Shrewsbury is the administrative centre of the county of Shropshire, England, UK which is situated on the border with Wales, we are about 1 hour by train west of Birmingham and 1h15 south of Manchester and Liverpool and 2h from the West Coast of Wales. London is about 3 hours by train or car.

http://www.visitshrewsbury.com/how-to-get-to-shrewsbury/uk_shrewsbury_map.jpg

Shropshire is one of the least densely populated counties in England with only 288,000 people in 3,197km2, less than half the average UK population density.

Shrewsbury was founded around 800ad in a good defensive position in a loop of the UK's longest river, the Severn. It now has a population of around 70,000 in the town itself and 95,000 in the local council area.

Historically the wealth of the town was built on the trade in wool in the 14th and 15th centuries and as a staging post for coaches running between London and Holyhead and onward to Ireland. Today the economy is mostly based on light industry, tourism, services, retail and agriculture is still quite important in the surrounding areas

The architecture of the town is a mixture of timber framed Tudor buildings with Georgian and Victorian styles too. The outer suburbs are mostly 20th century and retail parks etc, not so interesting.

The most famous person to come from the town is celebrated naturalist, evolution theorist and general enemy of God, Charles Darwin. Other famous people to have lived in the town include Imperialist Butcher, Robert Clive, famous for killing Indians. Former Deputy Prime Minister Michael Heseltine, Monty Python actor Michael Palin, Music god John Peel and annoying TV presenter Jeremy Clarkson among others all went to Shrewsbury school which is one of the top private schools in the UK costing £15,000-£21,500 per year to attend.

Just outside the town is the Roman settlemnt of Viriconium which was the 4th largest Roman city in England, founded in the 2nd century AD it was discovered in 1970 and only a small fraction of the 80 Hectare site has yet been excavated. Nearby is one of Europe's most northerly vineyards which makes suprisingly good wines!

http://www.virtual-shropshire.co.uk/photos/wroxeter/72wr_Pict0070.jpg

http://www.lastrefuge.co.uk/images/html/aerials_UK_historical_sites/roman/images/AW_DS_roman02.jpg

http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/upload/img_400/wm_wroxeter_02.jpg

http://www.shropshiretourism.info/images/att/wrox2.jpg

In the countryside starting about 10km south of the town are the South Shropshire hills which are very good for walking, climbing, cycling and other outdoor activities.

http://www.shropshirerocks.org/assets/userfiles/000067.jpg

http://i.pbase.com/o4/00/340300/1/43122760.PICT1450.jpg

http://www.virtual-shropshire.co.uk/photos/about_stiperstones/DSC_0110.jpg

Anyway, I took a tour around the town with my camera a couple of weeks ago and here are the results. This is a map of my route so you can see where in the town each photo was taken. Hope you enjoy them! :)

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This is the train station, many people's first view of the town.
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From here to nearby Castlefields a 19th century residential area.
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And across the river to another typical quiet inner suburb, Cherry orchard with townhouses from the Victorian Period

World Cup fever hits Shrewsbury :)
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This is Shrewsbury Abbey, founded in 1084 on the site of an older wooden saxon church.
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Onward along the river, old houses and a new commercial building.
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Into the residential suburb of Kingsland, the biggest and most expensive houses in town are here, mostly 19th century Victorian villas.
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The old brewery in the area has been converted into luxury apartments
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Across the private toll bridge (£0.10 for cars, £0.01 for pedestrians!) into the town centre now and to another apartment conversion, this 19th century building was until about 10 years ago a specialist ear, nose and throat hospital.
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Along the old town walls, this is the only surviving part of the medieval walls.
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Some Georgian townhouses.
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Heading back towards the Abbey, this photo of the town centre is taken from the 'English Bridge' (the Welsh bridge is on the other side of town).
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Up the hill into town, Wyle Cop is a shopping street with many independent shops housed in timber framed buildings including Jonesy55s wine supplier :)
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St Mary's church, note the two different types of stone used in the construction.
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A shopping arcade with small independent shops.
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19th century apartment building.
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Shrewsbury library with a statue of Charles Darwin, this was the school he attended until it relocated to its current site.
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Shrewsbury Castle, situated at the entrance to the loop of the river for defense. The castle was largely rebuilt in the 19th century.
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Views from the Castle tower
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The town Bus station!
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The local council offices
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Houses by the river
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This field is only five minutes walk from the centre of town!
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The residential area of Mountfields, the first picture is the house where Charles Darwin lived.
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A nice pub and restaurant
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The main park in the town is called “The quarry”
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A nice house near the park
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Quiet streets and alleys in the town centre
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Jonesy55s favourite restaurant!
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Timber framed Tudor buildings in the town centre
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Beer and ice cream :)
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St Alkmunds and St Julians churches
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Nice houses and a nice pub
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Saturday shoppers.
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Modern town centre apartment development
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Another street with small shops and Tud or buildings
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My favourite Italian and Indian restaurants!
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Rowley's House, this was built as the residence of a rich merchant and now houses the town museum.
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One of the 16-18 education colleges
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Town centre houses and offices
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Morris Dancers
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Town centre buildings
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The town square, the very heart of the town and our journeys end :)
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What a beautiful town. I've made a mental note to visit! Thanks for a great tour.

What a beautiful town. I've made a mental note to visit! Thanks for a great tour.

No problem, glad you enjoyed the tour :)

Excellent thread Jonesy. 10/10

Clive of India is a man after my own heart :)

Excellent thread Jonesy. 10/10

Clive of India is a man after my own heart :)

I had a feeling he might be Zim :laugh:

One town landmark I didn't get chance to photograph (because it's a bit further out of town) is Lord Hill's column. 40.5m tall, it is the tallest Doric column in the world (apparently :dunno:)

http://www.picturewales.co.uk/pics/large_images/1586.jpg

Thanks for sharing these great pics of your hometown, Jonesy! I was only once there in the early 90s but I loved it a lot... as Chester ;)

I was only once there in the early 90s but I loved it a lot... as Chester ;)

Bah, Chester is the poor man's Shrewsbury ;)

(Actually no, it it also a very nice city :) )

Brilliant!

Brilliant!

Thank you, I was trying out my new camera, I'm quite pleased with the quality especially as I don't really know how it works yet!! :)

Bah, Chester is the poor man's Shrewsbury ;)
No wonder - they have the Zoo, you have Darwin! :rofl:

Very nice pics! The town looks fantastic!

I loved all of those pix, Jonesy! Thanks for taking them and sharing them with us!

I can't believe I didn't see these pics! Very, very nice. I spent last summer in Ironbridge (don't ask :) ) and loved escaping to Shrewsbury from time to time.

It's great to see pictures from a part of England that most people have never heard of before.

I used to live in Wolverhampton and I visited Shrewsbury a lot....loved the place. It has great charm, history, etc and the people were always very friendly (to me, at least).

Another 'gem' in Shropshire is Ironbrige...a place worth of another thread!

I even liked Telford...which is like the total opposite of Shrewsbury!

I used to live in Wolverhampton and I visited Shrewsbury a lot....loved the place. It has great charm, history, etc and the people were always very friendly (to me, at least).

Another 'gem' in Shropshire is Ironbrige...a place worth of another thread!

I even liked Telford...which is like the total opposite of Shrewsbury!

Yeah, Telford and Shrewsbury couldn't be more different considering they're only 20km apart.

Ironbridge is another great place in the local area.

http://image.guardian.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2001/12/14/ironbridge.jpg

Isn't Ironbridge an UNESCO world heritage?

Isn't Ironbridge an UNESCO world heritage?

That's right, the world's first iron bridge (thus the original name) constructed in 1779 and historic 18th century early industrial village in a nice little river gorge.

http://www.transportcafe.co.uk/image16/ironbridge_shropshire_thomas_telford.jpg

Beautiful place

Beautiful place

Thanks, i'll have to take some more one of these weekends, there are a few new projects which have started to take shape since these were taken.

Excellent stuff, Jonesy. I enjoyed that.

Thanks for the tour

Excellent! I love the green vegetation, the brick architecture, and the lovely churches (like the one that 1,000 years old!). Amazing. England is officially not just London. I will likely stop in that town when I visit the UK. It combines beautiful nature with a lively urban center.

Tell me, do restaurants close early?

The menu that you showed was remarkably affordable. Looks like good food ;)

I love, LOVE, LOVE quaint English towns with just PERFECT street scale, I love them more than English cities (London being the excep.). Are they looking for urban planners or municipal policy analysts by any chance?

It's beautiful!! Loved houses

Excellent! I love the green vegetation, the brick architecture, and the lovely churches (like the one that 1,000 years old!). Amazing. England is officially not just London. I will likely stop in that town when I visit the UK. It combines beautiful nature with a lively urban center.

Tell me, do restaurants close early?

The menu that you showed was remarkably affordable. Looks like good food ;)

I would definitely recommend that restaurant, very tasty dishes with some good local ingredients and a nice atmosphere :eat:

The restaurants do close fairly early, places like that probably close at about 2300 while Indian restaurants are usually open until a couple of hours later.

I love, LOVE, LOVE quaint English towns with just PERFECT street scale, I love them more than English cities (London being the excep.). Are they looking for urban planners or municipal policy analysts by any chance?

Glad you liked the photos.

Don't know about jobs, the local council websites might have something?

http://www.shrewsbury.gov.uk

http://www.shropshire.gov.uk

Oswestry isn't very far from Shrewsbury is it? because I did my DofE expedition there and the countryside is trully beautiful

Great photos, beautiful English countryside town.

Oswestry isn't very far from Shrewsbury is it? because I did my DofE expedition there and the countryside is trully beautiful

Not far no, it's only about 20 miles away.

Nice pics of a nice place.

Got any pics of Telford? People have said that it's very different to Shrewsbury and I'm intrigued as to what it might be like - perhaps a 19th century industrial town, or a town dominated by 60s architecture?

