Shropshire: Towns and Villages

Shropshire: Towns and Villages

Shropshire: Towns and Villages
By Julie Meech

Published by Sigma Leisure – ISBN 1-85058-643-8

I must say I was pleasantly surprised when I browsed through this book, because apart from the good descriptions and historical information relating to the towns in the county I found myself becoming quite absorbed by the references to smaller places too. I enjoyed the fact that I could read and learn about two hundred of Shropshire’s towns, villages or tiny hamlets from the comfort of my armchair, a virtual tour conveniently presented in a handy sized paperback. The book is presented in Gazetteer format, places are listed alphabetically.

At the front of the book is a simple but useful map of Shropshire. It shows the network of “A” roads which cross the county, selected towns are also marked.

In the introductory section the reader will discover that this book is one of a series of county by county guides, with the same format being followed in each one. At the end of this section, useful addresses of county information centres and local district councils are listed, along with addresses of a couple of web sites which contain information relating to Shropshire.

The next section contains a brief overview of Shropshire, taking the reader on a chronological journey, from the county’s early origins up to the present day. The author looks at the communities, industry, natural resources, politics and prominent people of the county, all of which have helped to make the Shropshire we see today.

Each town or village mentioned is shown in bold type, followed by the relevant governing local authority in brackets, then a grid reference, and lastly the approximate distance in miles and kilometers from a usually larger neighbouring settlement with an indication of direction.

Scattered throughout the book are various photographs of interesting places, all taken by the author.

Some of the smaller villages are described in one or two paragraphs, while other more prominent towns have up to four pages of information. I enjoyed discovering the origins of various towns and villages, and took note of some fascinating facts. The content has obviously been well researched, and goes a little deeper than many books of its type, but without becoming tedious.

For anyone who is interested in local history the book contains a wealth of information, from the location of Iron Age hill forts to the turbulent and colourful history relating to the town of Ludlow. I discovered that Ludlow has an amazing 469 listed buildings! Shropshire’s other lovely market towns get the coverage they deserve, as do local customs and events. A tour of Shropshire would not be complete without calling at Ironbridge, often referred to as the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution, and the section devoted to Ironbridge gives the reader a good knowledge of the town’s history. Churches and Chapels feature strongly, as do Castles, Stately Homes and Gardens. Notable local characters are mentioned throughout, and some of them were pretty colourful figures, making for entertaining reading! The author also describes the geographical features pertaining to each place.

I particularly liked the fact that this book is not in the style of a tourist guide, it does not try to steer the reader to visit certain places in preference to others. When looking for a likely town or village to visit, you can make your decision based on your own personal interests.

I found myself wondering just how long it would take me to learn about all of these places in the library or even on the Internet. My conclusion is that the book is certainly a very useful resource for anyone with an interest in Shropshire, whether tourist, history buff or local resident.