Thursday 12 February 2026 - A Visit to Shrewsbury

After a gap of some years, Sue and I arranged to see my cousin Richard and his wife Kathy at their house in Shrewsbury. Tea and cake was on offer to celebrate the occasion - Kathy had baked a delicious chocolate cake.

Before the afternoon with R & K, Sue and I enjoyed a 9 km stroll from the 'Love Plants' garden centre/caravan sales park at Emstrey. A giant sculpture of a dragonfly marks the entrance.

A field path led down to the River Severn, quite full after recent rain. We thought there might be a nicely surfaced walking route, but all we found was a muddy footpath.

After a couple of km we left the river bank in favour of footpaths towards the town centre. We soon passed Lord Hill's column, a 133 foot Doric column (the tallest in England). It looked splendid, apparently recently refurbished according to Richard, whose home is very close by.

Lord Hill (1772 - 1842 was a renowned British Army commander from Shropshire, famous as Wellington's trusted right-hand man during the Napoleonic Wars.

I have memories of enjoying the views from the column when I went up it as a 5 year old during a six month period when we lived in the nearby rectory with my grandparents. My grandfather was the vicar at nearby St Giles. I still remember going to my first day at school in Shrewsbury.

Sue and I continued past the abbey. Time constraints meant for a very brief visit, so we couldn't admire the stained glass windows and other features of this and other buildings.

After a while I spotted a route that avoided any roads. It was muddy.

 

As we were short of time, lunch comprised a couple of sandwiches from Greggs, before we returned to the car and made it to Richard and Kathy's nearly dead on time.

Here's our route - just 9 km, with 60 metres ascent, taking less than a couple of hours.

We'll be back. And we will arrange to see Richard and more of his family again soon.