Nice pics of a nice place.

Got any pics of Telford? People have said that it's very different to Shrewsbury and I'm intrigued as to what it might be like - perhaps a 19th century industrial town, or a town dominated by 60s architecture?

It's basically several small industrial towns/villages that have had the gaps between them filled in with new developments since the late 1960s.

It's a bit like Milton Keynes with lots of roundabouts, retail parks etc but with older bits too, including the Ironbridge Gorge UNESCO world heritage site.

Most of the architecture is more 1980s glass/plastic/brick rather than 1960s concrete as the town was still in its infancy in the 60s.

It's not the most exciting town but employment prospects are good there, lots of work in IT, Japanese manufacturing companies etc.

Telford Plaza is probably the most recognisible building in the town centre.

http://i.pbase.com/o4/66/409466/1/33408024.Image_253.jpg

Yep, very different to Shrewsbury. Definitely doesn't sound as nice as Shrewsbury, but then I imagine that most people living in Shrewsbury work there and use the retail parks etc, so it's a place that definitely serves a purpose! Ironbridge looks very nice.

Yep, very different to Shrewsbury. Definitely doesn't sound as nice as Shrewsbury, but then I imagine that most people living in Shrewsbury work there and use the retail parks etc, so it's a place that definitely serves a purpose! Ironbridge looks very nice.

Not sure about the retail parks, we have plenty of those ourselves on the outskirts of town with all the usual supermarkets, DIY chains, ToysRUS, Matalan blah blah etc. A lot of Shrewsbury people do work in Telford though and others work in Wolverhampton or (like me) Birmingham.

A few years ago Shrewsbury was almost in danger of becoming a dormitory for Telford workers as that was where all the investment and job creation was taking place but there have been quite a few new office developments/business parks opening in Shrewsbury over the past few years so I think the situation is better now.

Spent an afternoon about a year ago in Shrewbury on the way to visiting a friend in Bangor. Really nice, and the Three Fisges was a great pub.

Nice photos, the town looks very quaint. By the way, being close to the Welsh borders, are there any native Welsh speakers in Shropshire ?

One town landmark I didn't get chance to photograph (because it's a bit further out of town) is Lord Hill's column. 40.5m tall, it is the tallest Doric column in the world (apparently :dunno:)

http://www.picturewales.co.uk/pics/large_images/1586.jpg

Not really: the Washington Monument in Baltimore, Maryland is 178 feet tall = 54.25 meters. And there might be taller ones for all I know.

Picture of the Washington Monument:

http://content.answers.com/main/content/wp/en/thumb/b/b9/300px-Converted.png

oh its very lovely!

Spent an afternoon about a year ago in Shrewbury on the way to visiting a friend in Bangor. Really nice, and the Three Fishes was a great pub.

Yes, the Three Fishes has good beers and nice simple food too, it's one I like :okay:

Nice photos, the town looks very quaint. By the way, being close to the Welsh borders, are there any native Welsh speakers in Shropshire ?

Very few in Shropshire itself, a lot of people from mid-wales use Shrewsbury as their regional centre for shopping etc though so you do occasionally hear Welsh being spoken around town, you are more likely to hear Polish or Cantonese though.

Not really: the Washington Monument in Baltimore, Maryland is 178 feet tall = 54.25 meters. And there might be taller ones for all I know.

Picture of the Washington Monument:

http://content.answers.com/main/content/wp/en/thumb/b/b9/300px-Converted.png

It's certainly taller but is it Doric? Maybe it doesn't count because it doesn't have a fluted shaft (or at least that's what the Shropshire tourist board will say to keep their title :D )

The wikipedia article on the Doric Order of architecture cites the Shrewsbury column as the tallest but wikipedia has been wrong before. :dunno:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doric_order

What an amazing town. I have never really heard about this place before, but I would love to visit it now. Worth while as I could also visit the Iron Bridge as well (How far away is that, and is it easy to get to from Shrewsbury?)

I'm interested to hear more about that bridge that has a toll on it. It's a really cheap toll, so why is it still there when none of the other bridges have it? Is there really a person to collect the one penny for pedestrians? Or do people just walk past and ignore it? Do people travel on other bridges just to avoid this toll? It really is an oddity. I can't think of any other central city bridge toll over such a small river anywhere in the world.

It's certainly taller but is it Doric? Maybe it doesn't count because it doesn't have a fluted shaft (or at least that's what the Shropshire tourist board will say to keep their title :D )

The wikipedia article on the Doric Order of architecture cites the Shrewsbury column as the tallest but wikipedia has been wrong before. :dunno:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doric_order

Yes, it is doric (you can see from the photo above). However, it doesn't have a fluted shaft (I'm sure if we go down to the smallest detail, almost any non-mass produced object could end up in the Guiness Book of world records :D ). Anyways, here 's the wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington_Monument%2C_Baltimore

Very few in Shropshire itself, a lot of people from mid-wales use Shrewsbury as their regional centre for shopping etc though so you do occasionally hear Welsh being spoken around town, you are more likely to hear Polish or Cantonese though.

Thanks, did the inhabitants of Shropshire speak Welsh once upon a time, or was the Welsh language always strictly confined within the boundaries of present-day Wales ?

What an amazing town. I have never really heard about this place before, but I would love to visit it now. Worth while as I could also visit the Iron Bridge as well (How far away is that, and is it easy to get to from Shrewsbury?)

I'm interested to hear more about that bridge that has a toll on it. It's a really cheap toll, so why is it still there when none of the other bridges have it? Is there really a person to collect the one penny for pedestrians? Or do people just walk past and ignore it? Do people travel on other bridges just to avoid this toll? It really is an oddity. I can't think of any other central city bridge toll over such a small river anywhere in the world.

Glad you enjoyed the photos, Ironbridge is less than 20km from Shrewsbury and is very easy to get to.

There is a wikipedia entry on the bridge but it doesn't have much info. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingsland_Bridge

There are barriers with machines to collect the £0.10 from cars but only a box to collect the pedestrian toll which 99% of people ignore. I remember until the 1980s, there was a guy who used to be employed to chase people for the penny toll if they didn't pay though!!

The bridge is only really useful if you are coming from a small part of the outer suburbs and to drive to another one would probably cost £0.10 in petrol so it isn't really worth avoiding.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/b/bc/Kingsland_BridgeCB.jpg/600px-Kingsland_BridgeCB.jpg

Nice pics! Thanks for sharing them :)

Nice pics! Thanks for sharing them :)

No problem, glad you liked them. I was going to take some more today but the weather is terrible :(

Wow! pretty town

Thanks, did the inhabitants of Shropshire speak Welsh once upon a time, or was the Welsh language always strictly confined within the boundaries of present-day Wales ?

Well, it depends how far you go back I suppose, before the Anglo-saxon immigrations of the 8th-9th century, all the peoples of what is now England spoke Brythionic Celtic languages similar to Welsh.

Some village names in Western Shropshire (Llanymynech, Bronygarth, Trefonen etc) are Welsh which would seem to indicate more recent Welsh influence, although the vast majority of inhabitants today are English speakers.

Even on the Welsh side of the border, most people are English speakers until you get into the heart of North and West Wales where Welsh is the first language of most people. You can see from this map that most areas bordering Shropshire have low numbers of Welsh speakers.

http://www.bwrdd-yr-iaith.gov.uk/uploads/publications/314.jpg

There is a quite noticeable change in accent over the border though especially in the more remote places, sometimes one village will mostly have inhabitants with a Shropshire/English accent while in the next village two kms away most people will speak with a Welsh accent.

I'm interested to hear more about that bridge that has a toll on it. It's a really cheap toll, so why is it still there when none of the other bridges have it? Is there really a person to collect the one penny for pedestrians? Or do people just walk past and ignore it? Do people travel on other bridges just to avoid this toll? It really is an oddity. I can't think of any other central city bridge toll over such a small river anywhere in the world.

I've done a bit of research, toll bridges are rare here in the UK but there appears to be around 12 of them. Many are big well-known suspension bridges but there are a few smaller ones too, can't find any that seem to be in town/city centres though. :dunno:

http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/roads/roadpricing/stu/guidancenote/guidancenotea

Wow Jonesy, those are some amazing pics. it really does show the best of English countryside towns.

Wow Jonesy, those are some amazing pics. it really does show the best of English countryside towns.

:okay:

feel very clean

feel very clean

mmmm, yeah, thanks. :okay: :dance2: :booze:

Some more photos,

The new theatre under construction.

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a20/jonesy55/dscf1183.jpg

Public Gardens in the park.

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a20/jonesy55/dscf1180.jpg

Various boats on the river

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a20/jonesy55/dscf1188.jpg

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a20/jonesy55/dscf1184.jpg

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a20/jonesy55/dscf1178.jpg

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a20/jonesy55/dscf1174.jpg

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a20/jonesy55/dscf1173.jpg

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a20/jonesy55/dscf1171.jpg

European food market

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a20/jonesy55/dscf1163.jpg

Toll bridge

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a20/jonesy55/dscf1168.jpg

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a20/jonesy55/dscf1169.jpg

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a20/jonesy55/dscf1176.jpg

Great tour of a lovely town. I really have to get to Shrewsbury this summer. Would it be possible to visit Shrewsbury and Ludlow in the same day? I've got American friends coming in a couple of weeks and I'd like to take them to Shropshire. It would be quite a drive from Manchester I know but I think it could be done if you set off early enough.

Great tour of a lovely town. I really have to get to Shrewsbury this summer. Would it be possible to visit Shrewsbury and Ludlow in the same day? I've got American friends coming in a couple of weeks and I'd like to take them to Shropshire. It would be quite a drive from Manchester I know but I think it could be done if you set off early enough.

