Five on Friday

Hello, thank you for calling in.  Thank you, too, for your messages about my last post - if I have brought the Battle of Trafalgar to life for some readers, I am absolutely chuffed.  Today I am linking up with Amy at Love Made My Home so if you have the time, please hop over there and see who else is joining in this week.

Last Sunday afternoon the Best Beloved and I went to Bridgnorth, a pretty old town on the banks of the River Severn, for a little walk.  The sun didn't come out from behind the thick clouds but the air was still and too warm for coats and we took our time.  Here are five good things about Bridgnorth:
 

1. The River Severn

We walked along the east bank of the river, which divides High Town from Low Town (I know, it's so quaint, isn't it?). 

We passed a very small patch of neglected ground which is marked by this plaque (you might want to click on it to enlarge it for easier reading) -

If you studied the Industrial Revolution for O-Level History (I know, that dates me) you will know about Richard Trevithick.  The locomotive built here was named Catch Me Who Can and was exhibited at a "steam circus" in London: it went round a circular track at a top speed of 12mph(!) pulling an open carriage full of passengers who paid a shilling for the thrill.

2.  The Cliff Railway
The top of High Town stands more than a hundred feet higher than the river and if you don't fancy climbing one of the seven sets of two hundred-odd steps or the steep roads to get there, the funicular railway is great fun - very old-fashioned but just right.  Some people use it for their daily commute to work!  It is, apparently, the shortest and steepest in the country and a return ticket costs £1.20.  Built in 1892 and originally powered by water but converted to electricity in the 1940s, the original carriages were replaced in 1955. 

3.  The Castle
Very little remains of Bridgnorth's twelfth century castle as most of it was blown to pieces by parliamentary forces on the orders of Oliver Cromwell in 1646 after the royalists who had retreated there surrendered during the Civil War.  The part of the keep which does remain leans at an angle of fifteen degrees, almost four times that of the Leaning Tower of Pisa.  It looks precarious but it must be quite safe because it doesn't appear to have shifted during the last 369 years!

4. The Severn Valley Railway
This steam railway runs between Bridgnorth and Kidderminster and although we didn't take a ride this time, from the Castle Walk we sat and watched an engine gather its head of steam before it chugged away over the bridge. 

5. The Views

King Charles I visited Bridgnorth twice in the seventeenth century and as he gazed out from the Castle Walk, he declared it "the finest view in all my kingdom.".  The views have changed a lot in almost four hundred years since then, but probably not unrecognisably and they are still pretty fine (and even better when the sun shines).

If you ever get the opportunity to visit Bridgnorth, it's worth it - you could even go when the lovely shops, pubs and tearooms are open.  I do. 

See you soon.

Love, Mrs Tiggywinkle x