Not everyone wants to watch England play....

[George]

Hi all, taking advantage of the ace weather, Kathy and I decided to go out on a run over to Shropshire, which is situated to the west of Birmingham, and meets the border with

 

central Wales.

 

Along the A5 we go under the Shropshire Union Canal, originally called the Birmingham and Liverpool Canal,which was built by the Scottish born engineer, Thomas Telford. This

 

part was built in 1832, and Teford did not see it's completion in 1835 as he died in the previous year.

 

We even got a narrow boat crossing overhead, which is quite a weird experience as you ride under....

 

 

Telfords name stamped on his work. The letters after it, F.R.S. denounce he is a fellow of the Royal Society of the United Kingdom.

 

 

 

Passing under the canal, the A5 leads us into Telford, yes you guessed it, named after Thomas Telford. In 1968, when a new town was being built in the Wrekin area, it was named

 

Telford in his honour.

 

We then headed south down to the Coalbrookdale area and Ironbridge itself, a place that got it's name due to the worlds first Ironbridge being built there in 1779. Built by

 

Abraham Darby III, it spans the river severn and was built to get the coal deposits near the surface, out to the local clay and lead industry. In 1776 the nearest bridge was 2

 

miles away at Buildwas. A ferry crossing carried people and goods over the river, but was difficult and dangerous, especially in winter. The Act to build a bridge remedying the

 

situation received Royal Assent in March 1776.

 

 

Bloody tourists LOL

 

 

The local war memorial.

 

 

Local town building

 

 

A local old "Kettle" A Suzuki GT750 triple, sounded lovely when it started up, and the blue smoke cleared. COUGH COUGH!!

 

 

Kathy, in her new jacket, waiting patiently....

 

 

Rode down beside the river Severn, subsidence is so bad, they put wooden slats down to ride on.

 

 

Found a lovely pub on the riverside though, had a lovely pint of the local brew.

 

 

I told you the river was a bit rough, here are a few "scores on the doors"

 

 

 

Had a great day out, again, made better by the fact that the roads were empty, as apparently there was a football match on somewhere................

[Woodie]

Nice pics! I have fond memories of an outing on a steam train, on the "Severn Valley Railway", where my uncle was a director at the time.

 

I still get a kick out of canal bridges.

[Francois_Dumas]

Great pics George ! The boat 'bridge' is interesting, we have many of those in Holland......

[KMG_365]

Had a great day out, again, made better by the fact that the roads were empty, as apparently there was a football match on somewhere................

 

Great pics, thanks for sharing!!