Up, packed, breakfasted in time to motor the few hundred yards to Black Prince before 9:30. The boat only took 96 litres (£114) of fuel which is quite amazing considering it had been running for at least 8 hours a day for a week (admittedly we were only getting along at 4 miles per hour top speed).
Caught a taxi to the launderette (washed enough to get home) and had a cup of coffee at the ‘Devine Coffee Shop’ visited last week. Walked about a mile to Alamo to hire the car (Toyota Avensis) and returned to the Black Prince office to pick up our gear.
Set off for Shrewsbury, a bit over an hour down the road. Shrewsbury is a historic market town with the town centre having a largely unaltered medieval street plan. The town features over 660 historic listed buildings, including several examples of timber framing from the 15th and 16th century - quite amazing to be looking at a building that was built in 1486 and still being used for everyday use.
 |
| Shrewsbury |
 |
| More Shrewsbury |
Had lunch at ‘The Good Life’, a whole food restaurant then had a stroll around Shrewsbury. A lot of the streets were closed off for a Street Theatre Festival so we had to stop regularly to have a look at the next performance (they even had an Australian girl performing). Came across a couple of dorky guys dressed up as traffic wardens – very amusing.
Back to the car and we drove on to the village of Ironbridge and its Iron Bridge. This was the first iron bridge of its kind to be built in the world (fabricated from cast iron) and was constructed in 1779. Quite amazing to think that it went up before the first European settlement in Australia. The toll for the bridge was a farthing when on foot and up to 2/- for a carriage pulled by six horses.
The area around Ironbridge is described by those promoting it as a tourist destination as the "Birthplace of the Industrial Revolution". This is a falsehood based on the idea that Abraham Darby perfected the technique of smelting iron with coke, in Coalbrookdale, allowing much cheaper production of iron. In reality, it was one small part of the revolution along with the growth of railways, spinning machines, weaving and other industrial inventions and activities going on all over the country.
 |
| The Iron Bridge |
The area around Ironbridge is described by those promoting it as a tourist destination as the "Birthplace of the Industrial Revolution". This is a falsehood based on the idea that Abraham Darby perfected the technique of smelting iron with coke, in Coalbrookdale, allowing much cheaper production of iron. In reality, it was one small part of the revolution along with the growth of railways, spinning machines, weaving and other industrial inventions and activities going on all over the country.
 |
| The old Coalport China buildings now a museum |
Bed tonight is at the YHA at Coalport. We have a four-bedroom (actually has 7 beds in it) with an ensuite – very satisfactory. Had dinner here tonight, baked haddock with capers and veg, also very satisfactory. The YHA is in a beautifully restored building that was part of the Coalport China enterprise founded in 1795 by John Rose. Production eventually moved to Staffordshire in 1926 and later became part of the world-famous Wedgwood group of pottery companies.
Went for a walk after dinner. Saw a couple of railway lines running up a hill from a canal. The Hay Inclined Plane was completed in 1793 and enabled canal barges and narrowboats to be transferred from the bottom of the Severn Gorge to the top, up a 1 in 4 gradient on wheeled cradles, operated by a team of just four men. It was the equivalent of 27 canal locks and could transport six barges per hour in this fashion, an operation that would have taken over three hours using a traditional lock system. Once again the ingenuity amazes.
Went for a walk after dinner. Saw a couple of railway lines running up a hill from a canal. The Hay Inclined Plane was completed in 1793 and enabled canal barges and narrowboats to be transferred from the bottom of the Severn Gorge to the top, up a 1 in 4 gradient on wheeled cradles, operated by a team of just four men. It was the equivalent of 27 canal locks and could transport six barges per hour in this fashion, an operation that would have taken over three hours using a traditional lock system. Once again the ingenuity amazes.
