Oswestry and Ironbridge

                                                                    Oswestry

In one day we went from the Iron Age to the Industrial Age.   Old Oswestry Hillfort was constructed between 800 BC and Ad 43.  On a hill, it had earthen ramparts to enclose a settlement.  The deep ditches, built to thwart intruders, are clearly evident. 

Looking down the path toward the car park.  The top of the fort is still a bit behind me.  This gives
a feel for the surrounding country as well.

Steep  up and down  hillocks  gave added protection.

Bracken growing in the bottom of one of the ditches.  We walked along it a ways.  This site links in with a longer walking trail.

Surrounding farm land

Roads are narrow!  You can barely see the front of our car in the bottom left.  We are mostly on the sidewalk and across from us the road widened, just enough for the tractor to get by.

Ironbridge

From Oswestry we headed to Ironbridge and Ironbridge Gorge and a look at the beginnings of the Industrial Age.

Iron Bridge was the first cast iron bridge in the world. Built between 1779 and 1780 and opened on New Year's Day of 1781, it spanned the Severn River. The author, Samuel Butler described it thus: "The bridge itself makes a light and elegant appearance tho' apparently no ways deficient in Strength.  In viewing it either up or down water it resembles an elegant Arch in some ancient Cathedral."

Be more scenic without the scaffolding, but it is what it is.

Town of Ironbridge

Ironbridge, looking downstream

But Iron Bridge refers to more than just the bridge and the town where it is located.  The entire gorge was a center of early industrial expansion and exploitation of the natural resources of the area.  By 1635 100,000 tons of coal a year was being mined here.  The gorge produced steel, cast and wrought  iron, ceramic tile, china, and tobacco pipes.  All the warehouses, ferries, and rail lines to support the industry and deliver it to the rest of the world created what is often referred to as the Birthplace of the industrial revolution.   Today the bridge, now closed to vehicles, some of the warehouses, rail lines, kilns, village and other remains of that time form a World Heritage Site.  We didn't have nearly enough time, but I got an inkling of the importance of this place and a sense of life in those communities.  The  Blists Hill Victorian Village has a living history program.  Among displays were lodgings fitting the various eras, including within my lifetime, of families who worked here.   I suspect that my Welsh great grandfather may have come from a community not unlike this.

  Chris had been before and said I should not miss this site.  He was right and there is never enough time on a vacation, but it would have been great to spend a night nearby and have two days to explore.