Shrewsbury Day 1 and 2

An hour-long train ride from Birmingham brought us to Shrewsbury. In 1972, Becky studied the British Infant Schools model in Shropshire while on a Furman University course with one of her favorite professors, Gary Harris. She has fond memories of being there and wanted to visit Shrewsbury, alternately pronounced “Shrowsbury.” As we were staying at the Loopy Shrew, we stuck with the “Shrew” pronunciation.

The Loopy Shrew is restaurant with hotel. We were warmly greeted by general factotum Luanne who was a helpful resource for all things Shrew. The hotel sits above the restaurant via narrow winding stairs to a room with a great bed and questionable plumbing. The 150 years old building is showing its age, but friendly service counts for a lot.

Many buildings in town have scaffolding around them for repairs and restoration; strange how buildings need work after only 300, 400, or 500 years.

After storing luggage, we climbed the criss/cross maze of streets leading up hill to an ancient church, one of three prominent ones in downtown.

As is often the case in England, sacred sites have been occupied sequentially by early peoples, Anglo-Saxons, Norman conquerors, Romans, Catholic missionaries, the Reformation, and Civil War; each modified the sites according to their ideas about God and religion and politics.

We passed by the City Hall which features a statue of native son Charles Darwin.

Along with coffee shops and fast food places, we found a variety of second-hand shops run by charities for, Oxfam, cancer, refugees, cats, dogs, immigrants, children, and others. They all appeared well stocked through recycling clothes, dishes, records, books, and other detritus of disposable society. Becky looked in several fabric and clothing stores but only bought English print fat quarters (1/2 yard cut in half vertically as opposed to 1/4 yard cut from selvage to selvage).

Avatar Indian restaurant was recommended for their lunch special at £10 for a starter and main. We both ordered the Kathmandu curry with extra spinach; Becky’s was mild while mine was the hottest I have ever tasted. I only ate the vegetables and meat from the sauce. I think communication problems arose when I asked how hot the dish was. I believe that was interpreted as my wanting HOT because that is what I got! But the naan was superb.

Ten thousand steps later, we were back at the Shrew for nap. Later we went for supper, most cafes were closed. We found an open Wimpy diner and ate a chicken wrap and fish and chips which were pretty good and the best option after 8:00. After an excellent breakfast at the Shrew the next morning, we packed up and stored luggage.

Day 2 Shrewsbury

We walked up the hill again this time to Shrewsbury castle. The grounds are very impressive with the ancient walls leading to a relatively modern museum building. The flower display honored recent Coronation of King Charles, also the Earl of Chester.

We walked up the hill again this time to Shrewsbury castle. The grounds are very impressive with the ancient walls leading to a relatively modern museum building. The flower display honored recent Coronation of King Charles, also the Earl of Chester.

A museum in the castle tells the history of the town and the many military events in its history. The castle was built for protection again invaders—the same invaders who built and destroyed churches. Much intrigue, valor, cowardice, devastation and horror is associated with the battles fought and lost over the centuries.

The castle also houses the Shropshire Military Museum—full of uniforms, weapons, medals, citations, and photographs that document three or four hundred years of military engagement by the unit in conflicts European neighbors and rivals, territorial acquisition and subjugation, and finally peacekeeping in Bosnia.

It is testament to “God and Country” that so many Shropshire lads went off to fight and often die in climes far from home. The museum honors their memory as it should, but also reminds us of the tremendous human loss in wars fought between kings and nations for pride, avarice, land and power.

The Severn River makes a big loop around the town leaving land access only on the east side where the old fortress was placed to defend the town, usually unsuccessfully.

A leisurely walk following the loop of the Severn River brought us to the Market Hall with two levels of stalls displaying fresh produce, cheese, bread, a variety of edibles, clothing, antiques, crafts, books, and much much more. A pork pie and a ploughman’s pie ordered at the Pie Stall would have been much better warmed up.

When we stepped out of the Market, the rain—forecast for the day—came suddenly. We scurried across the street to the Loopy Shrew where we waited out the storm with two cups of coffee, and Becky finished off her Ploughman’s pie. Luanne retrieved our luggage, called a taxi for us, and waved us out the door.

At the rail station, our electronic tickets worked perfectly this time. But our train was on a different track on the different level of the station; we had to exit, get our electronic tickets deactivated, and take the lift up to track 4.

We were glad for half an hour at the station to get to the right gate at the right time. Many people show up at one minute or 10 seconds before the train pulls out. A few of them are totally frantic (as I would be), other people are very calm and step inside just as the door closes. Finally there are a few who race up to the train and pound the door button after the whistle has sounded and the train in moving. Becky observed a serious “step back” from the train agent to one of these pounders. We prefer to be early and wait thirty minutes to avoid the panic.

Chester Day 3, 4, 5

One hour north of Shrewsbury is Chester, another city with a long history of invasions and battles. Its location was strategically important to the Saxons, Normans, Scottish raiders, Viking raiders, Royalists, Tudors, Catholics, Protestants, Parliamentarians, rebels, and border bandits of various stripes.

We checked into the Queen Hotel directly across from the Rail Station. The Queen was purpose-built by the railroads in the 1880s for tourists and still serves that purpose. Two bus loads of tourists jammed up the bar and dining room in the hotel.

