Just a short blog from me today – although I’ll flesh it out when I have a little more time when I’m back at work.
Today the pair of us passed the day walking on the Long Mynd above the little town of Church Stretton in Shropshire. The Mynd’s a heath and moorland plateau that’s been designated and Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). It’s reached by a series of steep climbs from the town – which it towers over. Unlike when we climbed nearby Caer Caradoc we were lucky with the weather, as these pictures show. I’ll describe the area in more detail soon…
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The weather forecast for Shropshire was lousy today. It claimed we’d be awash with rain, so we’d planned accordingly and arranged a couple of indoor visits. After a leisurely start to the day that involved lots of coffee and a healthy breakfast of porridge, blueberry compote and toasted coconut flakes we drove off to our first assignment – a visit to the Royal Airforce Museum at Cosford. For anyone interested in aircraft it’s an amazing place packed full of aircraft right through from World War 1 Sopwith Pups right to prototype Eurofighters – with lots more in between. The aircraft and other exhibits are spread over several halls, most of which are old aircraft hangers but the building dedicated to telling the story of the ‘cold war’ is a custom-built structure and a great exhibition space. Due to Covid rules we were encouraged to pre-book and register for add-ons like the 4D ‘Red Arrows’ experience, where you feel like you’re in the cockpit of one of the planes flying in their famous displays. The museum was quiet when we visited so we had the 4D experience (which costs £5 apiece) to ourselves. The pair of us found the museum so interesting we ended up spending several hours there, from 11:00 until after 14:30. Admittedly, we did take a coffee break in the cafe in-between halls!
An English Electric ‘Lightning’ interceptor aircraft on display in the ‘Cold War’ building. The Mach 2 Lightning was in service with the RAF from 1960 until 1988. It was designed to protect the RAF’s nuclear deterrent ‘V-Bomber’ airfields from Russian bomber aircraft. It’s displayed like this in homage to its incredible rate of climb capability which led to the nickname pilots gave it – the ‘Frightening’. This is the British Aircraft Corporation TSR-2 strike and reconnaissance aircraft, one of only two ever built before the programme was cancelled back in 1965. The decision was controversial with some people maintaining this was the best aircraft we never built. Here’s the Sikorsky S-65/HH-53C ‘Super Jolly Green Giant’ helicopter which was converted for special operations – hence the rotary cannon sticking out of the side behind the cockpit!
On leaving we drove back to our next appointment which was in Shrewsbury where we’d booked to see the new James Bond film “No time to Die”. At 2 hours 40 it’s hardly a short film but to be honest, the time flew by! It’s a blockbuster of a film with a real twist that I won’t reveal but fans of the franchise won’t be disappointed by the action scenes, chases, locations or gadgets. Daniel Craig’s as excellent as ever. Personally, I’d have to say he’s been my favourite Bond since Sean Connery started the ball rolling.
Now we’re relaxing at ‘home’ with a drink after scoffing a home-made veggie noodle stir-fry. Tomorrow the weathers meant to change once more so we’ll be back outdoors. The plan is to spend much of the day walking on the Long Mynd at Church Stretton, which is a wonderful bit of countryside. Watch this space…
I’ve a favour to ask… If you enjoy reading this blog, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course (although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab!), but the revenue from them helps to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site – and right now (because of Covid), us freelances appreciate all the help that we can get to aid us in bouncing back from lockdowns. Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website – https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/
There’s not been much relaxing today. We were up early as we had a full day planned in order to beat the weather as the forecast wasn’t great. We really wanted to get some walking in so as soon as we were ready we drove over to Church Stretton, a place I’ve not visited since 2003 and that Dawn’s never visited. Our mission was to climb Caer Caradoc, a 459m tall hill (and old hill fort) to the East of the town. Despite the weather it was a glorious walk, the views from the top are superb. Plus, you get to see what weather front you’re likely to be facing, which in our case was heavy rain! So after enjoying the views and getting a selection of pictures we high-tailed it out of there! Here’s why…
Back at base we sheltered in the car before driving South to Ludlow in torrential rain. Mercifully, the downpour eased after we arrived leaving us free to explore the town which is an architectural gem. It also has more drunken buildings than I think I’ve seen in any English city.
We’ve certainly taken to taking it easy here. We knew the weather wasn’t predicted to be up to much today so we hadn’t planned anything more than having a slow morning and venturing out to collect some supplies – and possibly a bit of exploring.
As it was the day very much went to plan. The rain started dropping from leaden skies about 10:00 and never let up so we relaxed and enjoyed a leisurely brunch before sallying forth to nearby Wellington where I’d (thanks to the wonders of the internet) found a decent but typically tatty Asian supermarket where we could stock up on a few exotic culinary ingredients to add to our collection. The drive into the town via the backroads was interesting as it showcased just how much new housing is being built in the area. Wellington appears to be expanding at quite a rate and not just on the outskirts, we passed several new developments in the town centre where brownfield sites were being reused. For me, this always begs the question. If we’re demolishing factories for housing, what are people doing for a living nowadays?
Much as it would’ve been good to explore the town we had other bits to pick up so made a bee-line for the town’s bigger neighbour, Shrewsbury. I have to admit to having a soft spot for Shrewsbury. In some ways its one of England’s most underrated and undiscovered towns. Yet it has a wealth of history and some amazing architecture, which is hardly surprising as the town has 660 listed buildings! There’s a glut of timber-framed buildings dating from the 15th-16th centuries and medieval street layouts with lots of winding, fascinating alleys. Plus, far more independent shops survive here than in many comparable towns. Sure, there’s all the big names you’d expect to find (M&S, Boots, etc) as well as all the charity shops that have become a fixture of UK high streets but then there’s many bespoke boutiques, tailors, pottery shops, cafes and many others that give the place a real local feel and identity. Oh, there’s also some cracking pubs, like the Loggerheads, a tiny, multi-room real-ale pub that looks drunk even if you’re not. There’s probably not a true vertical line in the place!
The three-storey building has an 18th century brick shell which is believed to encase an earlier stone structure from the 1600s. One of the rooms is identified as having been ‘men only’ until 1975. With the weather being what it was today it seemed like a good excuse for the pair of us to pop in for a quick drink. Dawn’s never explored the town before, so really enjoyed what she saw. No doubt we’ll return when the weather picks up.
Right now we’re back in the warm and dry, cooking some of the ingredients we picked up earlier in Wellington and the Sainsbury’s on the outskirts of Shrewsbury. Not only had the supermarket run out of petrol, there was many gaps on the shelves. Odd, some people are desperate to claim that none of this has anything whatsoever to do with Brexit – no siree! Odd then that I can’t find any mention of either shortage hitting any EU country or their national media and politicians going to town on the problems. Funny, that…
Meanwhile, we’ve had a lovely evening at ‘home’ doing what we both enjoy doing. Cooking. I made spicy Bombay potato whilst Dawn steamed some beans and cooked Salmon in spices, then improvised a dish that produced an aromatic beetroot curry. Here’s the result…
I’ve a favour to ask… If you enjoy reading this blog, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course (although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab!), but the revenue from them helps to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site – and right now (because of Covid), us freelances appreciate all the help that we can get to aid us in bouncing back from lockdowns. Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website – https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/
Paul Bigland 