Wollerton Old Hall and Shrewsbury

We spent the morning in Shrewsbury doing our own thing, wandering around at will, having coffee and lunch to suit ourselves.

Shrewsbury is a medieval market town and civil parish in Shropshire, England, known for it's cobbled streets and old timbered buildings. It is sited on the River Severn, 33 miles (53 km) northwest of Wolverhampton. If you'd like a full history of Shrewsbury there is a dedicated Wiki page here. Here's some photos of the day from one of our group.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Left: one of the stained glass windows in St Mary's medieval church.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

A few snapshots in the excellent museum and art gallery.

 

 We then went on to the gardens at Wollerton Old Hall. These gardens were taken over in the 80's and started life as a bare field.

 

 As you can see, quite a transformation. The owner is an artist and the choice of colours and plant combinations was wonderful. The sun shone, the cakes were delicious, and a good time was had by all just wandering around the many garden rooms and wild areas.

 

 

Coventry Civic Society visit.

Yesterday, Thursday 12th June, The Leamington Society and FLAG hosted a return meeting with the Coventry Civic Society, who had kindly showed them around various sites in Coventry in October last year. The guide for that visit was Lady Godiva who walked everyone through the ruins of the old Cathedral and the splendid Guild Hall, before finishing in the Undercroft at the Priory Visitor Centre.

For their visit to Leamington the Coventry Civic Society were shown the new Creative Quarter:  The Fold in Spencer Street which is a new creative workshare space aiming for inspiration, education and creation.  The idea was to focus on the Stoneleigh Arms, the Old School redevelopment, 1 Mill Street, and then the new John Bridgeman sculpture in the Jephson Gardens. (You can see our posting about the sculpture here) 

Unfortunately it began to rain whilst the visitors were out walking, but they pressed on and were revitalised with tea and cake, and a good natter, at the Town Hall afterwards. (The cakes were by Wilhelmina's Bakery, a local Leamington bakery - they were fab!)

 

 

Below is a brief look at some of the places visited and links to the relevant websites, so you can find out more if you'd like to. 

 

The Old School redevelopment.

" The 2nd phase of the Creative Quarter development consists of the redevelopment of a derelict pub, an old school house, and an underutilised car park, off Court Street in Leamington Old Town. The new development will have a distinctive character and be a destination to pull visitors to the area. It will support and link to the continuing regeneration of Leamington’s Old Town – uplift the surrounding area and be a catalyst for further change in the area. We also plan to encourage active transport and a shift away from car use, tying into a wider sustainable movement network and encouraging connectivity and permeability to and through the area."

The Fold 

Phase One of the Creative Quarter was completed at the end of 2023 and includes the restoration, extension and change of use of three derelict buildings. The c.£5m project has delivered approximately 1,700m² of flagship creative office, media and education space. A former Grade II listed church is now home to Cogent a leading digital marketing firm, that operate The Fold, a new shared workspace with cutting-edge production studios designed for the creative community.

The Fold has been set up in partnership with SAE Institute, the global specialist provider of creative media education, who now operate from 2 Spencer Yard (formerly the old nursery) as part of their campus. Number 1 Spencer Yard a building comprising c. 370m² of office space, has been let to a number of businesses across a range of industries to complement the new creative hub

1 Mill Street

 

" The Most Community-Fuelled Coworking Space In The UK." 1 Mill Street started with a vision from co-founders Nigel and Dessie Shanahan: to bring people together, help them thrive, and have some fun along the way. "1 Mill Street and Make Good Grow was born: a haven for freelancers, digital creatives, startups, and anyone keen to do good things with good people. It’s more than just a workspace; it’s a spot where big ideas, local legends, and many laughs come together".