Woolly says – It had taken a bit of organising between appointments, lurgies and brakes but the day had finally arrived when my bestie Sion and I were going to have a chance to catch up, well as long as his carer Jen remembered to actually bring him this time! We set off early not knowing if roadworks had appeared overnight (a common occurrence on the Welsh roads), if sheep had escaped their fields (a daily occupation for them), or if the local squirrel population were up for a game of chicken and arrived in the town of Shrewsbury with twenty five minutes to spare. Having parked up and fed the very greedy meter we found a sign post for the town centre and before we could even put a paw in the direction that it pointed Jen’s head popped into view closely followed by the white fleece of my four legged friend. We left the women to it and set off along the riverbank.

Shrewsbury is a market town in Shropshire, England, on the River Severn with a medieval street plan and over 660 listed buildings, a Castle, an Abbey (which we have previously visited) and a prison which we had enjoyed visiting immensely on a previous trip. There have been a number of notable Salopians, and people otherwise associated with the town of Shrewsbury, including Charles Darwin, the biologist and evolutionary theorist. The poet Wilfred Owen lived in the town, Michael Heseltine, a Conservative politician was educated at Shrewsbury School, Robert Clive (better known as Clive of India) was MP for Shrewsbury, and also the mayor, Ian Hunter (or Ian Patterson), the lead singer of the 1970s pop group Mott the Hoople (a group that Jo loves). The 1980s pop group T’Pau was formed in the town and the band’s vocalist Carol Decker was born and educated in the town, along with other members of the band and Michael Palin, writer, actor and comedian as well as John Peel, the radio DJ also attended Shrewsbury School to name but a few. Today however was not about the famous it was our own walking tour, and our first stop came very quickly.

The impressive sight of Porthill Bridge, also often referred to as Port Hill Footbridge, is a suspension bridge for pedestrians crossing the River Severn it connects Porthill with the Quarry and the town centre. A ferry had operated here until the bridge was built in 1922 by David Rowell & Co, the bridge was opened on 18th January 1923 having cost £2,600 to build. It was a lovely structure and having admired its construction and the views of the river we trotted across it and into the park.

Following the river bank we paused for a moment for Alfie the Dog to do what he does whilst we admired Hercules and his fig leaf before heading towards a rather fine looking blue bridge in the distance.

Kingsland Bridge is a privately owned toll bridge, a bill promoting the toll bridge was first introduced to Parliament in 1873, and eventually passed in 1880. The bridge was promoted by Henry Robertson, who was also M.P. for Shrewsbury and designed by the civil engineer John William Grover. It was constructed in 1883 by the Cleveland Bridge & Engineering Company, which also built the Victoria Falls Bridge. The bridge spans 212 feet (64.6m) and comprises two metal arch ribs, from which the main bridge deck is hung. It cost £11,156 to build which was a fortune in those days. Doubling back on ourselves we crossed the park and headed towards the large church building that stood looking over the greenery.

The closer we got the better it looked, Sion told me that it was St Chad’s Church and had been built in 1792, and was where Charles Darwin had been baptised in 1809. A church had stood on the site since the thirteen hundreds but this was with its influence of French neo-classicism hadn’t been commissioned until 1790. It had the most wonderful circular design and as we entered, I peered up at the many memorials in the entrance hall to the 53rd Regiment of Foot, and its successor regiment, the King’s Shropshire Light Infantry.

The main body of the interior was lined with rows of wooden pews while the windows had wonderful stained glass windows in a number of places, light and airy it was a lovely place to be.

Heading back into the park we paused at the war memorial a massive, winged figure of Michael the archangel, a figure viewed as the field commander of the Army of God and also considered in many Christian circles as the patron saint of the warrior (and apparently police officers and soldiers, particularly paratroopers and fighter pilots, regard him as their patron) before heading into an area known as the Dingle.

A former stone quarry it is now a landscaped sunken garden and a very beautiful one at that, spring flowers were blooming as we looked around.

Between 1324 and 1588 it was known as the Wet or Water Quarry because it was liable to flood, it was quarried for both stone and clay, until it’s clearance and the planting of the ornamental gardens which opened in 1879.  

A small lake sat in the centre with fountains spurting away and tucked in a corner was a statue of the goddess Sabrina which was presented by the Earl of Bradford in 1879. The inscription on the statue is based on a poem by John Milton (1608 to 1674). In myth, Sabrina was a nymph who drowned in the Severn.

According to local legend, the Dingle is haunted by the ghost of Mrs Foxall, a local woman who was burnt at the stake nearby in the sixteenth century as punishment for witchcraft and murder, before we could find out if this was true Sion and I headed out and trotted over to the bandstand.

Built in 1879 it was donated to the park by the Shropshire Horticultural Society. The bandstand is used by military bands during Shrewsbury Flower Show a very popular yearly event. With both of our tummies starting to rumble we headed into the town centre to a café that Jen and Sion had already scoped out as suitable for mammoths, sheep, dogs and humans where much to our delight pancakes were on the menu.

Having filled ourselves to the brim and had the indignity of being wiped down from all traces of chocolate sauce we headed back into the streets to take in the delights of the old market hall. A market hall has stood on the site since the 1260s, the current building, which is thought to have been designed by Walter Hancock in the Classical Renaissance style, was completed in 1597 and has the Royal Coat of Arms of Queen Elizabeth I, with the date of 1596, and the English lion and the Welsh dragon as supporters carved into the stone above the main arch. It was a splendid building as were the ones surrounding it.

We waved to the statue of Clive of India as we passed further churches and more wonderful buildings before finding ourselves at the castle.

Unable to enter the castle’s armoury museum due to Barking Boy we contented ourselves with admiring the cannons instead.

With our time coming to an end we arrived back at the riverside and an object that we had noticed from the opposite bank earlier in the day, it looked like the backbone of some large dinosaur and Sion and I were eager to see if we were correct in our thoughts. We peered up at the interesting shapes and decided that it must have been quite a big dinosaur before our illusions were shattered and Jo and Jen pointed to the information board that informed us that it was in fact known at the Quantum Leap.

The Quantum Leap is a sculpture created to celebrate the bicentenary of the birth of evolutionist Charles Darwin, unveiled on 8th October 2009 by Randal Keynes, a great-great-grandson of Darwin. It consists of 59 segments measuring 12 metres (40 feet) in height, 17.5 metres (57 feet) in length, and weighs more than 113 tonnes, The work is abstract, and due to its Darwinian theme is commonly interpreted as representing dinosaur bones, DNA, or a backbone, we grinned at each other happy to have been correct in our assumption.  Jo then started to read out more of the information which went on about its representing periods of time through the prehistoric times which made little or no sense, Sion and I decided that it was a dinosaur skeleton and that is what it would stay.

As we arrived back at the carpark, we said our sad goodbyes knowing that we wouldn’t see each other for quite a few months but knowing that we already had a plan for all things Roman on our next get together.