwen got a bit thirsty and Jonathan was happy to share:
(Your eyes do not deceive you--Bronwen's enjoying daddy's beer.) After lunch, our last sightseeing stop in town was at St. Mary's Church.
Jonathan pointed out this very odd plaque near the church entrance. The church's interior was amazing, with ornate wooden ceilings


and a fourteenth-century stained-glass window.
Just before we left town, we popped into M&S to pick up some salad for dinner--the food-hall signs were a bit confusing and I never did find out where I'd end up if I went left instead of right!
One park-and-ride later and we were back at home, or "The Cottage," as Royal Mail knows it--street addresses don't exist here and the mail carrier just knows the names of all the houses in the village. Beans will soon obscure this view of the house,

but the last of the asparagus couldn't hide the fragrant clematis in nearby bloom.
I was inside the house when I heard Lisa and Jonathan calling me to come and take a photo in the garden. I soon realised why--wildlife photo number two on my list was within reach! Unfortunately, I couldn't get too close to this pheasant, but his brilliant colours still shone in the sunlight:
Now all that was left on my dream list was that bunny photo. Did I get it? You'll have to read tomorrow's entry to find out! For now, here's a photo of another bunny:
John's sister Anne came over for a visit and gave Bronwen this incredibly soft and squishy bunny. As you can tell from the photo, Bronwen approved. After another lovely supper courtesy of Edna (this time we had oozing rich lasagna), Lisa, Jonathan, and I headed out on another walk. The moon was pretty hovering over the house and along the way, I saw some of the red sandstone for which Shropshire is known (and whose colour I saw today in many Shrewsbury buildings).

We passed by a nearby house that Lisa has been coveting for a long time, and when we were just seconds from home, I stopped to take this photo:
Jonathan's pouting because this inn/ pub is basically at the bottom of his mum's garden, and if Bob had joined us on this Shropshire adventure as we had initially planned, Bob and Jonathan would have definitely walked the dozen steps or so from home over to the pub for a local pint. We missed you in Shropshire, Bob!