Travel: Ironbridge Gorge and Kinver Edge

It was not quite the late summer wine-filled trip to the Pyrenees that I had originally planned, but a last minute trip to Ironbridge Gorge, Shropshire once quarantine restrictions with France were in place was actually a pretty good alternative.

Just look at the crazy chimney!

    

These are weird times and this was the first time I had really been very far outside our area since March! We stopped at Kinver Edge to take a look at the fascinating Holy Austin Rock Houses (National Trust) on our way up to Shropshire. They are so interesting and it is pretty amazing to know that so many people lived in these cave houses and until fairly recently. Apparently they were warm in Winter and cool in Summer, but I can’t see myself in one of these. 

We stayed in a sweet log cabin called Ironbridge Lodge set high above Coalbrookdale, and somewhat comically wedged between two roads which were signposted “residential care home” and the local COVID testing station (although they weren’t remotely close). Check in was very safe and no contact, with instructions over the phone. The log cabin sported a Heidi style hayloft bedroom (plus another downstairs) and a little terrace.

View from the iron bridge - the weather was amazing!

There was little requirement for a car once we were there as we could walk through the woods down into Coalbrookdale and then along the valley bottom to Ironbridge itself. Many of the industrial heritage sites are still closed but it is a pretty enough place to have a wander, and there are some good independent shops to look in (if suitably masked and anti-bacced)! You can certainly take a look at the furnaces and the Darby houses from the outside. 

This is the leather that I'll be asking for!!

Inside the Victorian Pharmacy

I highly recommend a trip to Blists Hill Victorian Town which is an open air museum with buildings that have been moved brick by brick to recreate an industrial Victorian town. It felt very safe (being predominantly outside) and as long as you get there early, there are very short queues to look inside the houses and businesses. 

These posters really tickled me

Blists Hill Victorian Town

Love Mrs Jones x

Trip Details (I have no affiliation to any of these companies and am not receiving any payments for this)

Annual pass to all the Ironbridge Gorge Museums is £20 per adult.

Self-catering stay at Ironbridge Lodge was £120 per night.

Kinver Edge rock houses currently £5 per adult