# shropshire public transport question



## mr steev (Aug 2, 2013)

Does anyone local to Shropshire know if I'm right in thinking the best way to get from Wolverhampton to Market Drayton on public transport would be to get the train to Wellington and then a bus? And do you know roughly how much the bus would cost?


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## farmerbarleymow (Aug 2, 2013)

I'm not A Shropshire Lad, so have no idea, but this might be worth a stab to see what sort of timings/connections are available. Don't know if it includes costs, but the websites of the operators should have this info (but not always - I've struggled to find this on some bus company websites).

http://www.transportdirect.info/Web2/Home.aspx?&repeatingloop=Y


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## mr steev (Aug 2, 2013)

Thanks.
It even gives you a map from the train station to the bus station 
Looks like I'm better going via Stafford (slightly cheaper on the train)


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## farmerbarleymow (Aug 2, 2013)

mr steev said:


> Thanks.
> It even gives you a map from the train station to the bus station
> Looks like I'm better going via Stafford (slightly cheaper on the train)


 
I see you missed my poetic reference in my reply.  

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Shropshire_Lad


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## mr steev (Aug 2, 2013)

farmerbarleymow said:


> I see you missed my poetic reference in my reply.
> 
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Shropshire_Lad


 

I did


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## farmerbarleymow (Aug 2, 2013)

mr steev said:


> I did


 
Your punishment is to memorise the Rime of the Ancient Mariner and recite in your local high street tomorrow afternoon. 

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/151/151-h/151-h.htm


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## mr steev (Aug 2, 2013)

If only I wasn't travelling to Shropshire tomorrow. Maybe I should recite it on the bus? I may just have enough time


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## farmerbarleymow (Aug 2, 2013)

mr steev said:


> If only I wasn't travelling to Shropshire tomorrow. Maybe I should recite it on the bus? I may just have enough time


 
Yes, do.  Don't forget to ask a helpful fellow passenger to video it so I can see the evidence. Otherwise I'll think you're lying.


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## mr steev (Aug 2, 2013)

farmerbarleymow said:


> Yes, do. Don't forget to ask a helpful fellow passenger to video it so I can see the evidence. Otherwise I'll think you're lying.


 

I'll try but I don't want to go scaring any Salopians with moving picture trickery


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## farmerbarleymow (Aug 2, 2013)

mr steev said:


> I'll try but I don't want to go scaring any Salopians with moving picture trickery


 
Do they have electrickery there yet?


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## mr steev (Aug 2, 2013)

"Don't come round here, confusing the locals with your shapes and your colours"


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## farmerbarleymow (Aug 2, 2013)

mr steev said:


> "Don't come round here, confusing the locals with your shapes and your colours"


 
Thinking about it, its quite odd that you don't normally hear about much, if anything, to do with Shropshire on the news. Is it really such an incredibly dull place? Perhaps its because they've yet to hear about the telegraph, and still rely on the old fashioned stagecoaches, and fire beacons.  Welcome to Shropshire, welcome to the 17th century! 

I don't think I've set foot in it, and only passed through on the train.


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## discokermit (Aug 2, 2013)

farmerbarleymow said:


> Thinking about it, its quite odd that you don't normally hear about much, if anything, to do with Shropshire on the news. Is it really such an incredibly dull place? Perhaps its because they've yet to hear about the telegraph, and still rely on the old fashioned stagecoaches, and fire beacons. Welcome to Shropshire, welcome to the 17th century!
> 
> I don't think I've set foot in it, and only passed through on the train.


i think it's one of, if not the least populated counties in the country.


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## farmerbarleymow (Aug 2, 2013)

discokermit said:


> i think it's one of, if not the least populated counties in the country.


 
Looks like you're right:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ceremonial_counties_of_England_by_population

Ranked 42 out 48 among the ceremonial counties.


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## Poot (Aug 2, 2013)

farmerbarleymow said:


> Thinking about it, its quite odd that you don't normally hear about much, if anything, to do with Shropshire on the news. Is it really such an incredibly dull place? Perhaps its because they've yet to hear about the telegraph, and still rely on the old fashioned stagecoaches, and fire beacons.  Welcome to Shropshire, welcome to the 17th century!
> 
> I don't think I've set foot in it, and only passed through on the train.


:grr: one person's boring is another person's crime-free utopia. *rose tinted spectacles*


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## farmerbarleymow (Aug 2, 2013)

Poot said:


> :grr: one person's boring is another person's crime-free utopia. *rose tinted spectacles*


 
Erm...not so according to a local rag.  Shrewsbury is more crime-ridden than Manchester, at least in 2011:

http://www.shropshirestar.com/news/2011/02/13/shropshire-crime-map-reveals-strange-statistics/


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## Poot (Aug 2, 2013)

farmerbarleymow said:


> Erm...not so according to a local rag.  Shrewsbury is more crime-ridden than Manchester, at least in 2011:
> 
> http://www.shropshirestar.com/news/2011/02/13/shropshire-crime-map-reveals-strange-statistics/


Telford has it's moments, too. But in between there are miles and miles of nothing but fields. You make your own entertainment in Shropshire.


