We finally had morning porridge and it was delicious!!! Our B&B serves up a scrumptious breakfast! We were up early so we took a walk through town before hopping on the train to visit our cousin Eileen, it’s been awhile since we last saw her.
So good spending the day with Eileen. She has a lovely home, relaxing garden & patio to enjoy the English sunshine before she filled our tummies with a yummy lunch of lasagna, salad and garlic bread.
It was wonderful catching up with her as she shared lots of stories & pictures of her daughter Natasha & family that we just missed.
We took a drive in the country and stopped at the quaint town of Telford-Ironbridge, named for obvious reasons.
ABRAHAM DARBY IIII (1750- 1789) was just 23 years old when he took over the running of the Coalbrookdale Company in the Gorge. Seventy years earlier his grandfather had pioneered the use of coke-smelted cast iron. The development opened up the potential of iron as it became cheaper to produce.
Darby was keen to carry on the family tradition of invention and innovation. Building an iron bridge would be a technological achievement and a spectacular advert for his manufacturing company. He believed he had the technology at his fingertips to make anything out of iron, but casting a bridge would be his most daring venture yet.
He was so enthusiastic about the idea that he contributed £787 to the estimated costs – by far the largest contribution.
Following Pritchard’s early death, and Wilkinson’s loss of involvement quite early on, it was left to Darby to see the project through.
In 1776 the Act of Parliament was passed authorising the building of the Bridge, and shares were issued to raise money. Work began in June 1777.
Today was a fantastically sunny in England and our visit with Eileen was a highlight of our trip.
We made it back to Shrewsbury just in time for a gelato
Tomorrow we’re going to explore town and take a boat ride along the River Severn.
