We will be staying in Much Wenlock for a week at the end of July with the aim of convincing our daughters that moving to Shrewsbury is not such a bad idea after all.
We want to show them some of the good things about Shrewsbury and Shropshire so they get a bit more excited and not so sad about relocating.

We want to go for the best walks, museums, attractions, parks etc. as we want to sahow them a variety of stuff.

What places can you suggest to interest 9 and 7 year old girls but also suitable for a two year old boy?

Oops, forget to say [COLOR=red] Thank You :wub:

Blists Hill museum Ironbridge/Coalbrookdale is just down the road from Wenlock,you can buy a reentry pass ticket so you can go back again if you dont see everything the first day.a bit further away is Cosford Aerospace museum.

Yes I was about to suggest Ironbridge Gorge too.

Near Much Wenlock there is also the Roman ruins at Wroxeter.

In Bridgnorth you would normally have the Severn Valley Railway but this is currently closed due to lark chunks of embankment missing... :rolleyes:

We used to have museums in Shrewsbury but, erm, they've kinda gone... Rowley's is shut, Clive House long sold off and the Shrewsbury Quest now a permanent herb sanctuary. Oh dear.

Still, there could be other things going on in Shrewsbury during your stay in Shropshire - this Summer is packed with events here.

also at Ironbridge,try Enginuity.

http://www.ironbridge.org.uk/our_attractions/enginuity/

s.g.d.

You could drive seventeen miles down through the Corvedale to Craven Arms where you'll find the Discovery Centre with it's grass roof. There's a museum in the town crammed with articles from the last century and just out of town you'll find a play barn. Stokesay Castle's just down the road and further on Ludlow with it's impressive castle.

http://www.ludlow-shropshire.co.uk/craven-arms.htm

Thank you, I will goggle that lot to start with.

We are a very 'walkie' family - the girls love our days out in the Forest of Dean when we stay at the in-laws. What would be on par with that? Wrekin, Stiperstones, Lyth Hill or, somewhere else?

Thanks,
Schizoidgal.

Mortimer forest just outside Ludlow,forestry commission colour coded walks and mountain bike trails and plenty of parking,also Bury Ditches near Bishops Castle,great views and remains of hill fort,Bishops Castle well worth a visit too,two home brewed pubs and plenty of small shops ,set on a hill in one of the most unspoilt parts of the county,go to the T.I.C there and they will give you a leaflet of unspoilt walks in that area.

Okay, so we now have planned - in no particular order:

a day in Ironbridge visiting...something
a day in Craven Arms visiting the Discovery Centre and maybe Stokesay Castle
a day in Bishop Castle walking
a day in Shrewsbury sightseeing and shopping

Do we, or do we not, want to have a visit to Telford, after all this is where Hubby will be working?

Saturday and Sunday will be mulching around Much Wenlock and the following Saturday will be a drive to Hereford with a stop at Ludlow for lunch again.

If that doesn't convince them that it is much more beautiful and exciting than the Essex, then nothing will.

Thanks for your help,
Schizoidgal.

What about Hoo Farm in Telford or Home Farm in Attingham Park. Both lovely places with activities and animals for all ages

If you like walks, the Long Mynd near Church Stretton is my personal favourite, there are miles of paths going all over the place and some lovely views.

hi schizoidgal. not posted to you for a while:) i would reccommend the lonymynd too for walks etc, take a picnic and go for a good walk up there. also you can visit carding mill valley which is quite nice but not so good for walking, although im sure when we were at school we walked from carding mill up the bank to rectory wood which is nice and peaceful.
i would reccomend acton scott working farm museum too-i am actually going to go there with my 2 year old and my 2 friends who both have 5 year olds as they will all like seeing the animals and things that go on there. i do beleive there are also nice walks starting at the car park for acton scott.
i am also going to park hall farm with my little one tommorrow for a nursery trip but that is out at oswestry so dont know if that is too far?
try this link for details on acton scott ( hope it works) http://www.shropshire.gov.uk/museums.nsf/o...0256C77003B930B
hope that helps :D

http://www.shrewsburyguide.info/
also thought this website may be of help

Really nice pictures jonesy55. :)

I remember taking my children when they were little to Acton Scott Farm and it was lovely. Over that way is Wernlas Rare Breeds Farm too near Onibury. Mainly different poultry breeds but goats, sheep, donkey and pigs too and great views.

