St. Chad’s certainly dominates the skyline of Shrewsbury particularly from the Quarry area. It was completely empty when I wandered through and so I didn’t spend much time there just admired the interior then left with a detour through the churchyard next door.
Bush House is a Grade II listed building that stands very imposingly at the end of Kingsway Road between Aldwych and the Strand. It was the headquarters of the BBC World Service for over 70 years. King’s College London has now leased the building.
St Mary’s proved to be the most welcoming of the churches I visited in Shrewsbury, kept open daily by volunteers. I was greeted as I entered by a very enthusiastic volunteer, whose name I never got, who offered to give me a brief rundown of the church which I really enjoyed and told me which parts of the church to take a closer look at. The church is pretty popular because the day before while dining out at a restaurant I got chatting to a couple at the next table and they also told me what to look out for at St Mary’s.
I don’t generally write up my theatre visits here however I decided to make an exception for Witness for the Prosecution since it is performed in such an interesting location. I’ve read the play and seen other productions – film and TV – but never on stage which is why I was so keen to see it on my last London trip. Rest assured however there will be no spoilers here, though I will say this is Agatha Christie at her best.
Sir John Soane’s Museum has been on my want to visit list for a very long time but I’ve always put it off particularly because of their bag policy (more on that in a bit) and not having time in my schedule to fit it in when I might need to queue for a long time (pre-booking is only for large groups or special events). However on this most recent visit I had the entire morning free before I had a matinee to get to and decided that I would finally visit what turned out to be just as intriguing a museum as I had hoped.
St. Alkmund’s Church is nestled between the buildings that have sprung up around it. Founded in 912 it stands as the highest part of the town – indeed is reached up some steep steps – and after renovations over the years is now largely of Georgian design. The tower and spire were added around 1475.
I’d heard of Shrewsbury Abbey of course which is why it was on my list of things to see in the town but I had completely forgotten that the Cadfael series of books was based there (I’ve seen the TV series with Derek Jacobi but never read any of the books). I mention this to start with because the lovely friendly volunteer who greeted me on entry was surprised that Cadfael wasn’t my main reason for visiting and directed me to a very nice stained glass window dedicated to Cadfael author Ellis Peters (real name Edith Pargeter).
The Quarry is a 29 acre, Grade II listed park in Shrewsbury that borders the town and the River Severn. I found myself walking around here quite a few times on my visit to the town – on my arrival after checking in to my B&B to stretch my legs and as a convenient place to sit and watch the world go by when I needed a break from walking around.
I recently decided to take a trip out to Chesterfield in Derbyshire to visit the Christmas Tree Festival at Chesterfield Parish Church, often also known as the Crooked Spire Church, for obvious reasons. I’ve never actually been to the town before even though it’s a direct 35 minute train ride from Nottingham but I’m very glad I made the trip. I’ll get on to the history of the church later, but firstly the Festival. It finished on the 30th of November and was free but there were donation buckets dotted around (I donated some money but also bought a few things in the gift shop).
Back in September I stayed in Shrewsbury for four nights in part because it is a quick 20 minute train ride to Welshpool and Powis Castle which I’ve wanted to visit for a while now. A National Trust property the castle is around a 40 minute walk from Welshpool Railway Station through a quiet deer park which I didn’t quite get to appreciate due to the pouring rain – even well prepared with a raincoat and good walking boots I was decidedly sodden by the time I got back to my B&B later that afternoon!
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