Loxy was finally ready to pick up after some remedial work..
Next stop is Ironbridge in Shropshire. We have actually been here before as this was the first place I drove her, but it was winter and everything was closed. So I’ve come to see the valley again and the amazing network of museums about the beginnings of the Industrial Revolution. I hadn’t realised the scale of the works here before, extending miles along the river valley.
Each museum opened my eyes to the significance of the valley.
- the first robust iron pots and then cast iron ovens that spread around the world. You see these in all of New Zealand’s mission stations from the 1800s
- the tiles that re-invented hygiene and were in every butchers, bathroom and railway station in the world because they are easy to wipe down and clean – plus they are beautiful
- and the china crockery – all your grandmothers tea sets probably came from here
All driven by the coal, steam power and new machines and methods invented and built here as well.
Travel Notes 