Thursday 9 December 2021. We decided to have a short break in Shrewsbury. On the borders of England and Wales in Shropshire, the centre of the town is contained within a great loop of the River Severn, with a Welsh Bridge carrying the road to and from Wales and an English Bridge on the opposite side of town. The English Bridge leads the traveller past the remains of the once huge Abbey of St Peter and St Paul, featured in the Cadfael novels of Ellis Peters.
We were staying at The Lion Hotel, a hotel I had used extensively on many visits whilst working with the local college, running training workshops for their management structure. The hotel had some historical significance of its own, having been visited by kings and luminaries from the literary and entertainment worlds. Charles Dickens has a room named after him as he stayed there several times, writing portions of The Pickwick Papers there.
Our own room was very comfortable and contained this canopied bed. The curtains of a four poster were not necessary as there were no draughts noticeable and, as far as I know, no pigeons nor anything else were lurking to make even the canopy necessary to catch any droppings!
This was the view from our room, looking downhill down the street known as Wyle Cop that leads down towards the river and the English Bridge. I took all the photos on my phone, not having taken the camera with me. A mistake, as it wasn't up to coping with the Christmas lights that festooned areas of the town. We made a note to return the following year...
The main dining room had been moved up to the ground floor to what used to be a lounge on previous visits. The basement restaurant was used for breakfasts but evening meals were served here, with a log fire burning in the hearth.
The following morning we explored the town. Shrewsbury is full of old timbered buildings and is a delight to wander around. It has a Wimpy bar too - I made a beeline for that at lunchtime. You can keep your Big Macs, though I can be partial to a Burger King Whopper, but my favourite burger, once the small independent kiosks disappeared from most seaside promenades, has always been Wimpy with their quarter pounders. Mmm Hmmmm!
We spent the day doing touristy things and shoppingy things and having really enjoyed the evening dinner at the hotel on our first night, we ate there again on our second and final night.
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