retiredmartin

May 2024. Bridgnorth.

More Salopian holiday snaps, as we’re unable to resist the siren call of Bridgnorth on leaving Worfield towards Cleobury Mortimer. Such evocative names !

Talking of which, I was tempted to detour to the Lion O’Morfe for Mrs RM’s benefit, but that will have to wait. For now, an hour in Bridgnorth was just enough to take stock of one of the UK’s most charming towns, and confirm the castle is still standing.

Just.

If it falls down there’ll be someone starting a petition to have it rebuilt with that exact same slope, you know.

Gentlefolk discuss the 29% chance of rain, and we decide to nip in the Thomas Telford-designed St Mary Magdalene,

a gorgeous but simple interior,

but the highlight is the seemingly permanent display of old Wolverhampton memorabilia.

“Do you have a connection to the area ?” asks the kindly curator as I scour his collection looking for pub photos.

“No, but I love the pubs” I say. He’s not a pub man.

Pub guides were “embryonic” in 1646;

this map seems to omit the Spoons and the Joules and everything else. Thank goodness for CAMRA,

The best views are along Castle Walk,

leading us to the just re-opened Cliff Railway.

Last year the famous funicular was closed, a devastating blow for a town visited by gentlefolk who’d never walk up and down Cart Way, even with the draw of the Black Boy half way. Imagine trying to get folk to visit Southwold if the sourdough pashmina bakery had to close.

The last decade has not always been kind to Bridgnorth, a town I recall packed with independent businesses but now awash with charity stores and chain shops, though the pubs are still a draw and the smell of fresh flowers is ever-present.

And I see the town has appointed its first Poet Laureate;

We’re the only people on the funicular,

an ambitious £2 for a 1 minute trip,

but at least I’ve kept the return portion which I expect to lose around 17th October.

Down at the Severn Mrs RM takes her Instagram photos, and I decide that the decline of the High Street doesn’t really diminish Bridgnorth’s treasures,

and add it to my “Pub Towns to Revisit” list.