- Testing out the new footbridge -
Saturday 1st June 2019 and the 59th episode of the Chip Foundation Chronicles commences with a train ride to Telford - following the timetable shakeup in May, there are now three trains an hour between Birmingham and Shrewsbury rather than two. Telford Central's shiny new footbridge link to the town centre is subjected to our collective scrutiny with Ken and Stephen on hand to model the improved walkway. We then bypass the busy shopping malls in taking a shortcut towards Southwater.
- Meeting a golden lady at Maxell Gardens -
Southwater One is a prime leisure and retail complex that has reinforced Telford's position as an important regional destination. We try to spot some fish in the reconfigured lake but our finest piscine discovery actually comes courtesy of the Maxell Cherry Gardens where a finned friend stars as a flowerbed centrepiece (according to Mr B Senior the species resembles a carp although it seems to be modelled out of carrier bags). Nick meanwhile is more concerned about making the acquaintance of a certain shimmering lady nearby.
- Monkey Business -
Both the Maxell and Chelsea Gardens have become familiar to me over the course of many Telford Town Park visits but I've never encountered the bright yellow gorilla sculpture before. Apparently the British Ironworks Centre near Oswestry provide the park with a different display animal each summer so we take it in turns to pose with the current incumbent. Stephen's picture has been selected for blog purposes, and to avoid any doubt I should confirm that Mr B appears on the left of the photograph!
- Mechanical Miner -
The number 8 bus at 11:30 forms our Broseley connection as we settle in for the trundle down through Madeley, Ironbridge and Jackfield. This is our fifth museums trip in total so we're becoming well versed in the sights of the Gorge, with Ironbridge itself attracting plenty of tourists as befits a summertime Saturday. Broseley is thankfully a little quieter and we alight on Bridgnorth Road in order to investigate some of Gerry Foxall's artistic homages to the former mining industry. Crafted out of chains and other pieces of blackened metal, the designs evocatively depict the hard toil undertaken by miners and their pit horses back in the day.
- Worthington's Appreciation Society -
Keeping in mind an intended tour time of 13:30, we have scope to sample a couple of neighbouring watering holes on Broseley High Street. The Albion is our first port of call, Nick and I sampling Salopian Shropshire Gold whereas Mr B Senior gives the keg Worthington's his considered seal of approval - such was his admiration for said pint, he completely forgot to pick up his digital camera afterwards - cue minor panic! Luckily we'd only decamped next door to the Old Butchers Shop Bar so it was easy enough to retrieve the mislaid article. As for the Butchers Bar, we all rather liked it as a friendly little establishment showing the Cricket World Cup action and supplying Stephen with his sausage roll fix.
- Thorn-themed pipes -
The allotted hour for our museum moment is rapidly approaching so we make a beeline along Duke Street to Broseley Pipeworks, said to be the only surviving example of a pipe factory in Britain. Indeed, Broseley was historically at the forefront of the clay pipe industry and gained a global reputation for the quality of its products. The pipeworks today effectively acts as a time capsule showing the factory as it was when abandoned in the 1950s, and we start by perusing some of the wares in the gift shop - the designs on show include thorns, acorns and lacy ladies' legs! They look quite fragile but always were a throwaway commodity, hence why Broseley pipes turn up in archaeological excavations.
- A Pipeworks Panorama -
Our guide Roy is a font of knowledge, bringing to life how clay pipes were made and even having all the answers when Mr B Senior unleashes a series of quickfire questions (we can only assume John was channelling his inner-Paxman interrogation technique). Producing pipes was an intricate process requiring much dexterity during a ten-hour shift. We are intrigued to learn about the different lengths that were made, from standard cutties to the long-stemmed churchwardens for which Southorn & Co were particularly renowned. Nick no doubt would have wanted the longest pipe possible, acting both as a status symbol and allowing further distance over which the smoke had chance to cool down.
- 'Murkgate' in Madeley -
That genuinely fascinating visit is followed by a swift half in the Duke of York and an increasingly crowded return ride on the 8 (a game of sardines on a bus that seemed to be struggling with suspension problems). It's something of a relief to hop off at Madeley, especially when we can call into the Miner's Arms for some traditional Banks's hospitality. The Mild is on good form here as the two dreaded B words crop up in conversation (Brexit and Boris). We need an urgent distraction and the Foresters Arms does the trick with an intentionally cloudy Salopian brew called Paper Planes - the murky appearance and grapefruit aroma prompts much discussion, Ken gamely giving it a whirl. Supping up, we seek a bus back to Telford with the 2 eventually obliging by way of Sutton Hill, Dawley and Malinslee. The 18:31 train sees us homeward, and we consider our museum mission signed off successfully - those passport tickets really were excellent value!
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