Bridgnorth; 7-9 Jul 10

I’m tempted to describe Bridgnorth as a poor man’s Ludlow but that would be wrong and no doubt bring down the wrath of many. Like Ludlow it’s a Shropshire market town and both have town centres which date back centuries. However whereas Ludlow enjoys its gourmet epithet Bridgnorth owes more to the Black Country and Thomas Telford.

I stayed in Bridgnorth for 2 nights last week. I’ve been visiting a company on the outskirts for nearly a year now and on this occasion I stayed a little longer and got to know the locality. There’s a perfectly good tourist web-site, click here to visit it, and I’m not going to replicate what’s on it.

The  most amazing feature of the town is the cable car. Now I generally equate cable cars and the like  with mountains and ski resorts (Switzerland etc) or at least seaside and other resorts with steep cliffs. I wouldn’t regard Bridgnorth as fitting into either category but that, of course, is where I’m wrong. In days gone by, the railway opened in 1892, Bridgnorth was a place to visit and those who came needed some way to get them from the river or the railway line in the Low Town to the High Town where the market took place. So Bridgnorth’s cable car is entirely logical and enjoys the distinction of being the shortest and steepest in the country!

The High Town is where the market place is and where Bridgnorth’s fine old builds are located. There’s the old fort dating back to Viking times (10th century) and which was destroyed during the civil war (1647). All that’s left is one rather leaning tower.

There are, or were, 2 parish churches. There’s St Leonard’s at the north end of the town and which dates from the early 13th century. This is no longer in regular use. At the south end of the town is a big surprise. St Magdalene’s was built in 1792 and was designed by Thomas Telford of bridge building fame. There’s nothing radicle about the design, it follows the standard layout which you find in most parish churches and cathedrals across the land. In fact it’s rather big and uninspiring both from outside and within. What is different though is the windows. I guess when Telford was in business builder’s could work with plate-glass and as a result the church is full of light. Witness the handheld exposure in the photo to the left.

The main street in the High Town is a splendid mix of older 16th and 17th century half timbered buildings with newer ones. The town hall itself is reminiscent of those Italian market town buildings with the market downstairs and office upstairs. There are also many local shops, it’s not dominated by the national high street chains, including 3 opticians (!) and several pubs but disappointingly few restaurants. Ludlow it is not. I ate at Bambers (www.bambers.org; excellent food but strange service and vinyl table cloths) and Dilraz (uninspiring).