Cheshire Places (2) : Nantwich

The market town of Nantwich is to the south of the county.

Nantwich has Roman origins, salt from Nantwich being used at Roman garrisons at Chester and Stoke-on-Trent. The name Nantwich has Welsh origins, meaning brook and brine springs. By the time of the Domesday Book, Nantwich was listed as having eight salt houses. Nantwich remained the most important salt town in Cheshire into the Medieval period. Nantwich was granted a market charter in the 14th century.

The salt industry continued to grow, by the 16th century there were around 400 salt houses in the town. However, the industry declined quickly after this and by the end of the 18th century the salt industry had almost disappeared. As well as salt, another important trade in Nantwich was the tanning industry, this survived in the town until 1974.

The town was largely burned down in 1583. The town was rebuilt with the help of Queen Elizabeth and to this day the town has a fine selection of Elizabethian timber-framed buildings. The parish church of St Mary is 14th century and one of the few suriviving buildings in the town from before the fire.

Nantwich railway station opened in 1858. The Shropshire Union Canal runs through the west of the town.

Uppingham, Rutland by bus

I want to explore Rutland more but the problem is only the county town Oakham has a rail connection. However, yesterday i went to Oakham by train and then took a bus out to the second largest town in the county which is Uppingham. The buses in Rutland seem to work pretty well so i will be doing this again in future to explore more villages in the county.

Uppingham is a lovely place, full of beautiful buildings and a good church. You can see my photos here.

Project Deblogification complete

The Around the Shires blog, which looks at British towns and villages, has now become the latest blog to reach the end of updates and has been replaced by a section on my website. This now completes Project Deblogification, but wait... didn't i say earlier that there were two blogs left to be replaced?

Indeed, i did plan to replace my Waterways blog last of all but having given it some thought i have decided to keep that blog going. There will be a section on my website coming soon dedicated to canals and other inland waterways, however i think this section complements rather than replaces the blog.

Churches (234) : St Mary the Virgin, Bulwell

The parish church of St Mary the Virgin and All Souls in Bulwell, Nottinghamshire was built in the mid-1800s to replace an earlier (11th century) dilapidated church which had been damaged in a storm. There may have been churches on the site dating back to Saxon times.

The new church was consecreted in 1850. A chancel was added in 1900. A north chapel added in 1946. The church has an aisled nave, a west tower, a chancel and the north chapel and vestry. The church is built from rubble stone with an ashlar dressing.

Pushing away

A Class 68 propels a train away from Birmingham Moor Street.