A Change of Colour

Recently we visited one of my favourite places, the little town of Ironbridge in Shropshire.  I've been looking back at photographs to see when we last visited and it seems to have been in February 2017 when I took the photo below,  although we did pass through after our visit to Coalbrookdale in March last year because I remember that the bridge was covered over.

Designed by Thomas Farnolls Pritchard the iron bridge at Ironbridge, an iconic monument of Britain's industrial heritage, was completed in 1779 and opened in 1781. After a detailed survey it was found that the bridge, which  is cared for by English Heritage, was under threat of cracking and needed urgent repairs to safeguard its future. Project Iron Bridge began in Autumn 2017 and for most of last year the bridge was covered over as restoration work was done

Both the cast iron and masonry elements of the bridge have been repaired.  The entire structure has been cleaned and repainted and it is now restored to its original red-brown colour just as it was shown in a painting of 1780 by William Williams. I'm not sure of copyright so here is a link to the painting.


After walking over the bridge and taking a few more photos we had a wander around a few of the shops.

It was a lovely sunny morning but quite chilly.

There was still a smell of the paint used on the bridge in the air.

There weren't many people about around the bridge although cars were parked all over and the coffee shops were bustling.

We bought a newspaper, had a nose in a charity shop and the wonderful bookshop.

Looking again at the bridge

Do you like the return to the original colour or the grey? I must admit that I quite like the rusty brown colour now I've seen it.

Mist over the Severn

What a day we chose to travel into Shropshire to visit one of our favourite places. The rain was persistent and the mist hung heavily over the River Severn giving an almost ethereal quality to both the light and the views.

This is the river Severn at Ironbridge - yes the famous iron bridge is there, honestly!

The bridge was the idea of an architect from Shrewsbury called Thomas Farnolls Prichard who suggested an iron bridge to local iron master John Wilkinson. Pritchard designed the bridge but died a month after the building started so never saw it in situ. It was built by Abraham Darby III.

When we visit we always like to walk over the bridge to the toll house which now houses the tourist information centre and a display about the building of the bridge. Above is the view back towards the town across the bridge.

We walked back into the town. Not surprisingly it was very quiet. The pavements were shiny and slippy with rain, the river was high and swollen but there were no flood barriers in evidence.

The bears in the Bears on the Square shop window were taking it all in their stride, safely tucked up and warm inside the shop.

We set off towards the Coalport China Museum and drove past the Ladywood bridge over the river on the way there. The bridge is also known locally as the Gateway to Broseley, the town famous for clay pipe manufacture.

The old china works stands between the River Severn and the Shropshire Canal. China was made here from 1796 until 1926 when manufacture moved to Stoke-on-Trent firstly to the Cauldon Potteries in Shelton, then to the Crescent Works in Stoke around 1955, later it moved to the Foley and Minerva works at Fenton before becoming a part of Wedgwood at Barlaston. The Coalport site became one of the Ironbridge Gorge Museums in 1976.

Inside it was very similar to the Gladstone Pottery Museum - which is not far from from where we live - but there were many differences too especially in the way the bottle ovens or kilns were built.

It was good to get into the warmth of the museum and out of the rain for a while. Below are more scenes from in and around the Museum.