It would be a long day from Manchester but you could do it as it gets dark late at the moment. Ludlow is about 25-30 miles south of Shrewsbury, the countryside in between the two is very nice and other little towns in the area like Church Stretton, Bridgnorth or Ironbridge are all worth passing through if you've got time.

If you just want to visit those two towns though, there is a direct train service from Manc Piccadilly to Shrewsbury which then continues to Ludlow which could be an option. The train journey is possibly slightly quicker to Manc city centre than the car as the A556 and A49 through Cheshire and Shropshire are a bit of a pain for most of the journey. Arriva Trains Wales who operate the service also do a day return for 3 or 4 people for the same price as 2 people. It depends where in manc you would be setting off from though, if you're in the suburbs, car might be quicker.

Some nice pics Jonesy. I do however have a couple of issues with you
A.
Your signature "Behold SHREWSBURY, wonder of the ages, metro population of 100,000 including Jonesy55" Since when did Shrewsbury have a metro pop'n of 100k, since when did it have metro area you know you're just a small town in Wales ;) .
B.
As a Shropshirean or whatever they are called you should point out that Ironbridge is in Telford. Its not a small town on its own any more :nono:

Some nice pics Jonesy. I do however have a couple of issues with you
A.
Your signature "Behold SHREWSBURY, wonder of the ages, metro population of 100,000 including Jonesy55" Since when did Shrewsbury have a metro pop'n of 100k, since when did it have metro area you know you're just a small town in Wales ;) .
B.
As a Shropshirean or whatever they are called you should point out that Ironbridge is in Telford. Its not a small town on its own any more :nono:

Hello Telford&WrekinBoy, I'm pleased you liked the photos

I would respond to your accusations as follows:

A. I've taken the "Metro" area of Shrewsbury to be the Shrewsbury and Atcham Borough Council area which has a population of just under 100k (96,300 in 2005 to be precise, probably more like 98,000 now). Of course this is not scientific but if you wish to calculate a more accurate figure using any generally used method, please feel free and I will alter the figure.

B. I never claimed that Ironbridge wasn't in Telford, indeed close examination of my post No. 37 reveals that while describing Telford I said that it includes "....older bits too, including the Ironbridge Gorge UNESCO world heritage site." So there ;)

One question and one comment:

Question: Are there many shrews in Shrewsbury?

Comment: This town is way more charming and quaint than Crawley!

Jonesy, I may have skipped that page sorry I've since been back and read the whole thread.
Since I'm here I may as well post a link to a thread with some photos of Telford. Be warned in no way shape or form is Telford as pretty as Shrewsbury but it is twice the size, one of the fastest growing towns in the UK and apparently will be bigger than Newcastle and Oxford in a decade or two. Go here http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=408481.
Oh yeah theres a lot of random crap there posted by me mostly.

nice,nice.nice:cucumber: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause:

super.:banana: :cucumber: :tyty: :drunk: :carrot: :dance: :dance: :dance: :dance2: :dj: :lock: :goodnight :pepper: :horse: :ancient: :banana2: :fiddle:

Question: Are there many shrews in Shrewsbury?

Yes, several, but probably no more than anywhere else.

Comment: This town is way more charming and quaint than Crawley!

Thank you, Crawley is handier for the airport though!

super.:banana: :cucumber: :tyty: :drunk: :carrot: :dance: :dance: :dance: :dance2: :dj: :lock: :goodnight :pepper: :horse: :ancient: :banana2: :fiddle:

That's right, thank you.

very lovely, loved the fact that the river is around the town!!!! And there's a green area around, that's nicely preserved city. it is a pitty that it lost its walls! That happens in several places unfortunately.

it looks peaceful, but there's lots of people in some areas.

Very beautiful! City looks so pleasant!

very lovely, loved the fact that the river is around the town!!!! And there's a green area around, that's nicely preserved city. it is a pitty that it lost its walls! That happens in several places unfortunately.

it looks peaceful, but there's lots of people in some areas.

Thank you, yes, it would have been nice to keep the walls but they were destroyed long ago. The town centre can get pretty busy especially at weekends, it's the main retail centre for a wide area as there are no other comparably sized towns further west into Wales.

There are also tourists in the summer, although Shrewsbury isn't one of the A-list cities to visit in the UK it's still pretty popular, this summer the town seems to have been full of groups of Spanish and French teenagers on school visits for some reason

My home town! Very nice pictures.

I moved away in 2000 (to London), but still come up every now and then to visit my gran - i was up last weekend actually.

I was born and bred in the Frankwell/Mountfields area (my family have lived there for 300 years), and i still miss the place a bit, though i doubt i'll move back.

Bump! I came so close to visiting Shrewsbury a few weeks ago, im sort of regretting it :shifty: maybe later in the year :yes:

the train station reminds me of Temple meads.

beautiful!

Bump! I came so close to visiting Shrewsbury a few weeks ago, im sort of regretting it :shifty: maybe later in the year :yes:

the train station reminds me of Temple meads.

Next time you'll have to drop in for a visit :okay:

Wow, What an awesome tour and beautiful place. Thanks :)

Can't believe I didn't find this earlier. What a beautiful town, thanks for showing all these pics.

So Jonsey, any pictures of the new theatre? Is it finished yet?

So Jonsey, any pictures of the new theatre? Is it finished yet?

Not yet, the iron frame and concrete structure are up but it still needs the cladding to be put in place before we'll be able to see what it's going to look like. There's a webcam on the council website.

http://www.shrewsbury.gov.uk/public/news/webcam/welshbridge.htm

One town landmark I didn't get chance to photograph (because it's a bit further out of town) is Lord Hill's column. 40.5m tall, it is the tallest Doric column in the world (apparently :dunno:)

http://www.picturewales.co.uk/pics/large_images/1586.jpg

Whats that in the foreground?
Could it be, that Shrewsbury also has the biggest dog in the world?

Great looking city.

Whats that in the foreground?
Could it be, that Shrewsbury also has the biggest dog in the world?

:lol: It's an art, they are placed on roundabouts to distract drivers.

What a beautiful city! I'm kicking myself that I didn't visit when I was in Britain last year. Oh well, next time.

Thanks Jonesy.

Nice town - very beautiful old buildings.

Nice! My flatmate's from Shrewsbury. I'll probably make a trip there soon!

Nice! My flatmate's from Shrewsbury. I'll probably make a trip there soon!

Aberystwyth is on the edge of the world, Shrewsbury is the nearest place that you can make contact with civilisation! ;)

So whats happening with the old football ground? Last time i was up the 'New Meadow' was nearly finished - i expect by now its finished. I suppose they are going to build a load of bland and overpriced flats on the gay meadow.

Aberystwyth is on the edge of the world, Shrewsbury is the nearest place that you can make contact with civilisation! ;)

Yep, you're right! My first contact with civilisation was Birmingham though, haha! I've been to Shrewsbury's train station many times but i've yet to venture beyond the station.

So whats happening with the old football ground? Last time i was up the 'New Meadow' was nearly finished - i expect by now its finished. I suppose they are going to build a load of bland and overpriced flats on the gay meadow.

Gay Meadow has now been demolished, and you guessed right, they are building riverside apartments on the site :)

Sheash those are some impressive photos. Thank you very much for sharing!

stunning!!!!!!

Gay Meadow has now been demolished, and you guessed right, they are building riverside apartments on the site :)

Yeah thought so. I remember years ago they were planning to build a foot bridge in that area, i'll bet thats not part of the plan. Have you seen any renderings of the new development? Any good?

Yeah thought so. I remember years ago they were planning to build a foot bridge in that area, i'll bet thats not part of the plan. Have you seen any renderings of the new development? Any good?

I haven't but I might have a dig around the council's planning website to see if there's anything on there, if there is, i'll post it on the Shrewsbury Developments Thread in the UK section :)

Do you have any shots of the New Meadow or did I just pass by them without noticing? I am one of the few Americans with an STFC jersey, after all.
Out of curiosity do you ever happen to pass through Pipegate or Woore? I am a Woore, though my family is from Monmouthshire as far back as we can trace.

Do you have any shots of the New Meadow or did I just pass by them without noticing? I am one of the few Americans with an STFC jersey, after all.
Out of curiosity do you ever happen to pass through Pipegate or Woore? I am a Woore, though my family is from Monmouthshire as far back as we can trace.

:lol: Yes, there can't be too many STFC jerseys in Tampa!

I know Woore, passed through there a few times but I'm not familiar with Pipegate.

Here's a link to photos of the New Meadow, I didn't take any as it is on the edge of town rather than in the centre.

http://www.newmeadow.com/pics/index.php

I haven't but I might have a dig around the council's planning website to see if there's anything on there, if there is, i'll post it on the Shrewsbury Developments Thread in the UK section :)

Can you post a link, i can't find this thread.

Can you post a link, i can't find this thread.

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=266302

:)

Marvellous tour, looks like a typical English town with some quite nice gems to offer :)

And it also has something of Lübeck (German hanse city in the north) to it - due to the island position of the old town and the various brick buildings. Interesting tudor house style by the by, as in general there are in England.

What's going on in Shrewsbury, are there any good clubs, pubs, bars or regular festivities respectively events?
And by the way, did you ever thought about to move out of the provincial backwater into some bustling metropolis (like Chester e.g.)? ;)

Marvellous tour, looks like a typical English town with some quite nice gems to offer :)

And it also has something of Lübeck (German hanse city in the north) to it - due to the island position of the old town and the various brick buildings. Interesting tudor house style by the by, as in general there are in England.

What's going on in Shrewsbury, are there any good clubs, pubs, bars or regular festivities respectively events?
And by the way, did you ever thought about to move out of the provincial backwater into some bustling metropolis (like Chester e.g.)? ;)

Thank you, glad you liked the tour

Chester is the pretender to the throne, Shrewsbury is the king ;)

There are no good clubs in Shrewsbury, they all suck!!

