Jan 7
Bath to Shrewsbury
A dismal start to the morning. Dull, damp and dreary outside. We had a very leisurely breakfast and finally left Bath at about 11 am. The motorways were reasonably quiet and by midday we were speeding into Gloucestershire.
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We stopped briefly at Staunton for a beer and the use of their facilities before arriving in Ledbury. I thought that the historic buildings would interest Valerie and they did.
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We had a wander and then settled into an excellent old pub for a much larger dinner than I had planned. I haven't had faggots for years and this one was very highly seasoned and very good. I also enjoyed the mild that went with it although Valerie wasn't convinced. She prefers her beer fizzy.
Left: Faggots & peas |
In the cook ware shop, the lady proprietor told us about the snow just up the road near Bromyard. As we drove North we soon found it and it got thicker as we neared Shropshire. This, combined with the gathering mist made site seeing almost impossible. I pulled off the road at Stokesay to visit the Castle and almost got stuck. We made it up the slight hill to the car park and stopped for a few photos.
 Not a nice road to drive on |
 Stokesay Church |
Both the Castle and the church looked quite impressive with their dusting of snow and even the village pond was covered with a thin sheen of ice. |
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Church Stretton was almost invisible and the Stretton Hills were nowhere to be seen.At Leebotwood we stopped at the Church for more photos in the snow and even managed to unearth my parents' memorial stone. |
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Shrewsbury presented a major challenge - how to get a car to the Prince Rupert. I could walk there without difficulty but seem to have managed to drive the wrong way up a one way street in order to reach my goal. (Research the following morning revealed that I hadn’t & that the lady who had accused me of so doing was talking through an unfortunate part of her anatomy).
I handed the car over to someone to valet park it & hope that it appears again in the morning.
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We investigated the town - mainly the shops as it was dark and damp - and decided to have dinner at the Golden Cross, once a good old pub but now a smart restaurant. I spent over an hour working but then joined Valerie and we walked to the restaurant where we had an excellent and not wildly expensive dinner. It was a far larger dinner than I really needed after the excesses of both last night and this lunchtime. I then returned to my room for more work before bed. |
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