Wanting to take advantage of the final days of summer, my friends and I recently ditched London for the Shropshire countryside.
Among the five of us, only Elsa and Howard knew Shropshire well, while the rest of us had never been but were keen to explore this region of England located close to the Welsh border.
Elsa actually grew up in this neck of the woods – so we’d be staying at her parent’s house – and she had a pretty good idea of the things we should see and do. Our demands were not too high. Simply to enjoy good food, castles, hiking, great conversation, and enough sleep to feel like we’d all been away on a meditation retreat. Very wholesome!
We packed a small bag each and flung ourselves into Howard’s car. It would take us about 4-hours to arrive including a little rest stop at a motorway service station. This meant we’d arrive just before midnight all going well.
Driving from London to Shropshire
As the crow flies, the distance from London isn’t that far, but factoring in the winding country lanes en route to Elsa’s house you understand how the duration quickly bloats up to 4-hours from East London.
Once we slipped off the motorway and onto more provincial roads it became really, really dark. Howard had to drive extra carefully around the corners. The narrow, winding lanes were encased by silhouettes of sprawling trees. This resulted in a rather spooky atmosphere. That’s when someone had the brilliant idea of playing theme tunes from horror movies.
The spine-tingling journey lasted until the 3G stopped working and only then was I able to stop picturing Norman Bates running in front of the car wielding a knife whilst dressed in his dead mother’s nightdress.
As we pulled up to Elsa’s house and fumbled our way out of the car in darkness, we looked up at the sky and saw the stars for the first time. They were scattered everywhere. None of us could quite believe how majestic the sky looked, illuminating and bejewelled in this way. Somehow, living in London, I’d forgotten how it felt to look up and see exactly how nature intended it to be. I hadn’t recalled seeing stars shining so brightly since the time I slept in the Wadi Rum desert.
After a few moments of stargazing we made it through the front door, knackered and ready for bed. Elsa showed us all to our rooms after a quick cup of tea.
It only dawned on me after I got into bed that I didn’t have the WiFi password. How was I supposed to entertain myself? After a quick scout around I took Wuthering Heights down from the bookshelf and managed to get through two pages before I was flat out sleeping. I didn’t need the internet – I needed sleep!
In the morning I felt super refreshed. It was the best night’s rest I’d had in a long time. Maybe this trip was going to be like a meditation retreat after all.
I thought things couldn’t get any better until I headed downstairs for breakfast, and we were greeted with a delicious spread consisting of fruits and vegetables and eggs. All sourced from Elsa’s garden and lovingly gathered by her parents!
Visiting Ludlow
After we finished gorging ourselves we made our way to Ludlow, the biggest town in south Shropshire. It was interesting to hear that Shropshire, despite being a county, doesn’t have a city.
On the particular day we decided to go there was a food festival. This attracted a large crowds, and we pushed our way through the crowds and began drifting in the direction of where the food smelled the best, and tasting any delights that set our taste buds drooling.
Ludlow has a particularly impressive church called St Laurence’s, dating back from the 11th Century. It’s adorned with stunning stained glass windows and beautiful wood carvings. If you’d like to get a panoramic view of the town you can pay £4 to climb the tower.
There are lots of little independent shops to whittle away the hours. The best one we found is 55 Mill Street which is full of curiosities from different eras.
The main attraction of Ludlow is Ludlow Castle which hails from the medieval times. The architecture of the castle, which includes Norman, Gothic, and Renaissance elements was certainly a treat for the eyes. Along the facade, you can admire the impressive Great Tower, also known as Dinham Tower, and the beautiful chapel.
Exploring the ruins of Wigmore Castle
Next up was Wigmore Castle. It is believed to have been built around 1070, just after the Norman Conquest. I loved this place so much that it deserves a separate blog about our visit, one that delves further into its history.
For now I’ll leave you with some photos so you can see how it’s almost entirely buried with parts of its fortifications exposed. But you’ll have to use your imagination to envisage what it may have looked like in its glory days.
Afterwards we stopped off at a place called Aardvark Books in Brampton Bryan to get some tea and cake and rummage through stacks of old books. They seemed pretty flustered when we piled into the place, like they weren’t used to dealing with so many people, even though there were only five of us!
Instead of eating out in a local restaurant we decided to have dinner at Elsa’s house with her parents. For reasons I’m not entirely sure of, Dean and I managed to get out of helping cook dinner, whilst Ki, Elsa, and Howard slaved away in the kitchen. It hardly seemed fair but it wasn’t my idea, and I wasn’t about to protest.
Instead I headed into the living room and perched myself in front of the fire with Dean, and we chatted away to Elsa’s parents.
Finally, just as the hunger pangs were beginning to render me speechless, the three wise cooks summoned us into the kitchen: dinner was served.
And oh my, it looked divine, like the Lord had blessed the table himself. Elsa and Howard had recently come back from Sri Lanka so the night’s menu of dishes had been inspired by what they tried and tested over there. Lentils, spices, coconut concoctions – they had really gone to town.
At first sight, you wouldn’t have thought it was possible, but collectively we managed to devour everything. Elsa’s Mum had even made a ravishing raspberry and lemon yoghurt cake that we managed to wolf down with spoonfuls of cream. And if you add the wine and beers, the whole evening was a masterclass in how to be gluttonous.
After eating what felt like my entire body weight in food, I could barely move. I think everyone else felt the same way. My brother commented that he felt like it was the evening of Christmas, which was a pretty accurate description.
Then one by one we staggered to bed.
And this, I thought, is what holidays are all about…
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