There are however lots of good bars, pubs and restaurants so that makes up for it. If you want clubs then Birmingham, Manchester and Liverpool are not too far away.

We do have a few festivals during the year, an international street-theatre festival, a folk music festival, a flower festival, medieval weekend, dragonboat racing festival, beer festival plus various concerts, open-air theatre etc during the summer months

It's not the busiest town in the land but there's still plenty to do here and it's not far from bigger cities if you need more choice of shopping, eating, entertainment or whatever occasionally.

As to whether i've thought of moving out, I grew up not far from Shrewsbury but I have also lived in Manchester, the Paris region and (for a few months only) Sydney in Australia but i've ended up back here at the moment. I probably will move again at some point but for now it's a good place to live, I doubt it will be to a major metropolis, I save those for holidays, it might be somewhere in the mountains or by a beach or maybe another nice mid-sized city elsewhere in the UK or Europe, maybe even further afield, who knows :)

Can this be moved to the Urban Showcase please?

^^ Done. :)

Nice sightseeing tour. I like the pictures

What a lovely town! It seems charming and absolutely different from everything i have seen in the UK. I love that atmosphere.

Jonesy, do you know how much is renting there? Are there any kind of language schools in that area?

I ask you so because I am going to apply for a language scholarship this summer and I am searching for towns in Britain. The budget is not too high (and I want to do several trips) so an affordable place, close to interesting spots and with a good amount of international students would be awesome.

God bless €!

What a lovely town! It seems charming and absolutely different from everything i have seen in the UK. I love that atmosphere.

Jonesy, do you know how much is renting there? Are there any kind of language schools in that area?

I ask you so because I am going to apply for a language scholarship this summer and I am searching for towns in Britain. The budget is not too high (and I want to do several trips) so an affordable place, close to interesting spots and with a good amount of international students would be awesome.

God bless €!

There are a few language schools in Shrewsbury, there are not huge numbers of international students like in London or Oxford/Cambridge but it is still common to see them in town, usually European or East Asian.

Try Severnvale (http://www.severnvale.co.uk/index2.php?Mnu=31&Language=gb), Concord (http://www.concordsummerschool.com/) or Languages in Action (http://64.233.183.104/search?q=cache:IT1eXplaHOcJ:www.languagesinaction.com/english_courses/england/shrewsbury.php+languages+in+action+shrewsbury&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=uk)

The language schools offer home stays with local people if you are interested in this or if you want to rent an apartment in the town centre you can get a small studio from £300-£475/€400-€635 per month. Renting is normally for minimum of six months in the UK.

Here's an Estate Agent website (http://www.pooks.co.uk/resiIntro.html) that deals with rentals for you to look at. For £300-£400 per month you won't get anything luxurious though!

The town itself is nice with some pleasant surrounding countryside and small market towns, there are direct trains to Birmingham 55 mins, London 3 hrs, Manchester 75 mins, Chester 50 mins and Cardiff 2 hrs. There are also trains that go to the Welsh coast and Snowdonia national park is not far away, one of the most beautiful parts of the UK.

Check out the Shrewsbury Developments Thread (http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=266302) for the latest news on all new supertalls in the town :D

Thank you so much mate :okay:

I would go with a friend so a I am more interested in a hall of residence or a rented dwelling (no matter if it is shared). It's rather expensive for Spanish standards but I expected rentings to be even higher. Last year the scholarship was around 1200€ for 3-weeks but I want to do so many things...

It seems well-connected as well. Besides all the urban spots, Snowdonia is a place I missed when I was in Wales.

Which airport is the closest one in terms of time? Liverpool, East Midlands or Luton? I have cheap flights from Madrid to all of them.

Thanks for the tour, very nice town :)

Thank you so much mate :okay:

I would go with a friend so a I am more interested in a hall of residence or a rented dwelling (no matter if it is shared). It's rather expensive for Spanish standards but I expected rentings to be even higher. Last year the scholarship was around 1200€ for 3-weeks but I want to do so many things...

It seems well-connected as well. Besides all the urban spots, Snowdonia is a place I missed when I was in Wales.

Which airport is the closest one in terms of time? Liverpool, East Midlands or Luton? I have cheap flights from Madrid to all of them.

No problem, Liverpool would be easiest of those three, you would take a train from Liverpool South Parkway to Crewe and change there for Shrewsbury, Birmingham and Manchester airports are easy to get to by train but the flights might be more expensive.

Thanks for the tour, very nice town :)

Glad you liked it! :okay:

Very lovely looking place - I would love to visit it!

Great thread mate! :)

Town is a real masterpiece of English heritage! I adore it!!!!!!!! WOOOOOOW!

Thanks Freki, Thanks Stormwatch153, I'm pleased you like the photos. These are getting old now, when I get chance i'lll go and take some updates (not that too much has changed :laugh:)

Thanks Jonesy, your hometown looks definitely much better than Bradford. :D

Shrewsbury is truly beautiful. We absolutely must visit it.
We have friends in Bridgnorth and know how lovely Shropshire is.
Your pictures are very good too and inviting.
We find the railroad from Kidderminster to Bridgnorth fun, a region which
actually is a museum to the Industrial Revolution.You're so lucky to live in such a beautiful country with so much natural variety. Actually it is a treasure chest with many worthwhile things to explore and to savour.

I think "-bury" in Britain, "-buri" in Thailand , and " -pur " in India came from the same origin

Shrewsbury, Canterbury, Chanthaburi , Lop Buri, Nagpur, Jodhpur, Kanpur etc etc :D

Enjoyed this thread !

I think "-bury" in Britain, "-buri" in Thailand , and " -pur " in India came from the same origin

Shrewsbury, Canterbury, Chanthaburi , Lop Buri, Nagpur, Jodhpur, Kanpur etc etc :D

Enjoyed this thread !

Thanks mate :okay: Maybe there is a common origin, at least between English and Indian languages. Thai is very different though, could be a coincidence :dunno:

Shrewsbury is truly beautiful. We absolutely must visit it.
We have friends in Bridgnorth and know how lovely Shropshire is.
Your pictures are very good too and inviting.
We find the railroad from Kidderminster to Bridgnorth fun, a region which
actually is a museum to the Industrial Revolution.You're so lucky to live in such a beautiful country with so much natural variety. Actually it is a treasure chest with many worthwhile things to explore and to savour.

Yes, it's a nice place to live, Bridgnorth is good too! The railway you're talking about got washed away by floods last year but it's being repaired :)

Thanks Jonesy, your hometown looks definitely much better than Bradford. :D

:D Glad you enjoyed the thread, we are not twinned with Skopje though, only Zutphen in The Netherlands!

wow this is really great.. thank you for sharing these very nice English pictures :)

^^ Thank you for looking at them :)

wow. looks gorgeous and LUSH! a lot more lush than the fields of open countryside i'm used to seeing in England.

great photos!

used to visit Shrewsbury a lot when my sister lived there, many happy memories of lovely pubs and lovely Wem beer

used to visit Shrewsbury a lot when my sister lived there, many happy memories of lovely pubs and lovely Wem beer

Unfortunately Wem Ales is no more, the brewery closed in the late 80s. There are still some good Shropshire brewers making some very tasty ales though! :cheers:

After seeing these pics, I really want to move to Shrewsbury! Many thanks for sharing.

After seeing these pics, I really want to move to Shrewsbury! Many thanks for sharing.

And you would be most welcome, where do you currently live?

Jonesy, I'm moving to Leeds in September, so whilst I'm still living near Shrewsbury, I'll post some of my favourite pictures of the town:

The Quarry Park:
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y281/gherkin007/Shrewsbury/quarryhill.jpg

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y281/gherkin007/Shrewsbury/qyauury2.jpg

St. Chad's Church:
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y281/gherkin007/Shrewsbury/chads5.jpg

Shrewsbury Castle:
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y281/gherkin007/Shrewsbury/castle1.jpg

The Dingle Gardens:
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y281/gherkin007/Shrewsbury/dingle.jpg

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y281/gherkin007/Shrewsbury/dingle2.jpg

The Boathouse (best place to go for a drink in all of Shropshire):
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y281/gherkin007/Shrewsbury/boathouse-1.jpg

The High Street:
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y281/gherkin007/Shrewsbury/highstreet.jpg

Wonky Tudor houses:
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y281/gherkin007/Shrewsbury/leaningtowershresvury.jpg

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y281/gherkin007/Shrewsbury/tudor3.jpg

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y281/gherkin007/Shrewsbury/leaningtudor.jpg

May there be many more Shrewsbury forumers to come :cheers:

^^ Nice pics, make sure you come back occasionally and have a great time in Leeds!

The Boathouse is a good spot for a drink on a nice sunny summer day :yes:

shreswbury looks so boring in pictures i have been a few times and some parts are a right dump you should show some pictures of sundorne grange monkmoore meol ect

This town looks very nice

shreswbury looks so boring in pictures i have been a few times and some parts are a right dump you should show some pictures of sundorne grange monkmoore meol ect

:lol: Thanks for your comments youo :okay:

I haven't got many pictures of those areas but for those that don't know they are just standard residential suburbs like you find in most British towns. I'll try to get out and take some soon and I'll add them to the thread when I do.

This area in Sundorne is just about as 'ghetto' as it gets in Shrewsbury and it's not really that bad.

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a20/jonesy55/dscf1229.jpg

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a20/jonesy55/dscf1228.jpg

Sorry you don't like the town but hey, you can't please everybody. :)

There is actually plenty to see and do in the town and the surrounding area, I can't say I find it boring, maybe for 16-24 year olds it's not so great but for adults and for young kids it's a great place to live imo.

This town looks very nice

Thanks! :okay:

shreswbury looks so boring in pictures i have been a few times and some parts are a right dump you should show some pictures of sundorne grange monkmoore meol ect

What a fool!!!!!!

