Monday 15 April 2019

The B5062/3

Hello, thank you for popping in.  I'm sorry I've been away for so long.  I haven't been very well - nothing serious, I haven't really been "ill", just laid low by a series of wintry bugs for six weeks out of nine.  It began with a stomach bug which hung around for much longer than it should have done, there was a sore throat which kept me on painkillers for a fortnight and a cough which had me allegedly "sleeping" propped upright on the sofa for over a week.  I saw the pharmacist and he said that all he could suggest was a cough medicine which would make me drowsy and it certainly saw me off to sleep quickly, but it didn't suppress the cough, which then woke me up.  Managing pain is tiring in itself and the inability to sleep for more than three or four hours at night became quite debilitating.  I've never known a spell like it before and it's left me quite feeble.  Thank goodness it's over and Spring has sprung.

Last week I began to feel well again (although, to be truthful, I'm always a bit off kilter during Lent).  The narcissi I planted in the tubs in my front garden have been flowering their heads off for a few weeks and the hedges are full of blossom. Bright, new, green leaves are opening on the trees and the landscape has woken up.  I can't recall being so aware of April's ethereal beauty before and she has lifted my sunken spirits.  I visited The Teacher on Friday and rather than driving home down the busy A roads I decided to take the scenic route along the B roads, it only adds about five minutes onto the journey and its really rather lovely.


I began by popping into  the ruins of Haughmond Abbey, about five minutes into the journey.  As soon as I got out of my car I could smell that the grass had just been cut, it's heavy scent instantly reminding me of sunshine and summer.  I was the only person there and I wandered about for a little while before I went to pay my respects to St Winefride - you may remember that I visited her shrine in North Wales last summer.  She was obviously greatly revered here as her statue stands beside those of such great figures as St Michael, St Augustine, St John the Evangelist and St Thomas a Becket.  That's Prince Caradoc's head beneath her feet, he is being swallowed up by the earth and pulled down to Hell by The Devil (serves him right, he was horrid).  I know that St Win looks a bit the worse for wear but she's been out in the elements for the last seven hundred years.




I was the only person there.  I looked out across the fields towards Shrewsbury.  The atmosphere was so very peaceful and I felt deeply affected by it.  I sort of felt reassured that everything was going to be all right.  I got back in the car and carried on driving along the B5062, past neatly trimmed hedges, blossoming trees and yellow fields full of oilseed rape.  I drove through Roden with its vast, disused greenhouses which for decades provided tomatoes for the Co-op.



The road rounded a bend and I drove across a bridge over the River Roden.  There is an eighteenth century mill beside the river which is now a B&B. There was nowhere for me to park so I couldn't photograph it, but here is an old postcard I found online.  The building is much smarter now and painted white.


The river divides Roden from High Ercall (pronounced "Arkle"), a village which is mentioned in the Domesday Book and which has an ancient church, a manor house and almshouses, all visible from the road as I drove through the villageAt the end of the village there is an old tollhouse which was probably built in the 1850s.  Of course, it's a private dwelling now as we no longer have to pay to use this road, but even though it has been extended its original use is obvious, with its windows looking in all directions.


Turning onto the B5063, the next village I reached was Longdon-upon-Tern where the remains of Thomas Telford's eighteenth century cast iron aqueduct sit marooned in a field astride the River Tern, the canal which it used to carry being long gone now.  


On the other side of the road, I glanced across the fields and saw The Wrekin, the familiar hill which lets me know that home isn't far away.


The whole journey took about half an hour.  I wondered why I had never noticed before what an interesting journey it is, how many "sights" there are which tell the history of the area, and I reached the conclusion that it must have been down to my frame of mind, feeling really positive for the first time in months and the calming peace which had descended on me in the ruins of the Abbey.  (Sorry, I've just read that back and realised that I sound a bit daft; perhaps I am!)  Now, I must confess that I didn't take these photographs at the time - except the one of St Winefride - because there isn't anywhere to safely stop and park the car.  However, I really wanted to show you why this journey is so special so on Sunday, when the Best Beloved and I were out, we came home along this road and he parked his tiny car in some cheeky places, hopped out and took these photos.  Isn't he fab (sometimes)?

I'll be catching up with your blogs this week and will be back to tell you more about that aqueduct.

See you soon.
Love, Mrs Tiggywinkle x





11 comments:

  1. Such lovely sights along your B route. Is the reddish stone of the Abbey local? It's such a pretty colour and unlike most I've seen. I'm glad you're feeling better. I have escaped illness this winter, thanks be to God, but my poor husband had that cough and it's still lingering after 3 weeks, although much diminished. He's pretty much back to normal now.
    There's nothing like spring growth to cheer one's spirits!

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    1. The red stone is sandstone and I think it must be local, although it's hard to find out, as there's quite a lot of it round here. There is still a working quarry at Grinshill and according to Wikipedia(!), they did supply stone for Haughmond Abbey, and that would make sense. I think the walls were then faced with dressed stone, much of which would have been purloined after the Dissolution and used in other local buildings. I'm glad your husband is getting back to normal, I feel for him; I had it the wretched cough badly for a fortnight and am still occasionally coughing now, another fortnight later. x

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  2. Glad you are feeling better, sorry you've been unwell for so long bless you. Your post is interesting, thank you for sharing your photos and thoughts. It's sad seeing the disused greenhouses, such a waste. I suppose the tomatoes were cheaper to import. Take care, Cx

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    1. Thank you. Isn't it sad? I think it was the first farm the Co-op actually owned. It really was Tomato Town. x

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  3. Sorry to hear you've not been well but pleased now that you're firing on all four cylinders! Imagine cleaning all those windows! What an historic area you live in, we often take our own are a for granted and don't notice its beauty.

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    1. Thank you. I agree with you about taking our own area for granted. I pointed out to the Best Beloved the other day that we don't have an OS map of Shropshire and we ought to get one as we love maps and have lots of other places. It's ridiculous really. x

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  4. What a delighful journey, I love the mill and the toll house, the Abbey is beautiful I remember from a visit a few years ago. I'm sorry to read that you have been unwell for a few weeks but glad that you are feeling well again. Take care:)

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    1. Thanks Rosie. I'm going to try to find out more about the tollhouse because the village website says that it was built in the 1850s but I think that might be too late. The Abbey site is so extensive that it seems odd that it's free to visit and I'm sure that they used to charge. x

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  5. I'm sorry to hear that you've not been well for many weeks, which must have been tiring. I'm glad there's somewhere fairly local that lifts your spirit. (I have special places in the local countryside I go to when feeling a bit down in the dumps that then give me a lift and make me thankful to be alive). You live in an area of beauty and history. I've always wanted to visit Shropshire and the county is near the top of my wish list. So glad to know that you're feeling better now. xxL

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