I knew absolutely nothing Shrewsbury Castle before I arrived in Shrewsbury other than that it existed. I had assumed that visiting I would learn all about the history of the castle and why it was built, but I learnt basically nothing about the castle’s origins because the castle in fact houses The Soldiers of Shropshire Museum which spans the entirety of the building.
The V&A is my favourite London museum and I had time to enjoy a brief wander around while in between exhibitions. Here are a few of the things that particularly caught my eye. We’ll start with Cleopatra Dying by Henry-Joseph-Francis, Baron de Triqueti. The scene depicted is of course Cleopatra killing herself via asp, unwilling to go on without her lover Marc Anthony.
The cathedral was the last of the religious buildings I visited in Shrewsbury and again I received a very warm welcome. The cathedral was designed by Edward Pugin, 18 year old son of Augustus Pugin of Palace of Westminster design fame. It was finished in 1856 and paid for by Bertram, Earl of Shrewsbury.
Lincoln’s Inn Fields, near to Sir John Soane’s Museum, is the largest public square in London. I had a brief walk through here – and stopped off at the cafe for a quick drink after visiting the museum. It was created in the 1630s and as you can see is a very popular spot for dog walking.
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.
A few weeks ago I went along to the University of Nottingham Museum to visit an exhibition on the discoveries made in the 1960s at what turned out to be an Anglo-Saxon cemetery at Broughton Lodge in Willoughby-on-the Wolds, a small village in Nottinghamshire. The site was excavated between 1948 and 1968 and contained about 120 graves, including evidence of horses being buried alongside people. The items from the dig were held jointly by Nottingham City Museums and the University of Nottingham Museum and had never been seen all together until this exhibition.
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.
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