You might get the urge to keep hens yourself when you move here. I do and now there are three neighbours who do too!

No, give Telford a miss. As the famous line goes - "will somebody please think of the children!" <_<

Actually PS when I took my kids and a friend to Telford town park about 5 years ago we walked around a lake which admittedly was spoilt by having a supermarket trolley sticking out (the river Severn is fortunately deep enough to hide these discarded beasts from sight.)
Anyway we came across lots of baby grass snakes and then amazingly interrupted a large adult grass snake with a frog most of the way down its throat. It panicked on seeing us and regurgitated the frog who seemed quite unharmed and then slithered away.
It really made our day. (and the frogs I should imagine!) :D

This Shrewsbury vs. Telford snobbery realy gets up my jacksy,the Ironbridge gorge is in Telford,and as i have said before,there are some grim areas in Shrewsbury just as there are in Telford,Shrewsbury is not the end of the rainbow.

Dont think its snobbery avronb. Ironbridge gorge is squeaky touristy tourist attraction, the rest is a bit run down for a 'new' town dont you think ?

Some of the 'new' parts of Shrewsbury are a bit run down,ie.Harlescott,Meole,Sundorne and the newer Gains Park area .

and how long has Shrewsbury been around in comparison with the 'new town' Telford?

I'm on about the year 2007 Andy,not 100 yrs ago.

not sure what your comparing here, historic value, crime rate, daily mugging statistics. Telford scores higher some of these. can you define this?

I think Shrewsbury hold the county murder record so far this year.

Gordon Bennett!

Anyway, I don't consider Ironbridge Gorge to be part of Telford.

Cities like Birrmingham and Manchester are safer at night in comparison to size than Shrewsbury.
The gang culture here is a big problem.

Dont know where you go at night Lemon but youre going to the wrong areas

I do work closely with the youth service and local Police and this ' gang-culture' you type about, fill me in. Where in Shrewsbury ? :lol:

It is Andy,like it or not.

You could be right. here are some stats though

Telford

Shrewsbury

The naughtier people are in Telford :rolleyes:

.

Are you getting me mixed up with David Avronb :blink:

Basically the minute you step off the train in Shrewsbury or Whitchurch at night. There is a general agreement amongst my sons, my 4 nephews and their friends that they feel safer when in the city (though they would avoid some areas)

They can't speak for Telford as none of them have lived or worked there.

My neighbour, a youngish bloke made the mistake of cutting down the back of the Lion Hotel when returning from the station a few months back. Did he go to the police? No. He saw it as his own fault for risking the short cut. <_<

I live part time in Manchester, as a student, and I can say that the city centre there is a much safer and less chav ridden place than Shrewsbury town centre!!

And on the subject of Ironbridge Gorge being in Telford - well, considering that only about 2/3rds of the the gorge is in the borough of Telford & Wrekin is already telling. Buildwas and Ironbridge Power Station are in Shrewsbury & Atcham and Jackfield Tile Museum is in Bridgnorth (as is Broseley, etc). Even those parts of the gorge that are in Telford & Wrekin borough aren't really Telford are they? Telford just borrows Ironbridge for image because then it can say ridiculous things like "Telford - birthplace of industry" on the motorway. Which is ludicrous considering that Telford wasn't even born until nearly 200 years after the going-ons in Ironbridge and Coalbrookdale.

Rant over. For now.

Try the Underdale-Cherry Orchard area for a start.

I've not been paying attention, what sorts of things have been happening in those areas?

