Our first stop today was in the small town with the long name: Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch. In English it translates to "St. Mary's Church in the hollow of white hazel near a rapid whirlpool and the Church of St. Tysilio near the red cave." There's not much to do in "Llanfair PG," as it is listed on most maps, other than buy the T-shirt (available at the tourism office), take pictures of the sign on the train station platform, and pester the tourism office lady to say it again. But we just had to go!

We travelled through The Cotswolds and on to Shrewsbury. a rural area of south central England covering parts of 6 counties, notably Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire. Its rolling hills and grassland harbour thatched medieval villages, churches and stately homes built of distinctive local yellow limestone. We stopped in Shrewsbury and the town centre is packed with timber-framed black & white buildings, steep narrow streets and alleyways. In fact it boasts over 600 listed buildings.

There numerous castles, abbeys and churches in the area. The town's most famous son, naturalist Charles Darwin, was born in the Mount in Shrewsbury's Frankwell area in 1809. He's commemorated by a statue outside the town library.

We love pork pies and wanted to ensure we made a visit to Ironbridge. The bridge at Ironbridge is the world's first bridge constructed of iron.
Eley's Of Ironbridge Pie Shop is a lovely shop. This pie shop has the most amazing smells that you can't resist, they sell sausage rolls, meat pies and their famous pork pie as well as hot drinks. The shop is always busy, it's a take away food shop but they do have a small selection of tables to sit outside and watch the world go by whilst enjoying your food. It is across the road from the famous bridge and looks onto the river so you have a lovely view along with wonderful food.

We were now getting into the territory of Andrew's childhood - a must do on our trip. We headed towards where Andrew's grandad's house was. Orleton is a small village in northern Herefordshire, England. It is located midway between the historic market towns of Ludlow and Leominster, both some 5 miles away and is surrounded by beautiful Herefordshire countryside with a pretty brook meandering through.
We looked for Bircher Common where Paradise Cottage used to be. This is where Andrew was born.

We stayed in Orelton overnight at the Riverside Inn in nearby Aymestrey.