Sunday 12 June - Rack of Pork

The weather was showery today and I had some work to do on the railway crossing project.  We went to lunch at the Henry Tudor House just off Wyle Cop.

The room has been nicely renovated and there is a large well lit area to the left

The pork roast was a large, thick, pork chop with a large piece of crackling.  It nearly hid the roast potatoes

The vegetables came separately.  We had no room for dessert and shouldn't have had a starter

It was raining intermittently and we decided to walk home along the river and through the Quarry gardens.  When we arrived there was just one solitary male duck to be seen.

A mother duck came down the path with her family.

The young reluctantly followed her into the water - it required a jump of about 18 inches.

A couple were feeding the ducks.  It turns out she made her nest in their garden which is close to the Quarry gardens.  They were there for several days but they couldn't get out of a walled part of their garden.  They bundled them into a box and then guided the mother and young into the Quarry gardens.  The young are now about three weeks old.  There is another family in the Quarry. The two mothers don't get on too well together and generally try and keep their families apart.

Saturday 11 June - Ludlow and Helen Mirren

We planned to take the train to Ludlow today but found the station forecourt full of buses as the lines to Hereford and Welshpool were closed for the weekend for planned engineering work. I find it inconceivable that the railway can shut down like this on a summer weekend.  Transport by rail/bus would have been possible but we decided to take the Minsterley Motors bus instead.  The bus was likely more reliable running to a regular timetable.

The bus runs through Church Stretton and serves several small villages along the way. It is a pleasant ride past Long Mynd and there was a party of walkers who had planned on using the train as well. The weather was showery with small isolated patches of very heavy rain.  We were lucky and missed being out in a downpour but the roads were very wet in several paces.

Ludlow was busy on a Saturday and the market was in full swing.

There are many interesting listed buildings here.  We were taken with the elaborate carvings on this one.

The door surround is a little out of square

Walking down to the bridge over the river Teme the weeds springing out of this wall were very attractive

The ducks were enjoying the calm on the river below the weir.  There were a ot of male ducks but the females and young were nowhere to be seen.  The castle is on top of the hill

We walked along the path in the woods to the next bridge.

The roof of this building has a marked sag.

There are several buildings in yellow and black rather than black and white

Back at the market we bought two enormous warm pasties, lamb and mint and beef with potato, carrot and turnip.

The reason for the early lunch was an organ concert at the St. Laurence parish church by Andrew Lucas.  The organ has been well maintained and updated and the concert, with pieces by J.S. Bach, John Stanley, Herbert Howells, Enrico Bossi, Max Reger and Jehan Alain, was very good.  The video screen gave a good view of the keyboards etc. and Lucas gave a short, well written commentary between each piece.  This church is the church of A.E. Houseman and The Shropshire Lad.

This fantastic drone video shows the church inside and out together with music from the organ.

We waited for the bus back in The Compasses a drinking establishment that only had one cask beer. The beer on tap was appropriately named Hobson's. I watched part of the football from France.

This very ornate building is opposite the bus stop.

The ride back was uneventful apart from a few heavy showers.  Many of the people who came in with us were on this bus including a couple with a small dog called "Grace".  At All Stretton the group of tired but happy hikers also joined us.

We had time to unwind before going out to the Theatre Severn where we saw a recording of a live play "The Audience" from the National Theatre.  Helen Mirren was exceptional and we were amazed at the quick changes of dress and character as she portrayed the queen in different stages of her reign.  There was a video during the interval explaining the way the costumes were changed and at the end there was a video of an interview given in New York.  Both added to the enjoyment of the play.

Friday 10 June - St. Chads

After my exertions of the last couple of days we took it easy today and went to a concert at St. Chads.  It was the Brahms Clarinet quartet, an ambitious piece for such a group but nevertheless entertaining, especially the joyful third movement.

The calve's liver and roast potatoes was very good indeed.

We had a late lunch at Carluccios which was quite good.  We were seated close to a table of young ladies who were having a good time and either were not planning on going back to work or on taking a long lunch.  One got out her cell phone to calculate everybody's share but it was wrong and an additional amount was required.

After that it was shopping and a drink at the Admoiral Benbow.

It was surprising to see Peruvians in Shrewsbury.

Thursday 9 June - Walking the Weshpool and Llanfair Railway

Today I went again with Charles to Llanfair.  He was preparing the locomotive Earl while I did some work in the office.  Charles introduced me to Merv Whitaker who was to accompany me on the track. We took the first train out at 1000 and got off at Castel Caereinion, stopping first at Dolrhyd Mill curve to let out Rodney and his equipment.  Rodney set up his work limit protection with yellow flags and continued repointing the embankment close to the river.

Rodney can be seen working on the embankment wall.

This is the view of Earl from the front balcony.

 The plan was to walk back along the line looking at all of the crossings.  There was the possibility that we could catch the first train back from Welshpool at Heniarth.  But this seemed unlikely. The train crew knew that we were out on the track and were keeping a look out for us.  Merv and I had already agreed that when a train came we would acknowledge and move to a safe place on the same side of the track.

This is the first train from Welshpool back to Llanfair.  We heard it in the distance and both waved when the driver whistled.  He acknowledged with another short toot.  The W&L is very safety conscious so that everybody can enjoy themselves in safety

It was a hot day but we were able to stop for water in the shade. Merv was a great companion and we chatted about many railway subjects from Welsh narrow gauge to main line steam and Switzerland.

