Shropshire’s secret county town

LOCALS TOLD me the ‘Sh’ in Shropshire is because the county doesn’t get talked about much, so not enough people really know what an excellent part of Britain it is to visit.

Its county town Shrewsbury is a bit of a secret in itself – a place you bypass on the way to North Wales.

As well as bypassing it myself plenty of times, I also often stopped there in the Eighties for the famous Shrewsbury Flower Show at the town’s Quarry Park. Only yards from the park’s main gates are narrow streets and historic buildings on a hilly loop of the River Severn. I can’t believe now that back then I didn’t leave the marquees and show gardens in the park for a few minutes and explore the town.

That’s why it came as a real