Woolly says – Setting off for a day with the family saw us leaving our rural base early on Remembrance Day before all roads through Welshpool were closed for the towns parade. With a lovely autumn sunshine warming us on our way we were through with minutes to spare as a rather large tank started to get into position followed by a huge number of soldiers. The roads were kind to us, and we arrived in the small riverside town of Bewdley well ahead of time.

Bewdley is in the Wyre Forest District in Worcestershire, on the banks of the River Severn. It is a popular tourist destination and one that Jo visited on a very regular basis as a child as did Zoe when she was growing up, best known for the Bewdley Bridge, designed by Thomas Telford, it was the draw of the traditional sweet shop that many flocked there for.

Stanley Baldwin, who served as prime minister three times between 1923 and 1937, was born there in 1867. He served as MP for the town from 1908 for nearly thirty years and, in 1937, became Earl Baldwin of Bewdley. As we arrived at the bridge it appeared that we were too late to cross over and that it was now closed to traffic ready for the towns parade to take place. Undaunted by this my carer turned the car and headed slightly out of the town parking up at a rather pretty church.

I’d passed the church many times over the years and flet that it would make a nice place to wander for twenty minutes of so before attempting to get over the bridge again.

Woolly says – All Saints’ Church was built in 1878 and had a lovely rounded spire on it’s top. It also had an extensive graveyard which was bright and colourful with floral tributes.

We arrived at a grave belonging to an American military officer which was decorated with a small second world plane just as the church bells tolled for the countries 11am silence. It seemed an appropriate place to pause and give thanks for those that had given us the world we live in today.

Having paid our respects we climbed back into the car for our second attempt at crossing the river, pulling up at the barrier the human asked a nearby council official what time the bridge would reopen only to be told that it wouldn’t be until 1pm, off we went again this time searching for parking so that we could walk into the town centre. The Severn Valley Railway provided that very thing. Sadly the line was closed for the day so no steam trains to view but we did take a peek at the deserted platform before heading down the road and into the main area whilst ringing the relatives to tell them about the bridge situation.

We ambled along Load Street, its name deriving from lode, an old word for ferry which would have once pulled into the town. St Anne’s Church, which sits on its own in the middle of the road acting as a roundabout was built between 1745 and 1748 by Doctor Thomas Woodward of Chipping Campden was full to bursting as the townsfolks enjoyed the service and others waited outside for the parade to go back through the town.

Keeping an eye on the time we turned back towards the river and went to admire the ducks, geese and swans that flock to the area probably in hopes of getting chips from the nearby fish and chip shop.

With everyone now arrived we headed along the riverside for a walk and a catch up with everyone’s news as Alfie the Dog spent his time sniffing the undergrowth and seeing how many ducks he could frighten. A good lunch followed and with nice full bellies we headed into the towns small museum.

Bewdley Museum was opened in 1972 and is housed within several buildings and gardens, including the 19^th century slaughterhouse, known as the Butchers Shambles, the 250-year-old brass foundry, and the Town Jails built in 1802.

We walked through the pretty herb gardens admiring the pond and water pump before checking out the Second World War air raid shelter which had sat there since 1940. A recording of a raid on the town was played on repeat and the shelter itself was in great condition and happily lacked spiders or any other creatures.

The exhibits gave us a wonderful view of life in the area from farming, woodworking and ropemaking that would have been stable industries in the early 19^th century.

A small display of  coracles, a small, rounded, lightweight boat of the sort traditionally used in Wales, caught my eye, these had been used extensively here as both transport for humans as well as bringing crops to the shops that would have been docked.

The next area told us about life in the river and how mammoths would have once walked around the area which was wonderful to know as I always like to know where my relatives have been.

The last part gave us display cases of items from around the town including military uniforms and Mr Baldwins ceremonial robes from being Knighted.

The only way to finish the day was with a trip to the famous sweet shop, Teddy Gray’s. Edward Gray’s of Dudley, Better known as Teddy Gray’s is a 194 year old family run hard boiled sweet company known for it’s ‘suck’ and rock. As each of us viewed the hundreds of sweetie options it was nearly impossible to choose, for Jo and I came down to nut brittle and fruit pips to share whilst others selected the homemade fudge, toffee and chocolates. Climbing back into the car I filled my mouth with some of the pips and sat happily sucking away as we headed back.