Shropshire, England United Kingdom
Shropshire (abbreviated Salop or Shrops) is an English county in the West Midlands region of the United Kingdom.
Shropshire is one of England’s most rural counties. The county town is Shrewsbury, although the new town of Telford is the largest town. Despite the county being so rural, the Ironbridge Gorge area of Shropshire is known as the birthplace of industry. The population of the non-metropolitan, or shire county, of Shropshire is 289,100 – making the county the least populated two-tier governed area in the United Kingdom
Famous people
Robert Clive “Clive of India”
Lords and Ladies Craven (of Stokesay Castle)
Abraham Darby
Charles Darwin
William Farr
Chris Hawkins (of Loppington), radio presenter, DJ, and celebrity
George Jeffreys of Wem, (infamous judge)
Adrian Jones, sculptor of the Quadriga at Hyde Park Corner
Stephen Marchant, ornithologist
Len Murray, (former head of the T.U.C)
Mirabel Osler, author
Wilfred Owen
Edith Pargeter (1913-1995), author
Edmund Plowden (1518-1585)—legal scholar and theorist
Sir Edmund Plowden (1590-1659)—Proprietor, Earl Palatine and Governor of New Albion
Barbara Pym
Morris Telford Author of “A Salopian Odyssey”, philosopher, traveller and bingo enthusiast.
T’Pau, pop group
Sir Philip Sidney
Mary Webb (1881-1927), author
Matthew Webb, (first man to swim the English Channel)
Billy Wright
Humphrey Kynaston (1474-1534) – highwayman
Also, British poet A.E. Housman used Shropshire as the setting for many of the poems in his first book, A Shropshire Lad.
Shropshire holds the record for the coldest temperature recorded in England and Wales (weather wise). This was set on January 10, 1982, in Edgmond at -26.1 C. The following day the coldest daytime maximum temperature recorded in England occurred in the county, at -11.3 C.
Shrewsbury has the tallest town crier in the world, at 7ft 2in, and now also the tallest MP in the United Kingdom – Daniel Kawczynski is 6ft 8.5in tall.
The ceremonial county of Shropshire is the United Kingdom’s largest inland (surrounded entirely by land) county.
There are 697 [6] public houses in the county. The figure fell below 700 for the first time in modern history in April 2006. That means there are only 643 people per pub. See Category:Public houses in Shropshire.
The 1985 television programme Blott on the Landscape was filmed mainly in South Shropshire, notably in Ludlow. The recently begun 2005 sit-com The Green Green Grass is set in Shropshire and is filmed near Bridgnorth.
The John Cleese film ‘Clockwise’ was filmed partly in and around Much Wenlock.
The 1984 film version of Charles Dicken’s ‘A Christmas Carol’ was filmed in Shrewsbury. Scenes from the film are still displayed inside Goldsmith’s the jewellers in the Square.
P.G. Wodehouse’s fictional Blandings Castle, the ancestral home of Clarence, the ninth Earl of Emsworth, is located in Shropshire.
Shrewsbury
Shrewsbury is the county town of Shropshire on the borders of England and Wales If you wish to have the feel of a medieval town, stroll the narrow streets called Grope Lane, Gullet Passage and Wyle Cop. Tread the worn, covered Bear Steps and marvel at the ancient buildings leading from Fish St. up to St. Alkmund’s Place. This town built on a hill surrounding the Severn River is accessible only by bridges, except for one narrow finger of land. Built up by the Romans as the city of Virconium, this naturally fortified town was continually occupied through medieval times, later enriched in the Tudor period. Much remains from both these periods.
The Abbot’s House, dating from 1450, the Ireland’s Mansion from 1575, and the Old Market Hall from 1596 are worth a visit.
HAWKSTONE PARK AND FOLLIES
A Lost World Deep in the Heart of Shropshire !
Equally popular with young and old, the park is full of attractions, surprises and features. Paths twist and turn, rise and fall, and almost without fail reveal something unexpected around every corner: dramatic cliffs, towers, monuments, tunnels, passageways, precipitous rock tracks, rustic ‘sofas’, and romantic secret valleys. Weston-Under-Redcastle, Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England, SY4 5UY Telephone 01939 200611 Fax 01939 200311 Email: [email protected]
Cosford Aerospace Museum
One of the largest aviation collections in the UK Cosford, Shifnal, Shropshire TF11 8UP. One of the largest aviation collections in the UK. Open daily, all year. For more information Tel: 01902 374872
Boscobel House -Bishops Wood, Brewood, Staffs ST19 9AR 17th Century Hunting Lodge, famous for the Royal Oak in which Charles II hid from the Roundheads. For more information TELEPHONE: 01902 850244
Severn Valley Steam Railway -One of England`s Great Railways. runs from Bridgnorth along the beautiful River Severn valley to Bewdley and Kidderminster where it connects with main line services. More information, call the Severn Valley Railway on 01299 403816
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