August 11 & 12 

After our beer and selfie at The Turf (Paul may have bought a cap) we boarded the train to Shrewsbury. It was a highlight for Paul as he had never actually ridden this route. Meant we got to pass by many of the landmarks we knew so well from our time there, particularly the aqueduct at Chirk.

John Buckley picked us up at Shrewsbury station and took us back to his and Fiona’s for a lovely tea in the garden, and a walk to fend off the jet lag and supper. 

The next day we (re) explored Shrewsbury, walking down to the river, first for coffee, then to meet up with a different Fiona (Loveday). We wandered through and past old favourites: the Dingle, the Market Square, down the High Street back past (Charles Darwin’s) old Shrewsbury school, the castle and the station and back to the river. 

Our destination was the refurbished flax mill. Again visiting  part of the country that was always close, but one we never had visited. (This became a thing). 

Whomever came up with the idea for somehow converting flax into linen was insane. So laborious. Interestingly it was the US War of independence coupled with the concurrent advances of the Industrial Revolution that was the impetus for the industrialization of the process to replace the sudden loss of access to cotton. 

And it also created the milieu for the design of the mill which is recognized as the first multi-storey building that became the blueprint for the skyscraper. 

After returning to Fiona’s car she dropped us out by the hospital where we got to have another lovely tea in the garden, this time with Czes and Jola who were Paul’s registrars when he was an SHO at Shrewsbury. Then another pleasant walk back to John & Fiona’s for supper. 

Getting our kms in, in preparation for Offa. 14km.