Today’s walk wasn’t quite what I had in mind when I set off. I planned to visit a secret garden, but decided to walk to the Peace Gardens first where I lingered on a bench watching the world go by.
Whilst I was taking photos near to the Peace Gardens a gentleman noticed me and told me about the previous uses of some of the buildings nearby. I had no idea that one of them used to be the fire station or the local butchers shop. There is so much interesting history within the town of Wellington.
I arrived at my planned destination, the secret garden of Wellington station to find a red warning sign ‘Staff Only’. I was a little confused because there was a fence and a gate with the warning sign where previously there had been no barrier. The temptingly open gate to the secret garden was behind the barrier. The garden has recently been transformed from rustic to formal leaving me to wonder why access was denied.
When I got home I found that the opening of the garden has been delayed until October…
6 Comments CherryPie on Sep 15th 2022
The sun had got its hat on, a perfect excuse for me to visit the walled garden at Attingham Park. I arrived in time for lunch which I enjoyed sitting outside in the sunshine. After a leisurely stroll around the walled garden I took the pathway to the mile walk, another favourite location of mine within Attingham Park.
4 Comments CherryPie on Sep 14th 2022
After driving my mum to a couple of appointments I walked to my local Parish Church to see floral tributes to Queen Elizabeth II that had been placed on a commemorative stone in the Garden of Rest. The garden was created in 1953/54 to mark the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, the stone marks the occasion.
4 Comments CherryPie on Sep 14th 2022
After visiting the Flaxmill we weren’t ready to go home so we set off towards the mere at Ellesmere, deciding to stop at the nearby Colemere. We enjoyed a pleasant walk around the mere which is surrounded by mature woodland.
Cole Mere was formed at the end of the last Ice Age. 10,000 years ago. It is a kettlehole; which are created by large chunks of ice left behind the main glacier. These melt more slowly and leave steep-sided, deep hole in the ground which subsequently fills with rainwater to create a mere. Unlike lakes, meres have no natural inflow or outflow of water and are fed by rainwater from their own mini-catchment.*
*from a sign next to the mere.
6 Comments CherryPie on Sep 12th 2022
The historically significant Flaxmill Maltings was opened to the public this weekend after many years of restoration. We took the opportunity visit both the site and exhibition. The transformation from its former derelict state is impressive. I found the exhibition interesting and informative but thought that it didn’t bring out the historic significance of the building structure.
The restoration project is still a work in progress. Other associated buildings on the site are still in need of restoration.
The Main Mill at Shrewsbury Flaxmill Maltings is the first iron-framed building in the world. The pioneering frame is what makes this an internationally important industrial heritage site.
Known as the grandparent of skyscrapers, the Main Mill opened in 1797 as a purpose-built flax mill. Since then, the site has grown and been repurposed and adapted many times. It was a maltings from 1897 to 1987, but also served as a temporary army barracks during the Second World War. After the maltings closed in 1987, the future of the site and its important buildings became increasingly uncertain.
The new mill would be built to Charles Bage’s designs. Before construction began, he used his own research and that of others to test the strength of cast iron and the structure of the frame that he had designed. When Bage was satisfied that the plans were right, the mill was built.
The innovative new five-storey Main Mill building had an internal frame made entirely from cast iron. The frame was made up of three rows of cast iron columns and cast iron beams extended between them. Brick arches were built between the beams to form the floors and wrought iron tie rods prevented these arches from springing apart. Together this made a fireproof structure.
The columns and the beams for the frame were cast in Shrewsbury at William Hazeldine’s new foundry. Hazeldine had a reputation for quality – he also supplied Thomas Telford with components for the world’s first suspension bridge built over the Menai Strait some years later.
As well as creating a fireproof structure, the strength that iron gave to the Main Mill was the leap needed to allow buildings to be built taller. Now described as the grandparent of the modern skyscraper, the Main Mill is the first known multi-storey cast iron-framed building in the world.
The full history can be viewed here.
Before leaving we chose to have lunch in the onsite Turned Wood Café. The offerings are plant based and everything is beautifully presented. The menu is a work in progress, I am sure I will be back soon to sample something new.
2 Comments CherryPie on Sep 12th 2022