Just to enlighten you. Young people are often labelled by soceity when someone views three or more hanaging around on street corners they are labelled as a 'gang'
British children 'rarely carry weapons'Gang culture is seen as a problem by one in five of England's secondary schools according to a report by the education watchdog Ofsted.It comes amid concern over levels of disruption and even violence in the classroom and playground.Stories of weapons checks and drug tests at schools do little to alleviate fears.
Britain's political parties are fuelling a "moral panic".all wanting to jump on the political band wagon to gain votes.

Attitudes to young people - particularly those from poor or ethnic minority backgrounds - had been negatively affected.Levels of violent crime had actually fallen but politicians had attempted to out-do each other to appear "tough on crime".The idea of gangs can be dangerous.Young people here are only doing what they have always done.Only America has an established gang culture. Young people here carry guns very rarely indeed.Even where there are gangs, such as in parts of south Manchester, members tend not to join until they are 18 to 21."
Standing with trousers down to your crutch and your hood on does not make you a member of a gang.Now we have Asbos, which seem draconian and politicians are competing to see who can seem the most 'anti-crime',kids are suffering. It's like kids are being criminalised for being young.People branded the usual suspects as gang members. Young kids are doing what they have always done. Nowadays, when there are three or more of them hanging around they can be moved on. In Moscow - unlike London - groups of young people who spent time together in public were not bothered by police and that this had not resulted in higher levels of gang activity.
Some commentators have linked "tagging" - daubing personalised graffiti on walls - with gangs marking out their "turf". the practice had been happening for more than a decade and had only recently been linked to violent group behaviour.

We've had these panics before with mods, rockers, goths. This is the latest.
Maybe we should understand more and condemn less. prevolent in Inner cities, not in rural Shropshire. So I would recomend Shrewsbury as a place to stay still :blink:

But Shrewsbury, Telford and to some extent other towns such as Oswestry and Whitchurch, are not "rural Shropshire". We do have quite a lot of anti-social behaviour problems here. Okay, it's not full blown gang culture with guns etc but it's not far off either. In the Underdale/Cherry Orchard area I have friends there who tell me regularly about the unbelievably bad cases of young people (14-19 year olds roughly) drinking on the streets, being rude and loud, causing vandalism to both private and public property, etc etc. The police are of course told to come and sort things out and whilst sometimes they do, a lot of the time they just ignore it or are too slow to arrive. Another great example of somewhere in Shrewsbury where sometimes you can feel unsafe or threatened is the bus station - yet why don't the police just post a regular patrol to stop it happening. They must know that the bus station is a hotspot for layabouts, anti-social behaviour and petty crime. Sometimes I just don't understand what's happened to our law enforcement these days.

think this thread has somewhat gone off course andat this rate you will be putting people off coming here.....its not such a bad place you know.
i think you are all dwelling on the worst aspects of the area rather than what is good about it. i personally have never had any trouble whilst being out at night in shrewsbury and i have probably had over 10 years of clubbing etc-although not so much now ;)

Yes, I've been going out to pubs, bars and clubs in town for 15 years and never been involved in any 'incidents', if you want to avoid trouble you can in my opinion.

There are no parts of town I wouldn't walk around on my own at night, not sure I could say that for Manchester, although the city centre there is fine many of the rougher suburbs are much worse than anywhere in Shrewsbury.

My embarrassment a few years ago was meeting my mother-in-law from Birmingham for lunch and a bloke being stabbed within yards of us on Pride Hill!

I never cease to be surprised at the young age kids start drinking today, years 5 & 6 in Primary School and easy access of strong drinks like spirits dressed up to attract youngsters is something very wrong IMO.

BTW Andy,

You sound just like my eldest son who has been studying sociology for his A Levels.

All the posters here have their own experiences and share them good & bad.

I agree totally with your analagy Lemon. Regarding sociology been there done that got the T-shirt and am daily trying to get to grips with mainly parents who think they know better about their childs responsibility but have very often overlooked their son or daughters criminal record and yes it is a parent thing!.

My eldest son is on the Shetland Islands at present doing conservation work so we are having a break from him expounding his sociological theories! <_<