You do realise that every town or city in the world has it's bad parts right? Now if you wanted to look at pictures of a city that interested you, say Paris or New York, would you want them to post pictures of the nice parts or the bad parts........in which case do you really think that there's any point in Jonesy posting pictures of the few bad parts on the outskirts of town, or of the pretty town centre and richer suburbs?!

I'm guessing that you're very young, judging by the fact that you think that it looks "boring". How's about "charming" instead? Not every town or city has to be exciting to be good and what you fail to see is that many people from all over the world would love to visit Shrewsbury, as it is a charming town and quintessentially English.

:lol: Thanks for your comments youo :okay:

I haven't got many pictures of those areas but for those that don't know they are just standard residential suburbs like you find in most British towns. I'll try to get out and take some soon and I'll add them to the thread when I do.

This area in Sundorne is just about as 'ghetto' as it gets in Shrewsbury and it's not really that bad.

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a20/jonesy55/dscf1229.jpg

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a20/jonesy55/dscf1228.jpg

Sorry you don't like the town but hey, you can't please everybody. :)

There is actually plenty to see and do in the town and the surrounding area, I can't say I find it boring, maybe for 16-24 year olds it's not so great but for adults and for young kids it's a great place to live imo.

Terrifying, I wouldn't dare to go to such a terrible area for fear of being shot at or stabbed.

The center of Shrewsbury looks very unique, I have not seen similar buildings in the UK before. Is this medieval architecture or an 'imitation'? I understand that this kind of architecture became very popular in the 19th and early 20th century.

The center of Shrewsbury looks very unique, I have not seen similar buildings in the UK before. Is this medieval architecture or an 'imitation'? I understand that this kind of architecture became very popular in the 19th and early 20th century.

:okay: Most of these buildings are from the Tudor period in the late middle ages but there are some built in the early 20th century in the 'revival' style. You can usually tell the difference because the imitation style is 'neater'.

Tudor

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a20/jonesy55/dscf0181.jpg

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a20/jonesy55/dscf0171.jpg

early 20th century house in neo-tudor style

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a20/jonesy55/1c62fa9b.jpg

I hope you don't mind if I say this- Among all 31 countries I've been, UK is so far the dullest place, and I didn't expect so since I always thought London and UK is a vibrant, thriving, and energetic location.

I was in London and Southwest, covered Exeter, Plymouth, Cornwall, Bristol, plus every town along the railway track between Paddington and Exeter's St David Sta.

I don't know about Shrewsbury, and northern part of UK, but Shrewsbury seems alot nicer than Exeter where I stayed. Do you usually shop in Argos & Sainsbury , Jonesy ?

^^ No, I don't mind at all, everybody has their own preferences. I guess that whether any country appeals to you depends on what type of stuff you are interested in.

I've only been to Exeter once, I seem to remember that it had a nice cathedral but don't recall much else.

I occasionally shop in Sainsburys but hardly ever in Argos, the last time I went there was probably several years ago. Why do you ask? :)

I hope you don't mind if I say this- Among all 31 countries I've been, UK is so far the dullest place, and I didn't expect so since I always thought London and UK is a vibrant, thriving, and energetic location.

I was in London and Southwest, covered Exeter, Plymouth, Cornwall, Bristol, plus every town along the railway track between Paddington and Exeter's St David Sta.

I don't know about Shrewsbury, and northern part of UK, but Shrewsbury seems alot nicer than Exeter where I stayed. Do you usually shop in Argos & Sainsbury , Jonesy ?

The South West of England is a lot quieter than the rest of the country (apart from Bristol), although much of it is very beautiful (you can exclude Plymouth!). Remember also that what you see as "dull", many other people would find quiet and charming, it sounds like you need to get away from the South West!

If you want to see "vibrant Britain", you need to go to places like Manchester, Brighton, Newcastle and Glasgow.....and London of course!

^^ Yeah, the SW of England is popular with tourists precisely because it is quiet with cute fishing villages, nice beaches and beautiful countryside walks, peaceful historic towns and so on but if that's not what you're interested in then it might seem quite dull to a freshfaced young chap like Skyprince ( ;) ) who might prefer busy cities.

I know that Skyprince likes cheap and tasty street food which is something that the UK sorely lacks, you'll just have to spend more on restaurants if you come again, there is lots of good food to be had but you'll have to spend more than you're used to in Malaysia or get a friend to cook for you!!

If you've been to London though I can't see how you would find that dull Skyprince, there is everything going on all the time if you want to find it and enough to see and do as a tourist for months.

The South West of England is a lot quieter than the rest of the country (apart from Bristol), although much of it is very beautiful (you can exclude Plymouth!). Remember also that what you see as "dull", many other people would find quiet and charming, it sounds like you need to get away from the South West!

If you want to see "vibrant Britain", you need to go to places like Manchester, Brighton, Newcastle and Glasgow.....and London of course!

^^ Yeah, the SW of England is popular with tourists precisely because it is quiet with cute fishing villages, nice beaches and beautiful countryside walks, peaceful historic towns and so on but if that's not what you're interested in then it might seem quite dull to a freshfaced young chap like Skyprince ( ;) ) who might prefer busy cities.

I know that Skyprince likes cheap and tasty street food which is something that the UK sorely lacks, you'll just have to spend more on restaurants if you come again, there is lots of good food to be had but you'll have to spend more than you're used to in Malaysia or get a friend to cook for you!!

If you've been to London though I can't see how you would find that dull Skyprince, there is everything going on all the time if you want to find it and enough to see and do as a tourist for months.

Actually I spent a week in London and 3 weeks in Southwest ( Exeter and Plymouth ) . I think its personal observation but I found London itself pretty dull and lifeless , and there's no enough lights at night! I always thought UK and especially London such a lively place but I gotta made my mind again. I was in Oman which is bigger than UK but with population under 3 million , and even cities like Salalah which has less population than Exeter is always bustling with activities.

I don't mean that's bad, but just my observation - I like peaceful place with minimal rush too , just I ( and my family members ) was shocked that UK/London is total opposite to whatever we imagined.

I think next time Jonesy should provide free accommodation to me in his/her house in Shrewsbury and prepare exotic British cuisine every day . :cheers:

I think UK is not the place to enjoy city life or vibrant environment, but its the right place to relax and to have peace in mind :banana: Yes, in such a crowded island

^^ I can't help but feel you're being a little harsh on London with respect to vibrancy. But then each to their own. Despite visiting a few Asian cities I never got the impression that they were any more vibrant or busy in comparison to central London. Sure, the suburbs of London tend to be rather dead, but inner London is usually full of life!

I finally looked at the pics - very nice.

FWIW I used to live in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts, US.

I think its personal observation but I found London itself pretty dull and lifeless

What can I say? If you think London is dull and lifeless, you'll find every other major European, North American and Australian city lifeless too, Paris, Rome, New York, Chicago and Sydney - London is no less vibrant than any of these other Western cities. Maybe you just feel more at home in Asian / Middle Eastern cities!

skyprince you have no idea of what you´re talking about. London is extremely vibrant. Parts of the west end are overcrowded and many other areas are full of life even late at night.

^^ I can't help but feel you're being a little harsh on London with respect to vibrancy. But then each to their own. Despite visiting a few Asian cities I never got the impression that they were any more vibrant or busy in comparison to central London. Sure, the suburbs of London tend to be rather dead, but inner London is usually full of life!

What can I say? If you think London is dull and lifeless, you'll find every other major European, North American and Australian city lifeless too, Paris, Rome, New York, Chicago and Sydney - London is no less vibrant than any of these other Western cities. Maybe you just feel more at home in Asian / Middle Eastern cities!

skyprince you have no idea of what you´re talking about. London is extremely vibrant. Parts of the west end are overcrowded and many other areas are full of life even late at night.

Vibrant to me means full of activities, noise , colour, street announcement, 24-hour/ late night shopping , tons of restaurants ( street and open-air food ) , warm & smiling faces etc. Bustling with people or overcrowding is only part of it. I agree that some parts of London an UK are vibrant but as a whole they are not so, from what I saw. Its not just me but my whole family member had the same impression too, and we still discussed it up till today.

I think partly due to the time of my visit- in mid November up till mid December, and the weather was pretty cold + extremely cloudy during that time. And prices in UK is very high so we couldn't travel around much.

If you want to know a real vibrant city, than you need to visit Tokyo. Its extremely vibrant and full of energy with endless activities, noise, fashion, street announcement, 24-hr convenience stores and restaurants everywhere you go, full of rush and very digitalized. What Tokyo lacks is a cosmopolitan society as in London/UK. I personally think some Asian and Middle Eastern countries which I visited ( especially Japan, Thailand, UAE, Oman, Yemen ) are extremely vibrant but some like Taiwan, Bangladesh, UK, Brunei ( as a whole ) are less vibrant. I was in Bangladesh last year and also couldn't believe that its a country of 150 million, its rather a country of 15 million with minimal rush.

I'm actually looking for places to visit/possibly move to in the uk, and this definitely looks like a possibility. Great photos, thanks for posting : ).

I finally looked at the pics - very nice.

FWIW I used to live in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts, US.

:okay: There are a few Shrewsburys in the US but the MA one seems to be the biggest, is it in the Boston metro area??

I'm actually looking for places to visit/possibly move to in the uk, and this definitely looks like a possibility. Great photos, thanks for posting : ).

Yeah, come visit, I've visited Roanoke so you owe me! :D

I think partly due to the time of my visit- in mid November up till mid December, and the weather was pretty cold + extremely cloudy during that time. And prices in UK is very high so we couldn't travel around much.

That is probably the worst time of year to visit for weather, in the grey drizzle and short daylight hours of late Novemeber it can be pretty dull admittedly. People tend to stay indoors more in those months, but that's probably the same in any part of the world with a temperate climate, in summer the parks, streets and other public spaces have more going on.

