Ironbridge
Categories: places
Tags: photos, Ironbridge
Date: 01 March 2010 20:13:54
At the weekend I headed down south for a change and stayed at HD's digs for the weekend. On Saturday we went to visit the town of Ironbridge, which unsurprisingly is famous for having an iron bridge. More than that (of course!) it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and features 10 museums showing various aspects of the area's history in iron-smelting, mining and manufacture. It is also very pretty, even when the weather is dingy and cold. We visited 4 or 5 of the museums, and I think the Jackfield Tile Museum was my favourite. The area was known for mining and producing iron from the mid 16th century, but during the Industrial Revolution the smelting of iron using coke (cleaned up coal) rather than charcoal meant that it could be mined cheaply and plentifully. HD reckons Ironbridge could therefore be reckoned as the birthplace of global warming.
Anyway - pictures:
This was an amazing 12 metre long scale model of the entire valley.
This last one is a bit blink-and-you'd-miss-it as I didn't have my super-duper zoom lens on me, but anyway the eagle-eyed among you might notice a blob of yellow. That, dear readers, is the first crocus I've seen this year (there were snowdrops too) which means that spring is on the way! (no sign of any up here yet, but I'll take them where I find them).