27 of us, 16 from BLHS plus 11 from the Audlem History Society, together with 2 dogs, spent a lovely late spring evening taking a walking tour of the fine old village of Audlem in the wonderful company of Celia Bloor.
After parking next to the new Community Centre, we began in The Square and learned something of the history of the Buttermarket. Glancing across to the church towering over the centre of the village, we passed William Baker's two coaching inns, the Phoenix and The Crown both dating from 1745, and then walked down Vicarage Lane to School Lane, adjacent to the old grammar school.
We passed by the old smithy, once run by a blacksmith by the name of Shukrer, and walked on to the 'new' road bridge dating from around 1760.
We were shown the Baptist Chapel, and Audley Mill to our left across the fields. Waking along Stafford Street, we passed two Georgian houses that were build when 'new road' was put in.
Turning right into Churchfields we passed the old pottery kiln (in the photo of the bungalow with blue car), and then the old chapel on the right hand side.
A little further on we saw the black and white Moss Hall, dating from 1604, across the fields - legend has it that there is a tunnel from Audlem church to Moss Hall!
Walking on into Audlem cemetery, we saw the headstone of Dr. Poggi - a popular headmaster at the grammar school.during the 19th century.
We finally walked across the sports field and dropped down the grass bank to the canal through the car park at the Shroppie Fly.
Walking along the towpath, we passed by Telford's lock-keeper's cottage - the canal was built here in 1835 and there is a 15-lock staircase nearby too. It's worth noting that the railway arrived some 30 years after Shropshire Union canal opened here and, after this, the amount of commercial traffic on the canal began to taper off quickly.
We finally returned past the Shroppie Fly up to the main road - a very interesting tour from a very knowledgeable guide. Thanks Celia.
Incidentally, we’ve put some pictures up on our Facebook Group page here. If you’re not already a member of the Fb group then just click the join button and we’ll have you onboard in no time.
