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.
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.
The parish church of St Mary the Virgin in Charlbury, Oxfordshire is Norman with the church owned by Eyesham Abbey. The church was lengthened in the 13th century. The chancel was extended eastwards, the south aisle, west tower and north and south chapels were added to the church. More changes happened in the 14th and 15th centuries with a clerestory added and the north aisle was widened. A south porch in the Perpendicular Gothic style was added in the 16th century.
The church was restored and altered in the mid-19th century. The church is built from coursed limestone rubble with an ashlar dressing.
For a change i went off on a rail adventure on a Friday instead of a Saturday due to the weather forecast (though to be honest Saturday didn't turn out that badly anyway).
I did not go that far, going to Hinckley in Leicestershire. It is one of these towns that i have visited once before and a return trip was long overdue (though you can partially blame Covid for that maybe).
Hinckley is a nice little town. The church of St Mary was open, it is always nice when a church is open. You can see my photos here.
Whitchurch is a market town at the very north of the county.
Whitchurch is the oldest continually inhabitated town in Shropshire and there has been traces found of human activity in the area since the Neolithic. During Roman times there was a settlement in the area called Mediolanum. It is thought that St Alkmund, son of Alhred, King of Northumbria was buried in Whitchurch in 800CE, the parish church is dedicated to him.
By the time of the Domesday Book the settlement was known as Westune, or West Farmstead. Due to the location near the Welsh Marches, the town was in a strategic location and the Normans built a castle and a church from white Grinshill stone. The name Whitchurch is middle English for White Church.
Whitchurch became a town in the 14th century. Whitchurch became an important centre for Cheshire cheese production, with regular cheese fairs held in the town. The arrival of the Llangollen Canal in 1811 and the railways in 1858 helped the town gain good transport links.
The church of St Anne in Bewdley, Worcestershire began life in 1695, the tower dates from then. The rest of the church followed in the mid-1700s and was complete in 1748. There was a chapel on the site previously, a chantry chapel being founded in 1450. St Anne's was finished in the Classical style. The nave has aisles, there is a chancel and a four stage west tower.
The church is built from ashlar.
At the weekend i visited Belper up in Derbyshire. I have been once before, a number of years ago. Belper is actually a rather nice little town. The centrepiece being a mill building, a reminder of one of the main ways money was made around in this area back then. Nowadays, the mill building is home to a number of businesses including restaurants and other leisure activities, which is one of the main ways money is made around here in the 21st century! You can see my photos here.
Wem is a market town in the north of the county.
The name is derived from the Old English wamm or marsh. There has been settlement in the area since at least the Iron Age, the Romans may have also had a camp in the area. The area was owned by the Arden family at the time of the Norman Conquest. The town was listed in the Domesday Book, the Normans building a castle and fortified the town with a wall or earthwork. This was necessary due to reported attacks by Welsh rebels.
Wem gained a market charter from King John in 1202. It has kept a market to the present day. The town was badly damaged by a great fire in 1677, the heat was intense enough to melt the church bells!
Later the town was served by two stagecoaches. The Llangollen Canal has a marina nearby at Whixall. Wem railway station opened in 1858.
The sweet pea was first cultivated in Wem in the 1880s. Agriculture was the basis of the local economy until recent times, brewing began in Wem in 1700 and continues to the present day.
The parish church of St Mary the Virgin in Kidlington, Oxfordshire dates from 1220 though was built on the site of an earlier 11th century church. The church was rebuilt in the 13th century with aisles and side chapels added in about 1330. A clerestory was added in the 15th century. The tower was built in the 14th century, the spire is 50m tall and is known as Our Lady's Needle.
The church is mostly built from squared and coursed limestone and coursed limestone rubble.
At the weekend i headed down to London, i haven't been for a few months. I didn't want to visit any new stations this time, rather revisit some stations such as Lambeth North that i have not been to for some years. So, i headed up and down tbe Bakerloo Line, getting some updated photographs and also some street scenes at Lambeth, Maida Vale and Kilburn Park. You can see my photos here.
Highley is a village on the south eastern border of Shropshire and Worcestershire.
The village has Saxon origins and was mentioned in the Domesday Book. Originally a farming community, Highley later became known for stone quarries and coal mining. The latter taking off on a large scale in the late 1800s. The village greatly expanded to provide homes for the coal miners. The mine closed in the 1960s and is now the site of a country park.
The parish church of St Mary dates from the 12th century. The nave and chancel are Norman, a west tower in the Perpenticular style was added in the 15th century. A vestry was added to the north of the church in 1903, the church being restored in the 1880s.
The (original) Severn Valley Railway opened a railway station in Highley in 1862. This station was closed in 1963 but was re-opened as part of the Severn Valley Railway preserved line in 1974. Highley is now the home of the SVR's Engine House Museum which houses the railway's reserve fleet of locomotives.
Another of my blogs has now reached the end of it's life (though will remain viewable in it's afterlife of course). This is the big one, my canal blog which has been going for over sixteen years! The blog was updated daily (week days that is) with a photo from my journeys around the canal network. However, i now have a British waterways website so its time to retire the old blog.
Project Deblogification continues, just one blog remains to end... this one. However, there is a new blog which will replace it. More details soon.
The church of the Holy Trinity, in the Warwickshire village of Long Itchington, dates from the late 12th or early 13th centuries. There were additions made to the church in the following two centuries. The church has a nave with a south aisle, a four bay chancel (a 14th century addition) and a west tower. The tower once had a spire but it collapsed in 1762. A clerestory was added in the 15th century.
The church is built from coursed lias rubble which has been interspersed with sandstone blocks.
At the weekend, i took a train to Warwick Parkway which, as the name implies, is a railway station near to Warwick (Parkway stations are usually outside the actual town). The reason i went there though was to revisit the village of Budbrooke.
Budbrooke is a pretty small affair, though has a nice church. It used to be the church of the Royal Warwickshire Regiment, who had their barracks nearby. The barracks are now long gone but have been replaced by the modern housing estate of Hampton Magna. This is by far the most populous part of Budbrooke these days. You can see my photos here.