In the summer when it stays light until after 2200, the weather is nice and warm (for me, maybe a KL resident would still find it cold :) ) and summer festivals, concerts, sporting events etc are happening it is a much better time to visit.

As for cost, now is the best time for years for foreign visitors, because of the recession hotels, restaurants, shops etc are all cutting prices and the weak pound means that tourists and other visitors from most parts of the world are getting more pounds for each Dollar, Euro, Ringgit and Ngultrum than for many years.

Back in 2005 you would have had to pay over 7 MYR for a pound, now you only need just over 5. It still wouldn't be as cheap as SE Asia but the UK is now no more expensive than other Western European countries, Japan, USA etc.

http://uk.ichart.yahoo.com/z?s=GBPMYR=X&t=5y

Yeah, come visit, I've visited Roanoke so you owe me! :D

Haha I do owe you ALOT if you visited Roanoke lol. But if I do this summer, I'll hit ya up and tell ya :)

Haha I do owe you ALOT if you visited Roanoke lol. But if I do this summer, I'll hit ya up and tell ya :)

To be honest I saw almost nothing of your city, I was driving down from DC and just stopped the night in a Roanoke motel then left again in the morning to drive along the Blue Ridge Parkway into NC. You have some beautiful scenery down there.

Wow I'm very impressed. Most people from the US have never been to Roanoke, but you have lol. Yes, the Blue Ridge Parkway is awesome. I'm def. privileged to live here. But I love the UK, and Shrewsbury looks right up my alley lol. Beautiful, friendly, calm. Great looking place.

how is it pronounced?

row ah noke
row ah no kee
rone oak
rone o kee????

Yeah, your first pronunciation is correct. Row-a-noke. In local Native American language, it means money I believe.

Just for youo i've been taking some photos of the least glamourous parts of town over the last day or two, social housing and quiet suburban housing, building sites, big box retail, supermarkets, industrial parks, recycling centre etc and i'll post them soon so that you can all see the mundane side of the town! :cucumber:

OK, here goes, some suburban and other random shots including the ugly parts of town.

19th century suburban homes
http://i40.tinypic.com/316p8cl.jpg

1990s style detached houses
http://i39.tinypic.com/orv1no.jpg

Earlier in the thread I posted a photo of a house I thought Charles Darwin was born in - It wasn't this is the right house.
http://i44.tinypic.com/1zvv86d.jpg

Proof :D
http://i44.tinypic.com/dwx98n.jpg

The monstrous 1980s mock-tudor Charles Darwin shopping centre
http://i39.tinypic.com/33nuczt.jpg

Inside the shopping centre
http://i40.tinypic.com/5xisi.jpg

the adjacent multi-storey car park and bus station
http://i40.tinypic.com/2rxidxf.jpg

The new theatre, just opened last month.
http://i40.tinypic.com/m3ioo.jpg

http://i41.tinypic.com/izaykn.jpg

As you can see, there was a disused 19th century chapel on the site and instead of knowcking it down they incorporated it into the new building.
http://i39.tinypic.com/29qjg49.jpg

http://i41.tinypic.com/286zq84.jpg

http://i42.tinypic.com/2qi4gsj.jpg

The Welsh Bridge
http://i39.tinypic.com/2yoe6g1.jpg

The 1950s(?) market hall, not a great building but good food inside.
http://i39.tinypic.com/fu01th.jpg

An old signal box next to the train station
http://i40.tinypic.com/2dhy5x5.jpg

Walking into town from my house along the river.
http://i39.tinypic.com/dptiqw.jpg

Recently built apartment buildings
http://i43.tinypic.com/2w36xqu.jpg

The recession hasn't completely stopped construction, these are some apartments and townhouses being built just round the corner from my house.
http://i42.tinypic.com/29foyhk.jpg

http://i44.tinypic.com/2zego7n.jpg

However the recession does mean cheaper food, half price chinese buffets, £2.95 for all you can eat at lunchtimes, bargain!!
http://i42.tinypic.com/20l17s.jpg

The post office at the end of my street.
http://i44.tinypic.com/2e4ya7l.jpg

A new building at the main hospital, don't know what it is. :laugh:
http://i43.tinypic.com/33254ph.jpg

Strange looking suburban art deco house, it's just like Miami beach!!
http://i39.tinypic.com/2wd7lll.jpg

Meole Village church, this part of town used to be a separate village until it was swallowed by the expanding suburbs in the inter-war period. It still has village style cottages, I might take some more photos around here at some point.
http://i39.tinypic.com/2lcvjvq.jpg

For Skyprince, this is the Shrewsbury branch of Sainsburys supermarket :D
http://i39.tinypic.com/29djoeg.jpg

and for youo, this is some grotty social housing in Meole Brace
http://i39.tinypic.com/2rz2b7t.jpg

Shrewsbury Town Football club stadium
http://i42.tinypic.com/295d53q.jpg

http://i40.tinypic.com/23hr9si.jpg

The multiscreen cinema
http://i40.tinypic.com/3313si8.jpg

This suburban house was the home of First World War poet Wilfred Owen (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilfred_Owen).
http://i43.tinypic.com/25kn5ev.jpg

http://i43.tinypic.com/fvk1tg.jpg

More exciting photos to come later!

Thanks for the new photos :). Every part old a new looks great to me.

Wonderful :) those new photos are great

:lol: Thanks for your comments youo :okay:

I haven't got many pictures of those areas but for those that don't know they are just standard residential suburbs like you find in most British towns. I'll try to get out and take some soon and I'll add them to the thread when I do.

This area in Sundorne is just about as 'ghetto' as it gets in Shrewsbury and it's not really that bad.

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a20/jonesy55/dscf1229.jpg

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a20/jonesy55/dscf1228.jpg

Sorry you don't like the town but hey, you can't please everybody. :)

There is actually plenty to see and do in the town and the surrounding area, I can't say I find it boring, maybe for 16-24 year olds it's not so great but for adults and for young kids it's a great place to live imo.

why didnt you swing the camera round to the other side of the road to the shops im not saying that shrewsbury is the only place with bad parts im just saying you should show all of shrewsbury like every area even the nice ones like radbrook ect and the bad ones and the only reason i find the town boring is because i am from london and i am 20 so a old small town with little to offer isnt going to impress me but people aged around 30 probaly would i have some other pictures of moston road but i dont no how to up load them.

^^ The building over the road with the ex-shops is about to be demolished and a new development (http://www.shrewsbury.gov.uk/public/council/committees/planning/2008-07-28/moston%20green,%20shrewsbury.doc) put up in its place, I didn't take a photo because I was taking these for another thread on apartment blocks, I can go there and take photos if you reaaaaally want to see them.

and since when has it been compulsory to show every area of a town/city on a thread? go into any other thread in this section and none of them has pictures of every single area of the place they are showing. I've shown most of the centre of town and several outlying areas, i've got some more photos including some crappy flats just to keep you happy!

Shrewsbury obviously isn't your kind of place but most of my friends from London enjoy coming up here so I don't think that has anything to do with it, whether you think it has little or a lot to offer just depends what you're into.

Anyway, here are some more shots of the suburban and outlying areas of town, this time to the north (most of my last batch of pics were south of the town centre).

Tesco, the UK's biggest supermarket company and Shrewsbury's biggest supermarket building.

http://i39.tinypic.com/2u8w2kn.jpg

There is a sheep related artwork next to the Tesco carpark, Shrewsbury was a major wool trading centre from medieval times and the Teso building is on the site of the old livestock market.

http://i40.tinypic.com/2yo4cih.jpg

A big new home improvement store, B&Q, opposite the Tesco store.

http://i43.tinypic.com/euiv78.jpg

Is it the Parthenon??? Oh no, my mistake, it's Sundorne retail park.

http://i42.tinypic.com/16hojug.jpg

One of the smaller supermarkets, Aldi.

http://i39.tinypic.com/2n64qaw.jpg

For Youo, some 1960s social housing flats.

http://i41.tinypic.com/efexa8.jpg

Shrewsbury Sports Village, there are several football pitches, a cycling track, tennis/basketball/netball courts outside here and squash courts, climbing walls, martial arts, badminton, gymnastics etc etc indoors plus a seperate bowls centre. It was built about two years ago.

http://i39.tinypic.com/35arlu1.jpg

A VW car dealership, yes I know it's boring. :)

http://i43.tinypic.com/2uyhyxg.jpg

and a Fiat/Suzuki one, these guys are desperate for business at the moment :(

http://i39.tinypic.com/n6qsrl.jpg

I've now wandered onto Battlefield enterprise park at the extreme north of the town, this area is home to some factories (car components and other light manufacturing, warehousing etc), retailers of household appliances, furniture and other stuff that isn't suited to the narrow streets of the old town centre.

http://i44.tinypic.com/2uxvhvc.jpg

http://i43.tinypic.com/v89vm.jpg

http://i39.tinypic.com/2s1n9kk.jpg

http://i43.tinypic.com/34pcoig.jpg

There are office buildings here too.

http://i41.tinypic.com/30288za.jpg

More social housing, this is single storey stuff for old people.

http://i43.tinypic.com/6e2c6d.jpg

These quiet fields just beyond the enterprise park at battlefield are where the name comes from. Between the camera and the church in the background is the site of the Battle of Shrewsbury (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Shrewsbury) fought on 21st July 1403 .

This battle was part of the wars of the roses, thousands of solldiers fought and died when the forces of King Henry IV of England fought those of Henry 'Hotspur' Percy. The battle forms a major part of William Shakespeare's play Henry IV part I (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_IV,_Part_1)

http://i43.tinypic.com/34pgrbp.jpg

http://i40.tinypic.com/2z5vlt1.jpg

Finally, here's a of picture of the townscape from a ridge to the North of the centre, showing the south shropshire hills in the background. These hills are not huge, 540m at their highest but if you travel directly east from here across England, the north sea, the Netherlands, Germany, Poland and Belrus, there is no higher land until central Russia!

http://i43.tinypic.com/f24nxf.jpg

I've taken a few more which i'll add soon, stay tuned for updates ;)

wow...marvelous photos...!

