- Do greyhounds like pizza? -
You can seldom guarantee the weather in November so I'm pleased to see bright blue skies as I set out from Telford Central railway station. A mysterious footpath leads me first into the Central Park business zone where there are offices for firms including Capgemini, Nock Deighton and Nicholas Tart. It's not far from here to the Greyhound Roundabout, taking its title from a bygone boozer which was turned into a Domino's pizza outlet sometime in the 1990s.
- Second Avenue, Ketley Bank -
There is still an operational pub in the vicinity (the Hare & Hounds on Holyhead Road) but I'm keen to concentrate on Ketley Bank, an area that originally came to my attention over ten years ago - thanks to the number 23 bus - yet I've never got to grips with it photographically. I start to put that right with Greyhound Hill and an estate that comprises a sequence of numbered avenues. Among these, Fourth Avenue is home to Top Shop and Skyline Pizza while Sixth and Third Avenues converge near the Queenswood Primary School & Nursery complex.
- The Stafford Arms as was -
Some aspects of Ketley Bank are more familiar than others. I don't remember the playing fields off Bank Way at all (with recent rain this would be a squelchy place for a kickabout), but the Lord Hill is known to me after a Hub Marketing visit in 2012. Elsewhere along Main Road, I'm intrigued by an old community centre with little sign of life despite the presence of Abacus Childcare signage, plus I simply must pay homage to the former Stafford Arms as an ex-Burtonwood establishment latterly turned into flats.
- Holy Trinity Church -
Another lost watering hole is next on my hitlist as Dukes Hill brings me out beside the Pear Tree Bridge Inn, transformed into apartments having at one time been a Wrekin Brewery tied house. Holyhead Road then introduces me to Holy Trinity, the Parish Church for Oakengates and Ketley Bank within the Diocese of Lichfield. Grade II listed, the church was built in 1855 to a design that incorporates lancet windows and a small bell tower.
- Wombridge Parish Church -
Onwards I go towards Oakengates, passing Wellington Amateurs FC (based at the Fortis Stadium off School Grove) and the Maddocks Sports Club. I have a visit to Wrockwardine Wood in mind but get confused between New Road and New Street (easily done), the second of which results in an unexpected Wombridge incursion. As happy accidents go this is a belter, revealing a corner of Telford that is completely new to me. The local church here sits partially on the site of a dissolved medieval priory and is dedicated to St Mary & St Leonard.
- Wombridge Cemetery -
Wombridge Parish easily pre-dates any thought of Telford New Town developments as its population largely grew during the Victorian period, boosted by emerging employment opportunities among the nearby collieries and furnaces; the Wombridge Canal meanwhile was a tub-boat system operational from 1788 to 1921 and notable for an inclined plane at Trench. Back in the present day, the aforementioned church looks absolutely stunning surrounded by leaves of burnished gold and the adjacent cemetery makes for a pretty picture too.
- The Crown Inn, Oakengates -
Pleased about that haul of autumnal angles, I pick out a cycle path as a means of returning to Oakengates (via Stafford Road) and reward myself with a couple of pints. Oakengates is blessed by a trio of fine Market Street hostelries of which I have time to sample just two. The bright yellow vision that is the Crown beckons for some Hobson's Stout whereas the Old Fighting Cocks boasts a number of Rowton ales including Meteorite pale bitter (the name referencing an iron meteorite that landed in Rowton village during April 1876). Both beers prove to be top notch, adding the triumphant cherry on the cake of a trip that will go down as a terrific last minute change of plan - cheers!
Not been to this neck of the woods before...home of Everards jigsaw beermats?
ReplyDeleteVery distinctive frontage!
Hi Beermat, Telford is an interesting area with old market towns like Oakengates, Dawley and Wellington plus the New Town estates to explore. The three pubs in Oakengates are well known as a combination and usually all feature together in the Good Beer Guide (the one I didn't do on this occasion was the Station). The rail line between Wolverhampton and Shrewsbury is great for a pub crawl stopping at Oakengates, Shifnal and Wellington - definitely recommended.
ReplyDeleteThe Tiger beermat jigsaw was just one of those lucky finds, as soon as I saw it I remembered you commenting when you'd seen one in the East Midlands. I think Everards own the Old Fighting Cocks in combination with the Rowton Brewery, one of their Project William establishments. Cheers, Paul