Writing and Loggerheads - The Big Shrewsbury Editing Trip - Part 7

Day 7 - Friday 10th April - Writing and Loggerheads

I got up early and headed out with my writing gear in my bag and my leaflet about ‘Shrewsbury’s Mysterious Loggerheads’ in my pocket.

The Loggerheads themselves vary a lot in their formation. According to the leaflet, the only real stipulations is that the Loggerheads should appear in gold on a blue background.

As a result, they appear in a wild variety of forms, ranging from leopards to lions to cats, and with varying facial expressions. Some seem very stern looking, while others have their tongues hanging out.

As I walked around the town, following my map and looking for the 35 loggerheads it lists, I really enjoyed the additional aspects of the architecture that I noticed. I always try to look up in any town centre setting, as there are often interesting historical details to spot above the level of the shop fronts.

In Shrewsbury, this is especially true, and the Loggerheads tour enables you to spot a lot more than just Loggerheads.

I began my day by walking around with my trusty guide and my travel mug of adaptogen fuelled hot chocolate, and went in search of Loggerheads. I began the quest to find them at the former office of the Shrewsbury Chronicle, which is close to the station.

Because the town centre is quite small, a lot of the Loggerheads are in very close proximity to one another, but there are a few outliers in the Quarry park area, and a few that are in more residential areas of the town.

In the morning, I went in search of those that are to be found mainly within the shopping areas of the town centre.

I noticed many beautiful architectural features on my walk, and I really enjoyed walking with a purpose and a mission. It felt like a treasure hunt, so I racked up the steps without even realising it.

My favourite find of the morning was on the building, which now houses Costa Coffee. I remember enjoying a black forest hot chocolate in there, many years ago, on a previous pre-Christmas visit to Shrewsbury and had admired the old timber framed building, which has many intricate carvings on its beams.

I had never looked at those carvings in detail.

Thanks to the Loggerheads guide, I discovered that the carvings were done in 1990, when the building was refurbished. The restorers had a sense of humour and created carvings, which represented Shrewsbury and the UK at that time.

In addition to two Loggerheads, there are carvings of buses, cars and motorbikes on the side of the building, overlooking Grope Lane.

And on the front of the left hand apex, my absolute favourite carving: a two faced image of former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, with a scroll that reads ‘Poll Tax November 1990’. What a way to capture a moment in time!!

Having found over half the Loggerheads, I decided it was time to stop for some breakfast. In the building that has Loggerhead number 30 high up on its frontage, is a vegetarian cafe I had been eager to try out. I went in and ordered a full English and a pot of tea.

The Greenhouse Cafe was absolutely buzzing with a large group of older people enjoying breakfast together. The walls were covered with beautiful paintings and other artworks by local artists, which were for sale at very reasonable prices.

My breakfast was delicious and really good value as well. It’s certainly a cafe that’s well worth visiting.

Breakfast done, it was time to get some more writing done.

I headed to Shrewsbury Library again, where I discovered a bust in memory of local poet and novelist Mary Webb in the grounds

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Having finished the handwritten edit of Chapter 1 of ‘Charlotte - The Lady in White’ the day before, I was eager to try and finish typing up those edits, so I could draw a line under an entire chapter  by the end of the break.

I worked away for a good couple of hours, enjoying the lovely atmosphere in Shrewsbury Library, which was, once again, packed with people making the most of its facilities.

Unfortunately, I received news from Ireland that enormous protests were underway, and in their fourth day, which were leading to fuel shortages, as well as widespread travel disruption. Given that I would have to navigate traversing Dublin the following day, this was a worry. As a result, I cut short my writing session and headed to Pret à Manger to grab a sandwich and some tea, and to find out whether the journey would be disrupted.

In the end, the logistics of making sure I could get home took a good couple of hours to sort out, but I decided to give the journey a go in its original format, as the bus from the airport to the station seemed to be running. It was just taking a little longer to complete its journey.

Once I had sorted out what I need to, I felt quite stressed, so I decided that the best way to ease the tension would be to resume my hunt for the remaining Loggerheads. This took me through the Quarry Park and across to the Abbey side of the river for a small bit.

Between finding bridges, gates, war memorials, and even street signs, I finally found every single set of Loggerheads on the map, ending the trail at the Draper’s House opposite St. Mary’s Church.

I was delighted to have completed the trail, and felt a real sense of accomplishment at having crossed off every one on the map!

During the day, I also took a few lovely photos of some of the scenery I passed on my day, which was also lovely.

By the time I’d found myself some dinner in Pizza Express - I went for the old faithful - ‘La Reine pizza on a Romana base - I was absolutely exhausted, so I didn’t quite get through all the typing on Chapter 1, but I reasoned that with two train journeys on the way home, I might be able to get the rest done before my arrival at home.

What a day!