I hope I could take same nice photos too just like yours...

may I share mine here...click the link

www.butuantoday.tumblr.com

^^ I'm glad you like them, your city looks very interesting on your blog, thanks for sharing :okay:

Hi jonesy. Me and my wife visited Shrewsbury last year after seeing you're photo thread.We realiy liked the place apart from the amount of traffic in the center.Some of those historic streets could really do with pedestrianisation , is this a major issue in the town?.Apart from that small gripe Shrewsbury is a very underrated UK town.:cheers:

Hi jonesy. Me and my wife visited Shrewsbury last year after seeing you're photo thread.We realiy liked the place apart from the amount of traffic in the center.Some of those historic streets could really do with pedestrianisation , is this a major issue in the town?.Apart from that small gripe Shrewsbury is a very underrated UK town.:cheers:

Hehehe, good to see my efforts at tourism promotion are working! :okay:

Yes, traffic in the centre can get quite bad, some streets are pedestrianised already but imo more could be done. It is a constant issue locally and there was a proposal for a congestion charge at one point but it was dropped due to opposition from businesses and others.

The problem is that to get from one side of the town to the other, the shortest route is often through the town centre, there is an inner bypass route as well as the main bypass but it's a detour for many journeys. There are three park and ride services on the edge of town and the train station is handy for many people coming from other places but even so the amount of traffic can be too much. It probably makes it worse that the town centre is enclosed in a river loop with limited entry and exit points but short of filling in the river there's not much can be done about that!

Luckily I live close enough to the town centre that I don't need to drive in, a 10-12 minute walk or less than 5 on my bike and i'm there.

http://www.shrewsburylibdems.org/images/shrewsburymap_small.gif

Some pictures of the indoor market:

http://i44.tinypic.com/2r2vk2r.jpg

http://i43.tinypic.com/2wog2eo.jpg

http://i39.tinypic.com/71ocvs.jpg

http://i41.tinypic.com/10mpvh5.jpg

Great photos. I miss Shrewsbury - i'm an ex-pat living in London. One of the nicest towns in England.

I'm a bit perplexed about our Asian friends commenting on 'dull' London. I've been to several Asian cities including Mumbai, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Beijing, and i have to say London is far more exciting than any of them, with the added bonus of not having to see mass poverty.

Thanks!

Here are a few taken just outside Shrewsbury at a ruined manor house in the village of Acton Burnell. Not much spectacular to look at, there are hundreds of similar sites around the country but this one is historically important because it was the site where the first English parliament to include representatives of the 'commons' (ie not royals and nobles) in 1283.

Location
http://www.concordcollegeuk.com/sitefiles/upload_images/maps/map2.gif

The main building

http://i44.tinypic.com/2lvxwfd.jpg

http://i43.tinypic.com/2yw5soz.jpg

http://i43.tinypic.com/e6bml0.jpg

http://i40.tinypic.com/e5jqcw.jpg

The single remaining wall of the adjacent 'parliament barn', believed to be the actual site of the parliament gathering.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/72/ActonBurnellBarnc.jpg/291px-ActonBurnellBarnc.jpg

The parliament which gathered here 726 years ago passed a statute relating to the provision of credit between merchants (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Statute_merchant)

The village is now home to an international college (http://www.concordcollegeuk.com/) where students of 13-19 years from all over the world come to study.

http://www.concordcollegeuk.com/

^ Thats a beautiful building - love the red sandtone used to construct it. I've never visited Acton Burnell - wish i had after seeing these pictures. I traced my family tree back to Acton Burnell in the 1600's. I really should visit next time i'm up.

So how do people feel about the new theatre? I only saw it when it was under construction and have to say it dominated Frankwell a bit too much. Saying that it's better than what was there originally. What happened to the remains of the old Welsh bridge there? Was it incorporated into the theatre or did they build over it?

I Love Such Towns in the UK... :D

Here are some pictures I took yesterday at the annual Shrewsbury Dragon Boat challenge which raises money for a local hospice.

http://i40.tinypic.com/1079zcl.jpg

http://i44.tinypic.com/2gwyz9d.jpg

http://i39.tinypic.com/19kyl5.jpg

http://i40.tinypic.com/2w1vytl.jpg

You can have a rickshaw ride around the park, only £2!

http://i42.tinypic.com/j79ff8.jpg

^^When i was a kid i remember every year there was a raft race on the river (from Coton Hill to Grey Friars bridge) - anyone could participate, all you needed was to get a group together, build a raft and register. It was great fun (i even joined in one year). I think it ended about 1985, though i'm not sure why, but it certainly pulled the crowds and everyone had fun. Happy days!!

^^ Sounds good, I might enter the dragon boat races next year, it looked like fun!

How do you apply for that? If i'm up in Shrewsbury next year i might join in too.

Here's some Flickr photos of the new riverside sculpture 'Quantum Leap', built for the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Darwin this year.

It was rather controversial in the town as the construction went well over budget and some people don't like the design, I think it's kinda interesting though.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2474/3993217581_60afbc5ccc_b.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2744/4131648213_18fc338da7_b.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2496/4086141139_93bcf78a65_o.jpg

Thanks to JonTandy, ~mna~ and SueTortoise

Im not a fan of that sculpture its kinda ugly and right out the front of my dads offices

Well I like it! :)

Wonderful job. Some of those areas are so cute.

:okay:

:colgate:

Very lovely town :)

I just went through the thread, Shrewsbury looks lovely!

In the ealier photos there are some cars which are very rare today :(

nice thread.

:okay:.....very nice pics...thanks.

Didn't notice this thread had been bumped, glad you liked it guys :okay:

Ok, an update, some pictures from yesterday, an afternoon walk into the town, around the park, and a look at some of the shops. It's interesting to see how many of these shops have changed in the few years since I began this thread...

About 3 minutes after leaving home we arrive at the river walkway that leads to the main park in the town.

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a20/jonesy55/IMAG0227.jpg

A view of some townhouses on a hill from the riverside path.
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a20/jonesy55/IMAG0229.jpg

Then the park itself, people out enjoying the cool autumn sunshine
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a20/jonesy55/IMAG0245.jpg

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a20/jonesy55/IMAG0246.jpg

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a20/jonesy55/IMAG0239.jpg

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a20/jonesy55/IMAG0247.jpg

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a20/jonesy55/IMAG0243.jpg

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a20/jonesy55/IMAG0241.jpg

A quick rest in the gardens at the centre of the park. The summer flowers now replaced by autumn leaves.
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a20/jonesy55/IMAG0238.jpg

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a20/jonesy55/IMAG0234.jpg

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a20/jonesy55/IMAG0235.jpg

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a20/jonesy55/IMAG0236.jpg

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a20/jonesy55/IMAG0237.jpg

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a20/jonesy55/IMAG0231.jpg

Then out of the park and into the central area but first a quick look into an atmospheric churchyard, with houses and apartments overlooking the gravestones
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a20/jonesy55/IMAG0248.jpg

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a20/jonesy55/IMAG0249.jpg

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a20/jonesy55/IMAG0251.jpg

Shopping on a Saturday, seems like the whole town has the same idea.
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a20/jonesy55/IMAG0271.jpg


http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a20/jonesy55/IMAG0277.jpg

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a20/jonesy55/IMAG0274.jpg

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a20/jonesy55/IMAG0270.jpg

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a20/jonesy55/IMAG0263.jpg

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Looking in windows, looking at buildings, looking at menus, my favourite shopping activity, better than buying stuff and cheaper!

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It's really a nice town!

I've only been to Shrewsbury once - I found it very attractive.

I have, however, been to other places in Shropshire - in fact we were looking at moving there at one point. Shropshire is one of the loveliest English counties - and so little visited by outsiders or foreign visitors.

For a real taste of England - outside of the south-east and the big cities - then Shropshire is certainly worth consideration. In my opinion, of course.

Thanks guys, glad you liked them. Yes there many pleasant places in the wider county too and its within easy reach of Liverpool, Manchester or Birmingham for a day trip.

Terrific photos! Brought back some memories. My travel companion and I spent a few days there in July of 11 (we are from the US) and out of our 25 days in England, this was one of our favorite places. Everyone was very friendly, the town was beautiful, and we met some teachers who were home from teaching English in other parts of Europe and they partied with us(a neat indoor/outdoor pub near Fish St?--something like that). Anyway we had the greatest time with them. Also drove out to Church Stretton and climbed the Long Mynd---just stunning--and I now understand A E Housman's reasons for loving those "blue remembered hills". Our American ears were humored, though, by the STRONG opinions of how to correctly pronounce Shrewsbury. Some insisted it should be pronounced SHROWSbury whereas other's were just as adamant that it be called SHROOSbury. Great time in a great town! Thanks for all the wonderful pics.

cool photos from Shrewsbury....:okay:

Terrific photos! Brought back some memories. My travel companion and I spent a few days there in July of 11 (we are from the US) and out of our 25 days in England, this was one of our favorite places. Everyone was very friendly, the town was beautiful, and we met some teachers who were home from teaching English in other parts of Europe and they partied with us(a neat indoor/outdoor pub near Fish St?--something like that). Anyway we had the greatest time with them. Also drove out to Church Stretton and climbed the Long Mynd---just stunning--and I now understand A E Housman's reasons for loving those "blue remembered hills". Our American ears were humored, though, by the STRONG opinions of how to correctly pronounce Shrewsbury. Some insisted it should be pronounced SHROWSbury whereas other's were just as adamant that it be called SHROOSbury. Great time in a great town! Thanks for all the wonderful pics.

