What we did on our holidays - II

20th April - The Wrekin: We split up and early one morning Ginny and I drove out towards Telford. First, to look at Wroxeter -'Viroconium', which was the fourth largest city in Roman Britain. It began as a legionary fortress and later developed into a thriving civilian city. Though much still remains below ground, today the most impressive features are the 2nd century municipal baths, and the remains of the huge wall dividing them from the exercise hall in the heart of the city. There is a site museum that reveals how Wroxeter worked in its heyday, and the health and beauty practices of its 5,000 citizens. In February 1859 workmen began excavating the baths complex, and by April much of the present site was exposed and thronged with fascinated visitors, including Charles Dickens.

Donated by the landowner for public viewing, Wroxeter thus became one of the first archaeological visitor attractions in Britain. Thanks to a project between English Heritage and Channel 4, a Roman town house

has been erected at Wroxeter and is now open to the public. A TV series followed a team of modern builders as they built the town house using traditional Roman methods.

Then went to look at Ironbridge. The area around Ironbridge is described as the "Birthplace of the Industrial Revolution" due to the legend that Abraham Darby perfected the technique of smelting iron with coke, in Coalbrookdale, allowing much cheaper production of iron. However, the industrial revolution did not "begin" in one place, but in many. The growth of railways, spinning machines, weaving and other industrial inventions and activities were going on all over the country. Smelting iron by Darby was but one small part of this generalised revolution and was soon superseded by the great iron-smelting areas.


The grandson of the first Abraham Darby, Abraham Darby III, built the famous bridge - originally designed by Thomas Farnolls Pritchard - to link the two areas. Construction began in 1779 and the bridge opened on New Year's Day 1781.

Next the climb up The Wrekin, but first Ginny and I circumnavigated it by car.

The hill is formed of Pre-Cambrian rocks, approximately 680 million years old. The rocks are igneous - layers of ancient lava flows laid down in a volcanic island arc, similar to modern Japan. The earliest mention of the Wrekin occurs in a charter of 855, as entered in a late eleventh century Worcester chartulary, spelled Wreocensetun. Its modern form is believed to have come into modern English by way of Mercian, and that is likely to have been taken from the early Celtic word Wrikon perhaps etymologically related to the Latin name Viroconium Cornoviorum - the Cornovii were the British tribe inhabiting the area. There is an Iron Age hill fort on the summit almost 8 hectares in size, to which the name Uriconio originally referred. It is thought the fort was built by the Cornovii tribe and was once their capital.


The legend of the creation of The Wrekin is basically as follows...A giant called Gwendol Wrekin ap Shenkin ap Mynyddmawr with a grudge against the town of Shrewsbury decided to flood the town and kill all its inhabitants.

So he collected a giant-sized spadeful of earth and set off towards the town. When in the vicinity of Wellington he met a cobbler returning from Shrewsbury market with a large sackful of shoes for repair. The giant asked him for directions, adding that he was going to dump his spadeful of earth in the River Severn and flood the town. "It's a very long way to Shrewsbury," replied the quick-thinking shoemaker. "Look at all these shoes I've worn out walking back from there!" The giant immediately decided to abandon his enterprise and dumped the earth on the ground beside him, where it became the Wrekin. The giant also scraped the mud off his boots, which became the smaller hill Ercall Hill nearby. Ironically Shrewsbury is subjected to flooding from the River Severn on frequent occasions naturally.


21st April - Bircher Common - a long settled part of Herefordshire, inhabited for several thousand years. Archaeologists have found evidence of possibly prehistoric and Romano British settlements on the Common, as well as medieval and 18th century occupation. From the Common, we walked uphill for about 500 yards to the woodlands then a short walk took us into fields at then end of which we had lunch. I spotted a grand house across a valley when I explored some of the woodlands. We then entered past the notice board for the Forestry Commission into Croft Wood. There are very large beech trees as we went downhill - on a good track called Fishpools Valley (the pools were just below us and I took Ginny for a drink in two of them (Toffee, off the lead, plunged in most!). In the 18th and 19th century charcoal was produced here, to supply the forge at Bringewood, to the North. There was also carriageways in the woods for amusing the gentry!

What we did on our holidays - I

From 'The Old Bull Pen', (above), Ginny got a short walk every morning ... including a sniff inside this old hollowed-out yew tree near the old Norman Church of St. Mary Magdalene.





