Game 7 against Shropshire at Shrewsbury

Sunday 19 July we set off from Wrexham to travel to Shrewsbury to play cricket against the Shropshire over 60s at the Shrewsbury School.

The school dates back to 1552 and the original buildings were opposite Shrewsbury Castle. The renovated buildings used by the school until 1882 are now used by the public library. At its present location the school owns 100 acres of land by the River Severn. The school's most famous student is Charles Darwin. A statue of Darwin is in the school grounds.

The cricket honour boards in the club house provides information from 1882.

Shrewsbury School is a boarding school for 740 students and is now a co-educational school. Cricket is obviously important to the school and in 2006 the Neville Cardus Cricket Centre, an indoor cricket centre, was opened. There are also six cricket grounds.

Victoria batted first and made 6 for 186. Gordon Cowling retired at 50. Shropshire passed the Victorian score in the 39th over losing only two wickets. Robin umpired during the game.

After the match both teams posed for a photograph. Despite the result it was a good game played on a great ground.

Shrewsbury

On 19 July the cricket match was against Shropshire at Shrewsbury. The game was played on the main cricket ground at Shrewsbury School. During the game Steve drove the Wags into town so that we could do some exploring.

Shrewsbury is on the Severn River which we crossed to reach the town centre.

Once again this is a town with contrasting architectural styles.

The Darwin Gate was erected in 2004 honouring Charles Darwin who was born in Shrewsbury.

As we explored the town we crossed the river again to locate Shrewsbury Abbey.

The Abbey of St Peter and St Paul has been on this site for more than 1000 years but there have been many changes to the buildings with sections being demolished during the reign of Henry VIII and during the Civil War. Restoration of the remaining building was undertaken during the nineteenth century.

The nearby railway line passes over a stone bridge structure with roads passing underneath.

We had been told that we should visit the Quarry Park by the river. It was a pleasant walk to the park.

Quarry Park is 29 acres with the central feature being the Dingle, a former quarry now transformed into a bright and colourful garden.

Outside this area people were listening to a group performing from the bandstand.

Overlooking the park is St Chad's church. There has been a church on this site since 780. The present church was rebuilt between 1790 and 1792 after the collapse of the previous building in 1788.

Another building of interest in Shrewsbury is the castle founded in 1074 but extensively renovated in the eighteenth century.

There is a fine view from the castle to the town. The yellow and brown building in the foreground is Castle Gates House built in the late sixteenth century at another location but moved to its present location in the early eighteenth century.

Across the road is the building of the former Shrewsbury School which occupied the site from 1552 until 1882.  The stone buildings were constructed between 1594 and 1830. The building, since 1963, is now the public library. Charles Darwin was a pupil at Shrewsbury School.

A statue of Charles Darwin is in the garden in front of the library.

Unfortunately we only had two hours to explore this town. There are lots of interesting sites to see. Two days later on our way to Leicester we stopped at the town again for another short visit.