Planes, Trains and Automobiles, Oh My!! Part 7

Monday - May 21, 2018

Wayne and I were again on our own today. We went south to the Ironbridge Gorge. This is where Abraham Darby perfected the technique of smelting iron with coke, allowing for a much cheaper way to produce iron. Iron smelting was an important piece of the industrial revolution. It allowed for caste iron pieces to be produced, such as the Iron Bridge, over the River Severn.

 We started at the Museum of the Gorge, learning about the river and how it exposed commercial quality deposits of coal, iron ore, limestone and fireclay.

 Besides cast iron, factories also produce fine Victorian tiles,

 beautiful porcelain and fine bone china

 This is a coracle has been used in Britain from pre-Roman times for fishing or transportation.

 After watching a short movie about the area and the Iron Bridge, we walked through town to look for it.

 Just our luck, they started a preservation project last fall that will continue until December

Wayne, checking out the work

By Nilfanion - Wikimedia UK, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=47691903

This is what is hiding under the tarp. The Iron Bridge was opened in 1781 and was the first major bridge to be made of cast iron. 

After lunch we went to the Blists Hill Victorian Town, an outdoor living museum. We spoke to some of the employees, in their period clothing.  The banker asked Wayne how his day was going and when he answered "good" the banker then asked what part of the states we were from! And the potter's daughter actually lives on Bainbridge Island.  Small world.

 Blists Hill is a recreation of a small industrial town set in the year 1900. Queen Victoria had been on the throne for 63 years and the national average wage is around 42 pounds per year.  The banker said the economy was definitely different, as in that time one pound was worth $4.44 and now it is worth $1.35.

 Dunlop was making tyres (tires)

 Wayne found the pub, but he's driving so he has to wait til we get back to Andy's.

 This is part of the Brick and Tile works building

 We walked along the canal, up to the Hay Incline Plane. 

 It was completed in 1793 and moved industrial materials between the Shropshire Canal and the River Severn. Before this steam engine was installed loads were either brought up by the weight of a down bound car, or a team of men and horses had to pull them up.

 Yes, it is very steep!

 An old mine  

In keeping with the times, this incline lift was installed for handicap access to the canal above.

 The Spry was one of the last trows to be built, and was typical of boats used on the River Severn. It is thought to be the only surviving example of a Severn trow.  She was constructed in 1894 in Wales for the stone merchant William Davies.  With a gross tonnage of 41.4 tons, she mainly carried stone and coal along the estuary.

 After our tour we headed back to Andy's.  Wayne survived day 2 of our solo trip!