Then we were back for a breakfast and the rest of the day ... which, to Ginny's delight, involved walking!



16th April - Long Mynd: The name Long Mynd means "Long Mountain": in Welsh it is called Mynydd Hir. The highest point on the Long Mynd is Pole Bank at a height of 516 m (1,693 ft so its a Marilyn). North to south, it is approximately 7 miles (11 km) long by a maximum of 3 miles (4.8 km) wide.



The principal settlements surrounding the Long Mynd are the Strettons. It is essentially a moorland plateau, approximately 10 miles long in a north-south direction, and approximately 4 miles across at its widest point. Although from a distance the top appears to be relatively flat, large valleys - such as Carding Mill Valley - eat into the edges like deep folds. Once managed as a grouse moor, today the Long Mynd is owned and maintained by the National Trust but many local people have rights to graze sheep here. An old trackway, the Port Way, runs along the length of the ridge. Much of the top is covered in heather, but it also possible to find wild bilberries (known locally as whinberries). Along the western edge of the Long Mynd, above the village of Asterton - a popular centre for gliding and hang-gliding.





17th April - (part of) Winding Jack Trail - in Mortimer Forest - off the B4361 Ludlow to Richard’s Castle road, 2 miles south-west of Ludlow. OS Grid ref: SO497717.



18th April - Wenlock Edge is a limestone escarpment created 400 million years ago when Shropshire could be found just south of the equator and boasted a Caribbean type of environment. Its ancient woodlands has many fossils hidden in the area's rocks including ancient corals, crinoids and trilobites and the limestone of the Edge has been exploited for many years as building material and for burning in small lime kilns,then road building. The National Trust, who manage seven miles of the Edge, has now restored some of the old lime kilns to preserve a part of the industrial heritage of the area. It is roughly 330 metres high (above sea level). The deciduous woodland which runs along it covers much of the steep slopes of the escarpment and in parts it is very well preserved. It is perhaps best known as the setting for A. E. Housman's poem "On Wenlock Edge the Wood's in Trouble". Ralph Vaughan Williams composed 'On Wenlock Edge' in 1909. It is also the subject of several works by the famous artist L. S. Lowry with the best known piece "A Bit of Wenlock Edge" which is a fine pencil drawing of the escarpment detailing the woodland. The Edge contains many interesting features such as Flounder's Folly, Wilderhope Manor and Major's Leap - the latter from the English Civil War a Major Thomas Smallman of nearby Wilderhope Manor was a Royalist officer who was forced to flee from Cromwell’s approaching troops after escaping from his manor. As he was carrying important dispatches, he was cornered on the Wenlock Edge. Rather than surrender, he galloped his horse off the edge falling some 200 feet. His horse was killed but the Major was saved by falling into an apple tree. He made his way on foot to Shrewsbury where he delivered the despatches. The area where he made the jump is known as Major's Leap and is said to be haunted by the Major and his horse.



19th April - The Stiperstones is noted for its tors of quartzite. The principal ones are named as follows, from north-east to south-west:

* Shepherd's Rock (grid reference SO373998)

* Devil's Chair (SO368991)

* Manstone Rock (SO367986)

* Cranberry Rock (SO365981)

* Nipstone Rock (SO365969)

* The Rock (SO351963)

Manstone Rock is the highest of these at 536 metres, and is topped with a trig point. The Devil's Chair is the largest and best known. The Stiperstones ridge is a good place to view the upland landscape of the Shropshire Hills, particularly the Long Mynd to the east, and also gives extensive views towards the North Shropshire plain and the hills of Mid Wales. The small village of Stiperstones lies just under the ridge to the north-west; it has a pub called the Stiperstones Inn. Nearby are the villages of Snailbeach, Minsterley, Ratlinghope and Pontesbury.



The Stiperstones is a National Nature Reserve and in the Shropshire Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. It is a haven for wildlife, with birds that are normally associated with upland areas present, including Red Grouse, Eurasian Curlew, Peregrine Falcon and the rare Ring Ouzel.

20th April - Set off from Ashford Carbonell at 0830 and looked at Wroxeter, (or the Roman 'Viroconium') at 0930! This was the fourth largest city (about 5,000 citizens at its peak), in Roman Britain. It began as a legionary fortress and later developed into a thriving city. There's still a lot of it "below ground" but has some impressive 2nd century municipal baths, and a huge wall (the remains of one at least) that separated dividing the baths from the exercise hall.

