Hello and welcome back to my blog 😊.

Today Angela and I enjoyed a 8.7-mile circular walk in the county of Shropshire. We visited one of our national treasures – the Ironbridge Gorge. This area lying deep in a wooded gorge, gouged out by the River Severn, is a World Heritage Site and is where the Industrial Revolution began. In 1708 Adrian Darby started iron-smelting in the coalbrookdale furnaces using coke. He would become the worlds first mass producer of cast iron.

We parked in coalbrookdale and it was a short walk along the river to reach the famous iron bridge – the worlds first cast iron bridge, built by Thomas Telford in 1779 to link the important industrial towns of Broseley and Madeley.

We sat on a bench and had some lunch taking in the design of the bridge. After, we walked across the bridge, passing the old toll house where, historically, a toll had to be paid to cross. The table of Tools was on display.

Having crossed the bridge we followed the trail which once was the course of the Severn Valley Railway. Some track and level crossing gates were a nod to its past.

As we continued we passed the Jackfield Tile Museum – the area had been a big producer of tiles – in fact, shortly, we passed the site which is now a craft centre but was formerly the worlds largest tile works.,

Major engineering works had to be carried out in recent years to prevent Jackfield slipping into the River Severn.

Our next port of call was ‘The Boat Inn’ – a nice pub by the river where a refreshing cold drink was taken. A little further on we crossed the river once again, using a pedestrian bridge, and found the pot kilns of the former Coalport Pottery -now also a museum. The pottery was moved along the canal in tub-boats – I think we will be returning to look at the museums and learn more about the history.

We shortly found the Silkin Way – a pleasant wooded route along the course of the Coalport Branch Railway. A nice former wagon wheel marked the route.

Along the Silkin Way we passed the entrance to another museum – Blists Hill Victorian Town which is a very popular spot.

We took a detour involving quite a bit of uphill to visit a spot called the Rotunda, which in Victorian times, was a popular viewing spot. On this occasion not much could be seen through the trees and our route downhill was closed off for repair so we followed the path diversion. Eventually, we landed back into Coalbrookdale where we found a wonderful piece of sculpture and a beach!

It had been a voyage of discovery – which is what the best walks are.

Happy Walking! 😊🚶