Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
pipe-making factory (£4.75 adults; £3.75 over 60; £3.10 full-time students and chil-
dren 5-18); and Enginiuty, an interactive exhibit that allows kids to become engi-
neers for a day (£7.85 adults; £6.75 over 60, full-time students, and children 5-18).
Insider tip: If time is short, we recommend that you at least visit the Iron Bridge,
Blists Hill Victorian Town, and the Coalport China Museum.
A passport ticket to all museums in Ironbridge Gorge is £23 for adults, £18 for
seniors, £15 for students and children 5 to 18, £6.50 for families of two adults and
up to three children, and free for children 4 and under. Between April and October
the sites are open daily from 9am to 5pm with the exception of Broseley Pipeworks,
which is open daily from the end of May to the end of September from 1 to 5pm. The
Tar Tunnel, Darby Houses, and Broseley Pipeworks are closed from November to
March, with the other sites open 10am to 5pm (Blists closes at 4pm).
Where to Eat & Stay
Best Western Valley Hotel This riverside inn blends modern amenities and
historic ambience—it was originally built as a private home around 1750, and was
enlarged over the years into the sprawling, brick building you see today. Fifteen of the
hotel's rooms lie within the original stable and are accessible via a glass-roofed court-
yard. Although rooms in the main house usually have more panoramic views, many
visitors prefer the coziness of the former stables. All units are well maintained and
modern; some have four-poster beds.
Outfitted with crisp napery, Windsor-style chairs, and a high ceiling, the hotel's
highly rated restaurant, Chez Maw ( &   01952/432247; www.chezmawrestaurant.
co.uk), serves contemporary British food. Try the free-range Staffordshire chicken
breast, with house smoked sausage, cannellini bean and root vegetable cassoulet, or
the roasted filet of Loch Duarte salmon, with parsnip and potato mash, purple sprout-
ing broccoli, and red wine and pancetta sauce.
Buildwas Rd., Ironbridge, Telford, Shropshire TF8 7DW. www.thevalleyhotel.co.uk. &   01952/432247.
Fax 01952/432308. 44 units. £64-£87 double. Breakfast rates extra. AE, DC, MC, V. Amenities: Restau-
rant; 2 bars; room service. In room: TV, hair dryer, Wi-Fi (free).
Library House This restored landmark, parts of which date from 1752,
has been used for many purposes, including a doctor's surgery clinic and even the
village library, from which the B&B takes its name. Today it's one of the finest hotels
in the area, with a dazzling breakfast and delightful bedrooms, named after English
writers George Eliot, Hardy, Milton, and Chaucer. Each one is individually designed
and decorated, from Georgian to contemporary to Oriental styles. There is also a
pretty terraced garden.
11 Severn Bank, Ironbridge, near Telford, Shropshire TF8 7AN. www.libraryhouse.com. &  01952/432299.
Fax 01952/433967. 4 units. £80-£90 double. Rates include breakfast. No credit cards. In room: TV/DVD,
hair dryer, no phone.
12
THE POTTERIES
162 miles NW of London; 59 miles NW of Leicester; 46 miles N of Birmingham; 41 miles S of Manchester
Anyone with an interest in pottery should make a pilgrimage to Stoke-on-Trent, one
of author Arnold Bennett's famous Five Towns . Kilns were busy here in the 14th
century, long before Josiah Wedgwood (1730-95), England's most distinguished pot-
ter, arrived. Most of the great kilns have disappeared, but shops such as Wedgwood,
 
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