At Cyfronydd a herd of cows raced to the fence to see what we were doing

The bridge over the Banwy River is a major work on the line.  Walking across it might be difficult for some but the view is magnificent,

View from the Banwy bridge.

As expected we did not get back to Heniarth in time for the first train back.  This is a replica of an original W&L station.

We then had the option of waiting at Heniarth for the next train but this would have been a couple of hours as the departure from Llanfair had not passed, or walking the mile and a half back to Llanfair. We decided to walk back.

There is a complete set of mileposts along the driver's (north) side of the line.  These are typical GWR and in excellent condition although some are a little difficult to spot in the undergrowth.  They are set at quarter mile intervals - This one shows mile 7 3/4.

The second train of the day from Llanfair at mile 7.8 by an old water tank.

Having completed my track walk, I had lunch in the crew room and rode the balcony of the last train of the day from Llanfair to Welshpool and return.  This allowed me to cover off a few crossings for which I needed pictures.  We had Earl with Charles firing to Simon.

The weather had turned cloudy and it started to rain on the way out. It was raining heavily as we started our return.  The grade out of Welshpool is very steep at 1 in 29 and the engine had been standing a little while.  The rail was greasy as the rain had just started.  A prolonged downpour will clean the rail.  Simon managed to take the Earl up the grade with only a couple of small slips and the fact that we did not stop at the top for a blow up indicated that Charles was providing enough steam.

Even the animals had taken shelter in the downpour

We stopped at Dolrhyd Mill to pick up Rodney.  It cannot have been pleasant for him waiting in the downpour close to the river in the buggy undergrowth. The rain had stopped by the time we had reached Llanfair.

The Welshpool and Llanfair Railway has been put to bed ready for tomorrow.

There was just one more part of my project to complete.  On the way back to Shrewsbury we stopped at two crossing, Coppice Lane and Cwm Lane, to take a closer look on the ground.  

The end of an interesting and useful couple of days.

Wednesday 8 June - Welshpool and Llanfair Railway Crossing Project - Day 1

I met Charles early this morning and we drove to Llanfair Caereinion where the railway was getting ready for the first trainload of tourists. Today I rode the balcony of each service train between Llanfair and Welshpool, three in each direction. This has given me a good idea of the line and its crossings.  There are a number of crossings that are difficult to spot as they have been abandoned and lost in the undergrowth.  Tomorrow I will walk part of the line,

There is a Victorian letter box at Llanfair statiion. The Post Office casme around a week or so ago and repainted it,

The Earl taking water at Welshpool

Getting ready to make another journey over the line

The river Banwy at Llanfair is beautiful - when it is not in flood.

At the end of the day Earl is being readied for shut down..

While I was hard at work Mary was holding down things at home in Shrewsbury.  It seems that one of the mother ducks in the Quarry has lost control of her brood and they were scattered throughout the gardens.  They were running along the paths and several walkers were surprised to find themselves surrounded by small ducklings.  By contrast the mother duck from the other brood was managing nicely albeit with the help of the father duck.

Tuesday 7 June - Bishops Castle

Minsterley Motors took us to Bishops Castle through Minsterley and Pontesbury and we walked up the hill past the town hall/visitor centre tor a coffee before climbing higher to the outskirts of town. The cat in charge of the small square was keeping an eye on things just like last year. The flowers, both in the gardens and semi wild, were a joy to behold while the birds provided a noisy musical accompaniment (rooks, blackbirds, robins swallows and others).

The concrete was warm and provided a good vantage point

Lunch was, as usual, at the Three Tuns where the chef exceed our expectations. There was a small dog that worked its way under the chairs, benches and tables in the hope of getting some scraps. When it realized that we had finished eating it made its way to other tables.  It didn't have much luck at all.

Sauteed scallops

Duck pate with a caramelized crust

Sea Bass

A very tender duck breast au jus with vegetables and roast potatoes

Orange and Cointreau creme brule with shortbread biscuits

After an excellent long lunch we made a short visit to the town hall/visitor centre.  This is the smallest municipality in England.  The charter dates back to the early 1600s and regular meetings are still held.

View across the Shropshire Hills from the town hall chamber

Many of the houses are painted bright contrasting colors which adds to the attractiveness of the town.  The view of the zipper was spoiled by the car outside.

The weather forecast was for rain this afternoon and we came prepared.  It started to rain and we spent the last 20 minutes before the bus arrived in the bus shelter.  A man, also waiting for the bus, told us, in a very broad accent, that there had been a very heavy downpour in Clun which is only some 6 miles away.

As expected, the bus back to Shrewsbury arrived about five minutes early.  There were about 20 schoolchildren on the bus and two boys got out and went into the local sweet shop.  They came out with plastic bags full of drink and snacks for most of them (there is a notice in the front of the bus saying no drinks or snacks which was honored in the breach).  The driver leaned round and said "Are you all back?".  There was a chorus of "Yes." and we set out to return to Shrewsbury.  The kids were shouting loudly but were otherwise well behaved.  Some of them have a long way to go on the bus and at one point about ten got off and piled into a couple of minivans to take them to their homes.

It rained most of the way back but has cleared up this evening.