Much Wenlock is set in the heart of Shropshire. For a small town
it has everything.
My wife and I fell in love with it
many years ago before we settled here in February 1998. We lived
in Penrhyndeureath near Portmadog in North Wales for just over two
years, but the pull of Shropshire was very strong, so we returned
to the County we had made our home since 1963.
We originally lived in an old 16th.century
thatched cottage in Upton Magna, a small village about 6 miles from
Shrewsbury. The cottage had been condemned and been empty for quite
a few years. We obained planning permission to restore it and with
the help of the local environmental people set about restoring it.
That took us nearly Eleven years. We then sold up and went to Wales
in October 1995, returnibg to Shropshire in 1998.
Our return brought us to Much Wenlock to be near our Son. We purchased
a small bungalow near to the centre of the town. This I think will
be our final home as we are both in our eighties now. We couldn’t
have chosen a nicer spot to settle than this lovely old market town
where you can sit on a bench in the Square by the Jubilee clock
and watch life go by.
It won't be long before the person sitting next to you is willing
to talk of the old times and will be just as interested in you as
you are in the town.
With a population of around 3,000 it feels much more like a village
than a town.We have a variety of shops that cater to the young,
the old, collectors, readers, gardeners and anyone who just loves
to poke around. Benches to sit on, old Coaching Inns where you can
quench your thirst, and delightful Coffee bars too.
The town has a varied history , so where do you start ?
In the museum you can go as far back
as 430 million years, to the time when we were underwater as part
of a coral reef.
Our architecture is constructed from locally quarried limestone
and bricks, many of our shops and cottages are timber framed with
cruck construction, some medieval. There are a mixture Georgian
and Victorian houses too.
Wenlock Priory is well worth a visit to see the dramatic remains
on the site of St. Milburga's Abbey dating from around AD 680.
.Much Wenlock is a bit off the beaten
track, but seriously worth a visit, It has character, it has history
and it is in a sense the epicentre of the Olympics, It is the home
of Dr.William Penny Brookes the founder of the modern day Olympics.
But Much Wenlock has so much more to offer for such a small town
In the year 2012 the Olympics will be in London, but the real pulse
and spirit of the occasion will be emitted here,from this small
town where it was conceived. It is right and proper that one of
the two Mascots should be named Wenlock
Wenlock Olympian Society’s PR Secretary, Helen Clare Cromarty,
expressed the amazement and pride felt by the Society and the town
of Wenlock when she described the unveiling of the Olympic Mascots’
names on 19th May 2010 to a startled audience of locals, dignitaries
and Society members. The Society is devoted to preserving the ideals
of Dr William Penny Brookes, founding father of the Modern Olympic
Games. The Society is still based in Much Wenlock, Shropshire, the
beautiful home town of Dr Brookes.
It was in 1850 that the first ever Olympian Games were held here
in Much Wenlock. The brainchild of Dr Brookes, the Games were originally
designed “to promote the moral, physical and intellectual
improvement of the inhabitants of the Town and neighbourhood of
Wenlock'
In the town are holy wells, shuts, cobbles, whipping posts, stocks
and various Olympic artifacts can be seen in the museum.
Other Attractions and Activities are in abundance throughout Shropshire
within easy reach of the town.
The views from Wenlock Edge towards the Wrekin is a sight to behold
and close by is the magnificent Wenlock Edge escarpment.
Please come ,explore and enjoy, we
know you’ll want to come back!
What else have we in Much Wenlock ? Lets take a look and see.
We have two great Bookshops
MUCH MORE BOOKS Ltd.
6 High St. Much Wenlock
Tel.01952 727992
Proprietors Jo and Liz Challinor
I can usually obtain any specialist books from our own small town
. If you ever have the opportunity to visit Much Wenlock, home of
the Modern Day Olympics, then I urge you to browse round ‘Much
More Books Ltd.,‘ { Picture above} This bookshop has one of
the largest collection of books I have seen .Over 50,000 second-hand,
rare, antiquarian and out of print books from years gone by. If
they haven’t your desired title in their vast stock, they
will endeavour to search around to find a copy,.Just click on to
their website below and see for yourself.
Remember—When purchasing a book.
Choose an Author as you would a friend.
http://www.muchmorebooks.co.uk.
email
jo@muchmorebooks.co.uk
WENLOCK BOOKS.
12 High St. Much Wenlock.
While in Much Wenlock visit Wenlock Books . Anna Dreda who owns
and runs this beautiful 15th,century Bookshop won the award as the
national independent bookshop of 2006.
A visit to her shop is well worth
a visit. All the latest new books are there. It looks small from
the outside, but inside there is a reading room with ample rooms
upstairs. So there you have it. A small town with two of the best
Bookshops you could wish for.
http://www.wenlockbooks.co.uk
email
info@wenlockbooks.co.uk
Phone: 01952 727877
In this same small Hight Street we have another treasure
RYANS BUTCHERS.
The queue is not due to lack of staff, it's because too many people
know about Paddy Ryan's good quality meat and reasonable prices!
Their meat is sourced from within five miles of the town, and their
pork pies are hand made each day by Mrs Ryan. Try their brawn or
pressed beef.
They open each morning at 6.00 am (they're closed on Wednesdays
and Sundays}. Christmas time is like a page out of a Charles Dickens
book. Game of all kinds hanging outside of the shop,and on Christmas
eve morning people are queing sometimes even as early as 5am! The
que has been known to stretch to well over a hundred by mid morning
on Christmas eve.It is a well known fact they have customers who
travel from as far away as Coventry to get their meat. Thats about
50 miles. They have about 6 staff working full out.. It just goes
to show that if you do things right, you'll never be short of customers.
A Ryan & Son
60 High Street
Much Wenlock
Shropshire
TF13 6AE
In this small town we also have the Wenlock Pottery, Memories Antique
shop, a Library, a Bric a Brac market on Saturdays and we also have
Authors and Painters and yes, we have our Ghosts.
Renold's House in Much Wenlock
Can you see the face at the window?
In Much Wenlock you'll find, Renold's House. Built in 1682. People
claim that faces appear at the windows and children in Victorian
outfits have been seen playing with spinning tops on the balcony.
SEE ALS0
The haunted supermarket
More recently we had reports of our local supermarket in Much Wenlock
being haunted, when workers began carrying out improvements to the
Spar shop, just off The Square in Much Wenlock, Strange things started
happening.
Shopping trolleys began moving on their own, heavy breathing was
heard and there were even apparitions.
The problems started after the builders dug up ancient pottery and
old bones underneath the building.
In early 2002,trainee manager Michelle Willis told BBC Midlands
Today: "I was sitting over by the computer.
"I could hear breathing. I opened the door but nobody was there.
"What's been going on at the moment is enough. It's enough
and I'm frightened of it."
Trolleys in the storeroom appeared to have moved on their own and
one member of staff felt a hand on their shoulder.
Shop supervisor Jody Anderson also witnessed an unexplained event:
"I was going out to the back to wash some cups, when I saw
something appear.
"It stayed for something like 15 seconds and then it disappeared,
totally," he said.
The shop is on the site of a medieval alehouse in the historic town.
But when they were digging down, the builders found unexpected remains.
"Items of crockery, lots of bones, definitely human bones,"
said builder John Todd.
"The abbey cemetery was moved here in the 12th Century and
we came across all these human bones," he said.
email des@desandjean.freeserve.co.uk
