Shrewsbury in the Sunshine - Challenges Day 9

Early Sun on the Severn, Shrewsbury by Janice Gill

Shrewsbury, in Shropshire, is a popular town with tourists. The town centre itself is dotted with Tudor buildings, especially around the Bear Steps area and is wrapped by the River Severn.

There are plenty of walks through the town itself, but my favourite area is the riverside from Greyfriars Bridge to the Play Area. It's an easy, level walk with a hard surface suitable for pushchairs or wheelchairs. There are also interesting diversions that can be used to extend the distance and take in the Dingle, a lovely garden area created from an old quarry.

It's an ideal walk with my two young grandchildren as they enjoy the play area. This encourages them to walk there but means they are too tired for the return journey. So even though the double buggy seems superfluous to requirements on the outward leg, it is a boon for getting back to the start.

The River Severn at Shrewsbury is slow and meandering, with the old part of town enclosed in one meander loop. There is plenty of interesting nature and wildlife to observe throughout the year. The children loved the crunchy fallen leaves and conkers and the pair of wonderfully coloured Mandarin ducks. The cormorant diving and coming up somewhere completely different was, in their eyes, utterly hilarious.

The weather today was exceptional. At 24.5 C it was more than 10 C higher than the average for the time of year. By the middle of the week, temperatures are expected to drop to 12 C with torrential rain. It was a great day for photography and would have been more fruitful without the children, but not as much fun.

Greyfriars bridge looking south west by Janice Gill

Mandarin Duck by Janice Gill

Today, I'm happy to say that I've successfully met my blogging and walking with my camera challenges for day 9.