Ashford Carbonell - background

We spent a week in Ashford Carbonell, (sometimes spelt with one 'l'), reputed to be one of the most beautiful villages in Shropshire, just off the A49, about 4 km (2½ miles) south of Ludlow. We stayed in 'The Old Bull Pen' - a new three bedroom (all on-suite), guests of Norman & Lynda Tudge. Ashford Carbonell is set in attractive open countryside with much of the village being in a Conservation Area, located in the Teme Valley. Ashford Carbonell has a population of around 360 and comprises an eclectic mixture of houses, farms, a village hall and one church, dedicated to St. Mary Magdalene and Norman in origin. There are no archaeological ruins - no castle, no Iron-Age fort - and no shops or pubs to attract the tourists. But what is claimed for Ashford Carbonell is peace and quiet - close to the truth, though you can hear the A49 rumbling in the distance.

At Ashford’s ‘beach’, the site of the original ford after which the village takes its name there is a small masonry bridge - the first known example of Thomas Telford introducing the technique of ‘hollow spandrel construction’ into his work. He designed the segmental single-span arch bridge in 1795, when he was County Surveyor for Shropshire. He went on to use the hollow spandrel, (space above the curve of an arch), technique in several of his masonry bridges. Removing the stone spandrel infill reduced the total load on the arch - last repaired in 1970.

Geology - the area's structure dates back to Precambrian - during which time the area would have been 60° south of the equator, (the same latitude as the Falkland Islands!) and Shropshire would have been at the very edge of a large continent near the sea, which was being buckled by tectonic activity, causing volcanoes to form. The area had broad rivers - evidence of mudflats has been found - that would have flowed out to sea, creating large estuaries, which over time caused the mudflats to have built up. Volcanic eruptions deposited ash in layers between the sand and mud (the primary rock of the Long Mynd is for example is sandstone, usually coloured purple or grey).

The volcanoes created the nearby Stretton Hills and the Wrekin, and eruptions would have been frequent. There are layers in the rocks of the Long Mynd that have preserved raindrop marks recording a passing rain shower. The raindrop marks were created when rain fell onto a layer of firm dry mud, and were then covered by another layer of mud, which filled them in and preserved them for 565 million years. Examples of these fossilised rain prints can be viewed today in the National Trust Tearoom Exhibition, in Carding Mill Valley. The layers of rock built up over the millennia to create an approximately 7,000 m (22,966 ft) thick layer composed of sand, mud, silt, and ash.

Towards the end of the Precambrian period, the volcanoes ceased their eruptions, and the rivers had dried up. Instead the forces that created the volcanoes caused the new rocks to lift and fold, creating mountains and valleys in the area. Much of the rock was melted during this period, underneath the Earth's crust, causing the mountains to continually change towards the latter part of the Precambrian. The Church Stretton Fault line was created during this period, and is still active today. The hill Caer Caradoc adjacent to the Long Mynd and from the same time is more volcanic in origin, and is thought to be the remnants of the great mountain chain.

During the Cambrian, Shropshire was flooded by the sea, after the Global Ice Age ended 545 million years ago. Thick layers of beach pebbles and white sand were built up against the sea cliffs that were once molten lava. During this time, the shallow sea played host to the huge explosion of new life which occurred during the Cambrian. Shropshire has some of the most historically important evidence in the explosion of life and in the naming and dividing of the Cambrian period. Trilobites that are found in the county are internationally important for deciding how the Cambrian is divided into smaller segments of time.

The Ordovician had Shropshire back to volcanic activity, and saw the county temporarily split in two, along the Pontesford - Linley fault line. Everything west of this line was ocean, while the east was dry land. The Iapetus Ocean was closing,0 bringing the two halves of Britain towards each other, and volcanic eruptions created the Cumbrian Mountains, and Snowdonia. Shropshire also saw volcanic activity. To the west of the Pontesford - Linley fault, volcanic rocks have been found. The other side of the fault line was quieter. The land was slowly eroded, and the sea gradually flooded it, so that only the tops of hills could be seen, such as the ancient Caer Caradoc. Towards the end of the Ordovician, the sea levels dropped, due to another ice age.

