UK Tourist & Leisure Attractions

This converted stable in Halford, near Craven Arms, Shropshire, was our holiday cottage, well at least the ground floor part under the porch on the left was.  The cottage was well located for...

...the Craven Arms Carvery!  We sussed it out on their website prior to our Shropshire holiday, as we use the Internet extensively for our holiday research.  You too can benefit, see our UK tourist links page!
 

In fact we went to the Craven Arms Carvery three times during our holiday in Shropshire, so it must have been good!  Very friendly, but not very busy on each of our visits.

In Craven Arms is the grass roofed Shropshire Hills Discovery Centre with the Secret Hills Exhibition which cost £4.50.  It was all about the landscape and aimed at kids really.
 

Time for our castle visit fix!  Stokesay Castle, which is just outside Craven Arms, is actually a fortified manor house.  Entrance cost £4.90, including the personal audio tour which...
 

 ...we soon gave up on as there were no signs in the castle to indicate where you were and which section to play!  Stokesay Castle was all a bit sparse inside with few exhibits.

Belinda's seen here on top of Stokesay Castle tower tuning into to the guided commentary...
 

...while Mike poses for a photo with the castle's splendid Jacobean gatehouse in the background and his usual assortment of tourist gadgets around his neck!  We also did a walk round the moat, but overall we were disappointed with Stokesay Castle.

Next up in Shropshire was a visit to Ludlow.  We parked just off the A49 bypass and used the excellently efficient Park & Ride, the bus dropped us off at the market square and right outside the museum in the town centre.  Splendid!
 

There's many fine old buildings in Ludlow, this is the Feathers Hotel, apparently the most photographed building in Ludlow.  We went in for a drink, but disappointingly found ourselves in the somewhat bland new bit on the right.

We must be suffering from castle-itus!  Two castles in one day!  Ludlow Castle was constructed at the end of the 11th century and is mainly ruins (no comparisons).

Just the evening before Ludlow Castle had hosted a Shakespeare production as part of Ludlow Festival and the temporary seating was being noisily dismantled.
 

We must like climbing to the top of castles!  Ludlow is laid out in the background below and the Shropshire hills beyond.  The castle entrance cost £4 each.

We walked down the hill to picturesque Dinham Bridge over the River Teme where boats can be hired.  Ludlow Castle can just be seen atop the hill.
 

One final shot of Ludlow then, looking up Broad Street towards The Buttercross.  We didn't try any of the Michelin starred restaurants Ludlow is famous for, but did buy some quality mince and produce for our Spag Bol we were cooking in the evening.

In the Craven Arms (well, all right, Halford) holiday cottage in Shropshire we often started the day with a hearty cooked breakfast before venturing out on the tourist trail!  Yum!!  Today we were off for a ride on a steam train which you can see on page 3 of our Shropshire holiday.