My favorite excursion was probably the one to Ironbridge gorge. We picked up my parents at Birmingham airport and went straight to Shropshire, the cradle of the industrial revolution. We started by visiting the world-famous first cast-iron bridge, which, despite a mass of around 800 tons elegantly spans across the river Severn. The bridge opened on New Year's Day in 1781 and was casted and built by a Mr. Darby III. He was commissioned by Architect Thomas Farnolls Pritchard who designed the construction which had no precedent at that time. Despite the brilliance of the construction there is a rather sad story behind it because the bridge ended up costing more than twice the amount estimated in the beginning and Mr.Darby, who had agreed to fund any overspend, was in debt for the rest of his life.
After we had admired the bridge we strolled around in the little town that is named after the bridge. Despite its size it definitely worth a visit due to its picturesque location and the cute little shops that are lined up on the main street. Also, there is a really nice place to have lunch or just take a break and lean back with a cup of coffee or tea and a bite of belgian chocolate. The place is called the Truffles cafe. We had a delicious lunch in a kids friendly and cosy surrounding. A recommendation is the hot mint chocolate, which my dad ordered. It was heavenly.
After Ironbridge Gorge we went on to Blist Hill, the Victorian town and that is a great place to visit for young and old. I totally loved it and so did everybody else. I wasn´t sure what to expect since M. had picked it and I admittedly didn´t pay much attention when he told me about it. So when we arrived I thought it was just a "regular" museum but it was not. First you enter a room with 5 or 6 big screens where they show movies/pictures of the time when when Blists Hill was still an active little community. Once you watched the movies you continue to the open-air part of the museum. The whole place attempts to recreate the sights, sounds and smells of a Victorian Shropshire town in the late 19th century and early 20th century. It really felt like traveling back in time. The shops are really authentic and the people who work there are dressed in olden day costumes and tell you about life "back then". If you wish, you can also exchange your money against old money at the bank and go shopping with it (we didn´t do it).
We spend 3 hours at the museum and loved every minute of it. It was nice to combine a bit of education with being outside. Also, they had some childrens activities such as dressing up in olden clothes (S. favorite), walking on stilts and making your own candles.
All in all we had a really lovely day.
So, now S. is getting quite annoyed by me sitting at the computer. Time to finish this post.
PS: Since I got comments that I haven´t been talking about the weather for quite a while, let me tell you once and for all: there is nothing to say about it. ;) Derbyshire weather is pretty much the same day in and day out. Grey sky (aka English-blue) with short, short, short sunny intervals. It most often looks like it is going to rain but it rarely really does. And when it does, it doesn´t stop for quite a while. I got to experience it on my own skin last Sunday when I decided to take a loooong walk. I had just made it half-way when it started raining cats and dogs. In the beginning I decided that I can cope with a bit of rain and tried to convince myself that it soon would stop. Good I am not working in weather forecast because it was a totally wrong call and after being soaked from top to toe after a couple minutes I placed an SOS call to M., who came to pick me up by car. And yes, I got teased for it for the rest of the day.
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