:laugh: Yes, that topic is the subject of endless debate with both sides insistent that they are correct. Basically you can pick whichever you prefer, it doesn't really matter as you will be wrong for 50% of the population whichever you choose. :)

Glad you enjoyed your time in the area, maybe we'll welcome you back some day. :)

PS, would this be the indoor/outdoor pub you visited?

http://www.bullinnshrewsbury.com/page/7/beer-garden.htm

Jonesy,

I don't think that's the pub. I Facebooked one of the people we met there who is from Shrewsbury and I'm sure she will get back with me to tell me the name. What I remember is that we walked into what looked like a "shut", were immediately in a sort of courtyard, and if we went straight it took us into the outside area(perhaps up a few steps-not sure), and if we sort of veered right and then straight that took us inside. We could also enter from the right side of the outside area. For some reason I keep thinking it had the term "Bank" in it's name. Also nearby were those 2 opposing churches, and one of the older professors told us that the towers were built to compete with one another.
I'll let you know when she gets back to me.
I wonder if you know any of those teachers? Is Shrewsbury a small enough town where many people can know each other? All in their 20's 30's and an older professor as well. Such a fun time and town! I really want to return again.

Ah, I think you are maybe talking about The Old Post Office pub?

http://www.thegoodpubguide.co.uk/var/ldc-images/10667511.jpg

http://lds.localdataimages.com/large/2103/21034162.jpg

The town itself is home to around 75,000 people so its not quite small enough to know everybody but I do know a few teachers here, they mostly teach at local schools though rather than in other countries...

YES! That's it! How did you happen to have these pics? Just looking at those is making me feel nostalgic again.

Well, I don't want to give their full names on a public forum but some first names of this group are: Alice(teaches in Italy), James, another James(older--sort of leader), Rosa(German girlfriend of another tall lanky witty Englishman whose name I have forgotten), and Louie(VERY VERY funny young dirty minded Welshman--this guy was a riot and I hope you do know him!). Most of them teach in Shrewsbury.

Second message:

When we were there we stayed at a most historic place called The Old House Suites(also called Catherine of Aragon suites). 400 plus yr old beautiful historic home with a terrific, humorous host who knows everything about the history of your town. Anyone who plans on visiting and staying in Shrewsbury would be advised to stay there(found it on Tripadvisor).

YES! That's it! How did you happen to have these pics? Just looking at those is making me feel nostalgic again.

Well, I don't want to give their full names on a public forum but some first names of this group are: Alice(teaches in Italy), James, another James(older--sort of leader), Rosa(German girlfriend of another tall lanky witty Englishman whose name I have forgotten), and Louie(VERY VERY funny young dirty minded Welshman--this guy was a riot and I hope you do know him!). Most of them teach in Shrewsbury.

Hmmm, no, don't think i know those guys.

Those aren't my pictures, I just figured out which pub you meant and googled them ;)

Second message:

When we were there we stayed at a most historic place called The Old House Suites(also called Catherine of Aragon suites). 400 plus yr old beautiful historic home with a terrific, humorous host who knows everything about the history of your town. Anyone who plans on visiting and staying in Shrewsbury would be advised to stay there(found it on Tripadvisor).

I've heard its good, though obviously with living in the town I haven't stayed there!

I live in York, Pennsylvina, USA. The name of my home town does come from England. But I did not know of Shewsbury, England. Where I live there is also a small town also called Shewsbury south of my city. The city of Lancaster is also used in Pennyslivina as well and many other same towns names from England.:cheers1:

would love to see new pics on this thread.:)

:righton:most definitely!!!

Me too! :okay:

So who is coming to take them?

I'm a visitor to the forum - thanks for the fabulous tour (which must have taken you ages); you must love your city. We are thinking about moving to Shrewsbury in the foreseeable future and all these photographs have certainly reminded what a lovely, lovely place it is. I need to do some research re what it offers vis a vis jazz, classical music, etc. Thanks again, truly appreciated

Thanks, glad you enjoyed the photos.

In terms of music, the main venue to check out is Theatre Severn which has a wide range of performances including touring orchestras, regional opera companies, a bit of ballet and the odd jazz act.

http://www.theatresevern.co.uk/default.asp

There are a few small venues like The Hive and various pubs/hotels that also sometimes host jazz acts.

You can find jazz listings for the town and surrounding area here:

http://www.shrewsburyjazznetwork.co.uk/jazz-listings.html

You can also visit venues further afield like the Birmingham Symphony Hall or Manchester Bridgewater Hall for an evening performance taking the late train back home, Shrewsbury has direct rail links to both.

Hope that helps, any other questions just ask. :okay: Where are you based at the moment if you don't mind me asking?

Love it! How old are the oldest houses or buildings? Do people live in them?

I just went through the thread, Shrewsbury looks lovely!

In the ealier photos there are some cars which are very rare today :(

I know where lots of the photos were taken now :banana:

Love it! How old are the oldest houses or buildings? Do people live in them?

jeje, hello there.

The oldest building is probably the Abbey, part of which is 930 years old. There is a Roman town a couple of kms outside the modern town with remains of buildings 1700 years old.

There are several churches, commercial buildings etc between 400-800 years old but in terms of houses probably the oldest examples still lived in today are from the late 16th and 17th centuries, and there are many from the mid 18th century onwards.

This row of houses was built in 1793 for example...

http://s0.geograph.org.uk/geophotos/02/65/39/2653926_6432c4e8.jpg

I know where lots of the photos were taken now :banana:


:okay:

nice thread

thanks for the nice updates...:)

jeje, hello there.

The oldest building is probably the Abbey, part of which is 930 years old. There is a Roman town a couple of kms outside the modern town with remains of buildings 1700 years old.

There are several churches, commercial buildings etc between 400-800 years old but in terms of houses probably the oldest examples still lived in today are from the late 16th and 17th centuries, and there are many from the mid 18th century onwards.

This row of houses was built in 1793 for example...

Your town is very lovely. This question might sound dumb, but I don´t know and I´m curious. How was plumbing for sewerage done in old constructions? Do they have to tear parts of the building? How was it done in Shrewsbury? Becos I doubt they had it since the beginning.

Good question, some 18th century houses had plumbing but only the wealthier ones I think.

When systems were later fitted to properties they probably did have to knock some holes in interior and exterior walls but the pipes are quite small so the damage would not be very big.

The earliest known examples of plumbing systems used in the British Isles are at the neolithic village of Skara Brae on the Orkney Islands off the north coast of Scotland. The homes there are around 4500-5000 years old and feature fresh water storage tanks and waste disposal channels leading from toilets to the exterior of the houses.

http://www.ancientworlds.net/aw/Board/590847

A nice photo montage of an ongoing restoration project in the town has been published on the BBC website.

The project is uncovering a 13th century merchant's mansion house in the middle of the town which had been completely covered by redevelopments in the subsequent centuries. The building was most recently the town's theatre until 2009 when a new venue was constructed, after restoration it will host the town museum, tourism office and a restaurant.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-shropshire-19667481

Good question, some 18th century houses had plumbing but only the wealthier ones I think.

When systems were later fitted to properties they probably did have to knock some holes in interior and exterior walls but the pipes are quite small so the damage would not be very big.

The earliest known examples of plumbing systems used in the British Isles are at the neolithic village of Skara Brae on the Orkney Islands off the north coast of Scotland. The homes there are around 4500-5000 years old and feature fresh water storage tanks and waste disposal channels leading from toilets to the exterior of the houses.

http://www.ancientworlds.net/aw/Board/590847

Thanks. I always been curious becos in México there are colonial homes where people still live in houses built a couple centuries ago, but not in the pyramids and in Europe there are plenty of old constructions were people live so I wanted to know.



This area in Sundorne is just about as 'ghetto' as it gets in Shrewsbury and it's not really that bad.

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a20/jonesy55/dscf1229.jpg

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a20/jonesy55/dscf1228.jpg

So this are your ¨favelas¨? LOL. That would be like middle-income in LATAM. You have it really good in your city.

Didn't go to work today as I heard there were train problems.

So I went out and took some pics of the snow.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8191/8401879178_d00e284ec8_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/65983808@N07/8401879178/)
2013-01-21-0299.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/65983808@N07/8401879178/) by Mjones56 (http://www.flickr.com/people/65983808@N07/), on Flickr

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8219/8400813317_a1bc2b48b6_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/65983808@N07/8400813317/)
2013-01-21-0303.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/65983808@N07/8400813317/) by Mjones56 (http://www.flickr.com/people/65983808@N07/), on Flickr

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8087/8401042733_61621f077e_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/65983808@N07/8401042733/)
2013-01-21-0301.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/65983808@N07/8401042733/) by Mjones56 (http://www.flickr.com/people/65983808@N07/), on Flickr

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8195/8401043771_d3186d2de2_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/65983808@N07/8401043771/)
2013-01-21-0304.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/65983808@N07/8401043771/) by Mjones56 (http://www.flickr.com/people/65983808@N07/), on Flickr

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8046/8402135012_15fa4d6644_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/65983808@N07/8402135012/)
2013-01-21-0307.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/65983808@N07/8402135012/) by Mjones56 (http://www.flickr.com/people/65983808@N07/), on Flickr

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8329/8401049959_c828a51a37_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/65983808@N07/8401049959/)
2013-01-21-0316.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/65983808@N07/8401049959/) by Mjones56 (http://www.flickr.com/people/65983808@N07/), on Flickr

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8049/8402158416_9a849d98cc_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/65983808@N07/8402158416/)
2013-01-21-0320.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/65983808@N07/8402158416/) by Mjones56 (http://www.flickr.com/people/65983808@N07/), on Flickr

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8054/8402157306_4962372753_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/65983808@N07/8402157306/)
2013-01-21-0317.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/65983808@N07/8402157306/) by Mjones56 (http://www.flickr.com/people/65983808@N07/), on Flickr