I have never visited Ironbridge, one of the birthplaces of the Industrial Revolution. So when I spotted this 50 mile walk around the area I was intrigued. There is a good website telling you everything you need to know with downloadable maps and descriptions. Being old fashioned I like to have a printed copy so a couple of years ago sent off for the guide. This gives a better insight to the industrial heritage and the natural environment along the trail.
For all sorts of reasons I’ve not got away for awhile and this was high on my list of trails to explore. There are others on the backburner. The last month has been hectic with a cataract operation and a plethora of other hospital visits, but I find myself with a week free of appointments. A session on a well known website and I have managed to book accommodation for the trip. It was not easy with demand being high in the holiday season, as you will see I have taken individual variations on the sections of the walk to fit in with accommodation vacancies. One could walk all the trail sections based in Telford centre, using buses each day, but that is a faff, and I like to sample the different lodgings as they come along.
The train service to the area seems good and I have booked the journey, again being old fashioned I have the actual paper tickets to hand.
A problem arose with finding my cat, Seth, a holiday home whilst I’m away. His usual cattery is having a show down with DEFRA over the size of their feline pens, a couple of centimetres short, and are closed. Seth has never complained in the past. I tried another cattery and they were full for the whole of summer. The third on my list has space for him thankfully, otherwise the trip would have been off, friends who in the past have looked after him at home are no longer with us.
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“The Telford T50 50 Mile Trail was created to celebrate the new town’s 50th anniversary in 2018. The trail was designed to showcase the many beautiful green spaces, interesting places and industrial heritage”
This is the route in outline –
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The trail is apparently waymarked but in urban areas the discs have a habit of disappearing. We shall see.
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Time to get the small backpack out, dubbin the boots and create a new category on this webpage, Telford T50. As it is only 5 or 6 days I shall be traveling light with just the clothes I am wearing.
