Shropshire Places (10) : Yorton

Yorton is a small village in the north centre of the county between Shrewsbury and Wem.

Yorton is a very small settlement consisting of a small number of houses surrounded by farms. Yorton has had a long history though, a priest is mentioned being at Yorton in the Domesday Book. Despite it's small size, Yorton has a railway station though, the station also serves the larger village of Clive.

The parish church of St Mary in Broughton (the parish Yorton belongs to) was built in the late 1850s. replacing an earlier medieval church which had suffered from damp. The Norman font of the original church were reused in the new one. The church is built mostly from stone and has some Gothic features.

A little trip to Derby

As i was not working last Friday i headed up to Derby to see some trains. I did see the new Aurora on test, though unfortunately only at a distance. I did get to see a test train up close and also a Chiltern unit well off it's usual beaten path up north for maintenance! You can see my photos here.

Attenborough & Beeston

At the weekend i headed up to Attenborough in Nottinghamshire. There, i revisited the nature reserve (which are former gravel pits) and then walked along the Trent until i reached the Beeston Cut (or canal). This was a nice walk with some good scenery, and plenty of boats too!

You can see my photos of the Attenborough nature reserve here, and my photos of the Beeston Cut here.

Passing through Belper

Grand Central 180 on it's way up north.

Shropshire Places (9) : Craven Arms

Craven Arms is a town in the south of the county.

Craven Arms was a small village known as Newton up until the mid-19th century. As with many towns and villages, the arrival of the railways changed the area dramatically. Newton and the nearby village of Newington were amalgamated as the town grew because of the railway junction built nearby. A major trade was the auctions of livestock.

The town took it's name from the Craven Arms hotel, this was named after the Earls of Craven who owned the nearby Stokesay Castle.

The cattle auctions and much of the light industry that used to thrive in the town have now gone, these days Craven Arms is a centre of tourism with a number of attractions near to the town including the Shropshire Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.