The Silurian period, occurring 439 million years ago, has been well preserved nearby, in Wenlock Edge. During this time, Shropshire would have been flooded again by shallow sea. Wenlock Edge would have formed during this time, and the fossils of ancient corals and shellfish can be found all along the Edge, preserved in limestone. Towards the end of the Silurian the Iapetus would have fully closed, and England and Scotland were joined. The closing of this ocean was important to geology in Great Britain. It caused most of our hills and mountains to align along the fault, northeast to the southwest.

During the Devonian, the newly formed Scottish Mountains had rivers flowing all over the land. Shropshire was no exception; these new rivers caused thick deposits in the area. Most of the rocks from this era are red sandstones, caused by iron in the rock. The area was known as the Old Red Sandstone Continent. These river sediments have traces of fossilised fish. Shropshire would have remained above water until the end of the Devonian, when the seas rose once again.

The Carboniferous was a time of great change for the area. Shropshire would have been near the equator, and the Old Red Sandstone continent had been eroded away; in the early part of the era, the county was under a shallow sea. However, tectonic activity pushed Britain out of the sea. South of Shropshire this effect was felt greatly, though Shropshire was relatively quiet. Mountains to the north were being worn down by rivers, creating enormous deltas that were colonised by plant life. A tropical forest took hold all over Shropshire, with ancient tree ferns and horsetails. Shropshire eventually crossed the equator during this era, and became a part of Pangaea during the Permian; the area would have been very similar to the Sahara Desert, and would have been in the vicinity, around 20° to 30° north of the equator.

The Triassic, Jurassic, Cretaceous and Tertiary were very quiet in Shropshire, and very little evidence can be found from these periods. The last Ice Age during the Quaternary has its effect on all of Shropshire, shaping the landscape as we see it today. The Long Mynd would have been under a thick Ice Sheet, several hundred metres thick. As the ice melted, it carved out the valleys and hills of the Long Mynd massif we see today. The small rivers, streams and brooks still very slowly carve out the valleys. The springs and bogs play a part in Church Stretton's economy, as the people bottle the mineral water that comes from the Long Mynd.

Today the steep and narrow valleys are covered in a thin layer of soil, with a low pH, able to support only strong grasses, rushes, and heathers. Beneath the soil the evidence of the ancient and chequered past can be seen, and the rocky outcrops and scree slopes are excellent places to view the different layers of ancient rock.

George Shipway (1908–1982)

George Shipway became an historical novelist as a third career, starting late, and only lasting 11 few years but in that time established himself my favourite historical writer and Imperial Governor the most influential historical novel I have ever read.He was born in 1908 in Allahabad, India, (his father was a publisher there); he was sent to England at the age of eight to go to boarding school at Clifton - then, after leaving school, he became a cadet at Sandhurst, the Army’s academy for future officers. Sandhurst trained cadets for both the British Army, and the Indian Army, which was the one for which George Shipway was destined. He used to claim in later life that the only reason he had joined the Army was so that he could play polo, which he would not have been able to afford to do as a civilian! After Sandhurst, he was commissioned in 1928 into the 13th. Duke of Connaught’s Lancers, a cavalry regiment. He returned to India, where he married while he was posted at Jullundur. In the ensuing years, the Shipways moved “all over India”. George Shipway’s service included two years away from his regiment with a force of irregulars on the frontier between Baluchistan and Iran, as well as being a staff officer in Delhi and in central India, but history was about to bring his Indian Army career to an end. At Partition, the Indian Army was divided, and the 13th. Lancers was one of the regiments assigned to Pakistan. The Shipways came “home”. George Shipway had obtained a transfer to the British Army, to the 3rd. Carabiniers, the Prince of Wales’s Dragoon Guards, a Scottish regiment. In the end, he decided not to go through with it. His explanation was that he had never been north of Yorkshire and didn’t intend to make such a dramatic change in his life, but really he seems to have had no wish to pursue an Army career anywhere but in India. He retired in 1947 with the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel. At this point, the Shipways happened to run into a friend whom they had known in India. She was married to another former Indian Army officer, and she and her husband were now running Cheam School in Berkshire, a school for boys aged from 8 to 14. They suggested to George Shipway that he should become a teacher at the school, which he did. So began his second career, as a schoolmaster, lasted 19 years. His pupils included Prince Charles, who spent some time at Cheam - it seems that the boys liked and respected him. Looking at George Shipway’s photograph on his 1970s book jackets, one can judge that only a very foolish, or a very brave, boy would have misbehaved in Mr. Shipway’s class. The photograph shows a man who clearly knows his way about the world, with a genial expression, but who carries the bearing of one who expects to be obeyed when he gives an order. While he was a schoolmaster, he tried his hand at writing in his spare time, encouraged by his friend John Masters, who had also been an Indian Army officer before becoming an author. George Shipway eventually began work on what would become Imperial Governor. George Shipway combined the qualities of the soldier with those of a scholar. When he was a boy, his family had thought of sending him to a grander school, Winchester, and Mrs. Shipway believes that if his life had taken that turn he might well have become a university don rather than a soldier. He loved the countryside, and his wife treasured a book in which he had collected dried specimens of more than 200 species of wild flower.

