2009 is the year to visit Shropshire – why? Because we are celebrating some really big birthdays indeed - Charles Darwin that evolutionary thinker was born 200 years ago in Shrewsbury and Dr William Penny Brookes who went on to inspire nothing less than the Modern Olympic Games was born in Much Wenlock. 2009 is also the 150th anniversary of A.E. Housman’s birth and it’s not hard to see where he found inspiration for his famous poetic works ‘A Shropshire Lad’ (the clue is in the title!). Whilst at Ironbridge 300 years ago a discovery by Abraham Darby II ultimately led to the Industrial Revolution.
Visit Shrewsbury, Ironbridge, Much Wenlock and Ludlow and take in the Shropshire countryside at the same time – you too could be inspired.
SHREWSBURY Or is it Shrowsbury?
That thorny old question may forever remain un-answered – but one of the biggest questions of all was answered by Shrewsbury’s Charles Darwin. 200 years ago Shrewsbury saw the birth of Charles Darwin the town’s most famous son.
Read More...MUCH WENLOCK Birthplace of the Modern Olympics
No! We’re not kidding and this is no fanciful claim, for it was here that local surgeon William Penny Brookes created the Much Wenlock Olympics that ultimately inspired Baron de Coubertin to create the Modern Olympics we have today.
Read More...IRONBRIDGE Birthplace of the Industrial Revolution and a World Heritage Site
300 years ago in 1709 the Severn Gorge saw the first large scale production of cast iron using a process pioneered by Abraham Darby that made the industrial revolution possible. It was also here that the World’s first Iron Bridge was created to span the River Severn.
Read More...LUDLOW Resting place of A.E. Housman
150 years ago A.E. Housman was born, not in Shropshire as you might expect but in Bromsgrove. So why do we celebrate this Bromsgrove Lad’s birthday? Because Housman’s most famous poetic works ‘A Shropshire Lad’ drew inspiration from the blue remembered hills.
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