Visit to Shrewsbury/Ironbridge 23^rd 25thJuly

Friday.

Nineteen of us assembled at Copdock for our long weekend in Shrewsbury. . Everyone had managed to arrive before 8.00am so we were off on time. The skies didn’t look to friendly so several people have taken precautions and slipped into their waterproofs. First part of the journey was on the A14 to Jun 37 and then the A142 and A1123 taking us to St Ives, where we were stopping for breakfast at the Riverside Tea rooms so we could sit alongside the river. Luckily the weather had improved as we headed west and we were able to have breakfast in the sun. We walked back to the bikes at the Dolphin Hotel over the river Great Ouse. We are heading west again and at Abbots Ripton we passed what looked like a huge music festival. No one was really sure which festival it was. Our route took in several unclassed roads through some very pretty villages and another bonus was the roads were almost deserted. Our lunch stop was at the Birches Valley Forest centre in Cannock Chase, a lovely spot but the mountain biking did look a bit energetic. We just settled for tea, coffee, baguettes, cakes and ice creams. Back on the road and we are on the Penkridge Bank in Cannock forest. We have some great roads to follow while still heading west, but eventually it comes to a grinding halt on the A49 around Shrewsbury. I believe it was just the volume of traffic heading towards Wales for the weekend. We filtered through the traffic until we found the turn we needed into Shrewsbury town centre. Would. Martin is beckoned to the front and leads us through a very congested town centre to the hotel with the use of his Sat Nav. Once booked in and that was not straight forward, the owner said it was fine to park all the bikes in the hotel garden. I wasn’t sure if all the bikes would go through the arched gate but sure enough they did.

After a clean up we all meet in the pub across the road and then made our way The Old Post Office, where I had booked us in for dinner. We virtually fell out of the restaurant and into the pub across the road

Saturday

We all got breakfast and then meet outside to try and get the bikes out of the hotel garden. 15 minutes later the bikes are on the car park round the corner and we are ready to leave for Ironbridge.. At Ironbridge we parked next to the Museum of the Gorge. A short walk beside the river Severn and the iron bridge is in view. Although by today’s standards the bridge may seem small, when you think of the time it was built you begin to realise what a feat it must have been to make the parts and assemble them over the river.. It’s amazing how much water flows down the river and how severe the floods have been at times.

After three and a half hours we had only seen a very small part of what there was to see, but we had also come to explore some of the roads in the area. After heading north for a short while you could see the weather closing in and that was a shame because it spoilt what was a very nice area. We had planned to try and take in a river trip on the River Severn in Shrewsbury, so we had to be back in Shrewsbury for 4.00pm. We made it in time for the last trip on the river.. After the river cruise most people headed back to the hotel while some of us investigated an unusual sculpture alongside the river.

After a clean up it was time to hit the town again, the saga group fell out of the hotel and straight into the pub across the road while some of us ventured a little further up Wyle Cop into a much older drinking establishment. In the Old Post Office again for dinner. Apart from some minor hiccups, the food orders turned up correctly and the waitresses looked after us very well. A whip round, showed our appreciation for all there hard work.

After dinner we went in search of more hostelries and found the Three Fishes along a cobbled street. While searching for more drinking houses we were amazed at the number of small cobbled streets, built several years ago. We were surprised how cars would suddenly appear around a narrow corner, so you needed to keep your wits about you. It’s well past midnight now so we call it a night and head back to our beds.

Sunday

We planned a later start today, this gave us a chance to have a walk along the river which was only a short distance from the hotel. Several of us made our way to the Dingle. This was a garden designed by Percy Thrower. Everyone was amazed at the way the garden was set out, you could have strolled round the garden for hours looking at the different plants and shrubs.

We left Shrewsbury about 11.00am taking a similar route home to the north of Birmingham, using a mixture of A, B, and unclassed roads. A wrong turn near Abbots Bromley gave us a chance to ride over Blithfield reservoir and back again. Our first break for a cup of tea and cake was at Byrkley garden centre, near Burton on Trent. The beauty of this type of places is there is always plenty of parking and lots of seating in the café. Phil and Joe decided to head for home on a more direct route and Angela and Chris left us here as they were heading back to Kent. The rest of us stuck to plan A. The A6006 and A606 around Melton Mowbray and Oakham are very popular biking roads and it’s easy to see why. At Guyhirn we were booked in at the Oliver Twist for a meal. A few more people had decided to leave us here and make for home. Eleven of us had meals in the Oliver Twist. The last leg of our journey was through Outwell, Littleport, Mildenhall and Bury St Edmunds. We left the pub around 7.00pm and there is not a great deal of traffic about, so we were able to set a good pace, which was an excellent end to a great weekend.

Thanks to everyone who came on the trip, the company was great, the laughs were non stop, the roads were great and anyone looking for somewhere to go for a weekend, I recommend Shrewsbury.

For the Full Report please see the review.