Bibliography

* Imperial Governor (1968). ISBN 0-432-14750-0
* Knight in Anarchy (1969). ISBN 0-432-14751-9;
* The Chilian Club (1971), ISBN 0-432-14752-7;
* The Paladin (1972). ISBN 0-432-14753-5
* The Wolf Time (1973). ISBN 0-432-14754-3
* Free Lance (1975). ISBN 0-432-14755-1
* Strangers in the Land (1976). ISBN 0-432-14756-X
* Warrior in Bronze (1977). ISBN 0-432-14757-8
* King in Splendour (1979). ISBN 0-432-14758-6

Mr Underhills

Mr Underhill’s – Ludlow’s only Michelin Starred restaurant with rooms

We had dinner here, on Sunday 17th April 2011. Here's the menu …

- Marinated cuquillo olives + 'cheese with no name' gougeres
- Cones of marinated smoked salmon
- Garden sorrel velouté with crème fraiche ice cream
- Duck liver custard '10+sweetcorn cream + lemongrass glaze
- Risotto of Bridgnorth asparagus with a white miso, lemon & thyme dressing
- Slow roasted fillet of Mortimer Forest venison & venison jus + gin & orange vinaigrette
+ roasted roots with pear & celeriac purée + smoked baked potato mash
- Rhubarb sponge with custard ice cream
- Choice from dessert menu or platter of speciality cheeses
- Coffee & petits fours


Here's a review

... ***** It’s a pretty good way to celebrate a 30th anniversary . . . On January 12, Mr Underhills learned that it had been voted the best restaurant in the UK, writes Andy Richardson. Yes, that’s right, the best. To avoid any confusion, the publishers of Harden’s Guide 2010 even published a list of runners-up. It read like a list of restaurant Oscars. In at two was the awesome Gidleigh Park, in Devon; the triple Michelin-starred Waterside Inn, at Berkshire was next; Marcus Wareing at The Berkley, in London was fourth while Raymond Blanc’s temple to gastronomy, Le Manoir aux Quat’ Saisons, in Oxfordshire, was fifth. Northcote, Lucknam Park and other notables featured in the list. It was a seminal moment; as significant for Ludlow as the day, 10 years earlier, when the town had launched itself as the gourmet capital of rural Britain by winning three Michelin stars and a bib gourmand. Proprietors Chris and Judy Bradley took it in their stride. Instead of champagne corks popping, the audible response was a pledge to work harder, not rest on laurels, make improvements and aim even higher. So did they remain true to their word? The answer, following a recent visit, is a resounding yes.I’ve eaten at Mr Underhills over the past 10 years and the dinner we ate in April was, by some distance, the best. The flavours were harmonious, the service reliable and sophisticated and the dining room aspirational. I spend much of my time meeting knowledgeable producers, cooks and others involved in the industry. When people ask me where to eat in Shrewsbury or some other town, I give them the same answer: Mr Underhills. But that’s not in Shrewsbury, they say. Then drive . . . It is so far ahead of the competition you have to wonder whether they’ll ever catch up. It seems the restaurant has a band of dedicated locals but – importantly for Ludlow’s economy – has even more visitors from around the UK. The dining room, every night, is filled with a food-savvy cognoscenti enthralled by the talents of the Bradleys. After a refreshing glass of champagne on the restaurant terrace, overlooking Dinham Weir, we took to the dining room. Read more: http://www.shropshirestar.com/lifestyle/2010/04/26/restaurant-review-mr-underhills-dinham-weir-ludlow-sy8-1eh/#ixzz1JtxCsyeX