The once-grand hotel is 150 years old and decorated with a disarming melange of faux Roman artifacts, photographs and paintings of royalty, and strange modern pieces such as two toilets covered with mosaics, one all black and one all white, mounted on the wall either side of the elevator.

Fifth-floor rooms are named for French kings various Louis, Philips; our room was decorated with Napoleon III standing sentinel over the bed.

Having eaten late lunch at he Market hall in Shrewsbury, we were not hungry when we arrived. The weather had turn damp and threatening, so we did not want to get out and search for supper. WH Smith in the station offered a Meal Deal with sandwich, snack, and drink for £5.50. Two Meal Deals were perfect fare for the evening followed by a spirited game of Progressive Rummy with scores Becky 2, Steve 1, and Tied 5.

The next morning, we expected to take a day trip to Northern Wales and Llandudno. We had croissants and coffee from a bakeshop nearby and waited for the excursion bus. We waited 40 minutes past the scheduled pick-up time and were about to give up when the Busy Bus arrived. Although I had a booking confirmation on my phone, the bus driver had no record of us and had only one seat left for the day.

Oh well. Instead of visiting North Wales, we got the Hop On/Hop Off overview of Chester. An excellent tour was narrated beautifully and enunciated perfectly by Dame Judi Dench, not in person but in voice. It was a pleasure just to listen to her stories.

Legend has it that local Chester men were devastatingly accurate archers. They could shoot 12 arrows in a minute which could pierce chain mail and armor. If an archer was captured, the enemy would chop off two fingers, ending their careers as archers. This act somehow resulted in the single finger rude salute known to many. All of this according to Dame Judi Dench.

After the HOHO tour, we walked through the partially excavated Roman amphitheater said to be the third largest amphitheater in Roman Europe holding up to 5000 for games and sports.

The Roman Gardens contain a collection of columns and pediments that have been excavated around Chester.

The Grosvenor Museum focuses on local history and geography including an impressive trove of 150 Roman burial markers, tall and beautifully carved granite stones in great condition.

The stones were found during excavation for road works.

After the Roman occupation ended about 500 CE, the stones survived because they were recycled as building materials and filler for the town walls. This protected the markers from 1000 years of weathering. Many other Roman artifacts were excavated at sites around Chester and in the area and displayed in the museum.

We visited St. Michael’s church, a beautiful old church which had been the first Catholic cathedral in Chester but is now a parish church having survived the battles and traumas of 1000 years. It also has a display of Roman ruins but the most interesting exhibit was the faded painting on a column in the church. The church is very active in community work still but has suffered from decline in attendance and support.

It is very active in community work still but has suffered from decline in attendance and support.

By 1:30, we were looking for food and found to our delight a quiet restaurant on a side street named Moules A Go-GO Bar and Bistro.

Their fixed price lunch specials at 12 pounds including their namesake choice—a giant bowl of mussels and French bread for sopping. Becky’s sea bass with vegetables in cream sauce also benefitted from the bread for sopping.

Major streets downtown are a traffic-free pedestrian mall.

This day wandering bands of Morris Men and Morris Women performed traditional dances in traditional costumes with traditional songs and instruments.

We stopped to watch three different clubs perform. During a chat with one man from Yorkshire, he showed us all his medals and pins from various places including Canberra, Australia. The camaraderie of the groups reminded us of our Square Dance friends and trips.

Because Chester suffered so many invasions and damage over years, many of the original old buildings were destroyed. City leaders decided 100 years ago to rebuild many buildings in the city center using half timber construction.

As a result, Chester has many relatively modern buildings in the downtown looking old with different half timber designs.

We finally arrived at the huge, impressive Chester Cathedral. Wandering through the many stone walls, aisles, and doors, we gazed at beautiful stained-glass windows— both ancient surviving glass and replacements in decidedly modern design.

Evensong began at 4:15 so we stayed for the service with beautiful singing. We took the HOHO bus back to the hotel and again had late dinner with Meal Deals from WH Smith.

Several times during the day, we noticed a group of people dressed in clothing from the 1880 to 1920 walking around town. We saw them near the museum, walking in the street, and finally at the coffee shop in the Cathedral.

Finally, Becky asked one of them what was going on. She answered that they make period costumes and like to walk around town together. That’s it.

On Sunday, we took the day off from sight seeing and emphasized maintenance. We slept late and had breakfast from Costa Coffee. I was second in a line of 15 people at 8:30. You would think the coffee shop would be open earlier but the rail station was just waking up at 8:00.

The big maintenance task was washing clothes. Although Judith had done a wonderful wash for uin Birmingham, Becky was at the end of her clean clothes. We googled a washateria and its location—not too far away but too far to carry a suitcase and two bags of laundry.

We tried to get a bus, but Sunday bus schedules are few and far between so we got a taxi. The attendant was very helpful with change and detergent. We drank coffee in the cafe across the street while washing.

We finally caught a bus on return trip and again later when we went out for supper. The bus interchange is close to several restaurants including Chester Fish ‘N Chips. Becky ordered the namesake meal while i had salad, lasagna, and two scoops of Carte d’Or ice cream, fabulous rum raisin and pistachio.

Back to the hotel around 5:00, we continued our easy day with a nap and NYT Spelling Bee; I did some reading and writing while Becky caught up on a downloaded quilting program. Taking a maintenance day is important on long trips. Tomorrow we will board a train to Penrith in the Lake District where we meet Betsy and Jim after their time in York, Edinburgh, and Glasgow.