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## discokermit (Aug 2, 2013)

Poot said:


> :grr: one person's boring is another person's crime-free utopia. *rose tinted spectacles*


When lads have done with labour
In Shropshire, one will cry
"Let's go and kill a neighbour,"
And t'other answers "Aye!"
So this one kills his cousins,
And that one kills his dad;
And, as they hang by dozens
At Ludlow, lad by lad,
Each of them one-and-twenty,
All of them murderers,
The hangman mutters: "Plenty
Even for Housman's verse."


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## farmerbarleymow (Aug 2, 2013)

Poot said:


> Telford has it's moments, too. But in between there are miles and miles of nothing but fields. *You make your own entertainment in Shropshire.*


 
And that's not lawful either.


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## discokermit (Aug 2, 2013)

farmerbarleymow said:


> Looks like you're right:
> 
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ceremonial_counties_of_England_by_population
> 
> Ranked 42 out 48 among the ceremonial counties.


funny how it's adjacent to the west midlands, with the third highest population density, after london and bristol.


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## farmerbarleymow (Aug 2, 2013)

discokermit said:


> funny how it's adjacent to the west midlands, with the third highest population density, after london and bristol.


 
It'd be interesting to look into its history to find out the reasons for this discrepancy.  Was it a population flight to urbanising Birmingham on the back of the Industrial Revolution, or was it just historically always a sparsely populated region.


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## mr steev (Aug 2, 2013)

Poot said:


> Telford has it's moments, too. But in between there are miles and miles of nothing but fields. You make your own entertainment in Shropshire.


 

Tbf a lot of it is a bit more than 'just fields', and not really the place where large towns would develop







Most of the towns that have developed are on the river and tend to get flooded often


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## mr steev (Aug 2, 2013)

farmerbarleymow said:


> It'd be interesting to look into its history to find out the reasons for this discrepancy. Was it a population flight to urbanising Birmingham on the back of the Industrial Revolution, or was it just historically always a sparsely populated region.


 

Shropshire played a big part in the Industrial Revolution in places like Iron Bridge.


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## farmerbarleymow (Aug 2, 2013)

This takes me back to geology classes - the Wrekin and the Long Mynd.


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## discokermit (Aug 2, 2013)

farmerbarleymow said:


> It'd be interesting to look into its history to find out the reasons for this discrepancy. Was it a population flight to urbanising Birmingham on the back of the Industrial Revolution, or was it just historically always a sparsely populated region.


i think the black country may have more to do with it. there has always been strong links between the two. early on, we made iron which was taken by horse and cart to the severn, then by boat down to bristol. after the black country suffered a recession, due to having burnt all of our trees to make charcoal, iron production moved to shropshire. once abraham darby developed coke fired furnaces, the work moved back, as we had tons of coal directly under our feet, a thirty foot thick seam which broke the surface in places. along with iron ore and clay seams. also, a canal was built from the black country to the severn.
from then on, it was all black country, drawing in people from shropshire, wales and ireland.


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## farmerbarleymow (Aug 2, 2013)

Thanks for the potted history discokermit


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## Poot (Aug 2, 2013)

mr steev said:


> Tbf a lot of it is a bit more than 'just fields', and not really the place where large towns would develop
> 
> 
> 
> ...



My home town appears to be gradually falling into the River Severn, which is a worry. For a long time there was a road made of wood there because the real road had crumbled!


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## farmerbarleymow (Aug 2, 2013)

Poot said:


> For a long time there was a road made of wood


 
Further proof that Shropshire is indeed stuck in a time warp back in the 17th century! 

Is the town you mention Shrewsbury? That was the one that was badly flooded a few years back wasn't it?


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## discokermit (Aug 2, 2013)

Poot said:


> My home town appears to be gradually falling into the River Severn, which is a worry. For a long time there was a road made of wood there because the real road had crumbled!


i remember a news report once, interviewing a flooded out bridgnorth resident. they said the flooding was bad but you half expected it. what really pissed them off was people driving there from the black country just to point and laugh at them.


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## farmerbarleymow (Aug 2, 2013)

discokermit said:


> i remember a news report once, interviewing a flooded out bridgnorth resident. they said the flooding was bad but you half expected it. what really pissed them off was people driving there from the black country just to point and laugh at them.


 
Is that because people from the black country have nowt better to do or are a bit slow?  This thread could easily turn into a region vs region slanging match.


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## discokermit (Aug 2, 2013)

farmerbarleymow said:


> Is that because people from the black country have nowt better to do or are a bit slow? This thread could easily turn into a region vs region slanging match.


we have nowt better to do and we are spiteful.
i think there's a class element to it as well. most of the riverside properties are quite pricey.


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## farmerbarleymow (Aug 2, 2013)

discokermit said:


> we have nowt better to do and we are spiteful.
> i think there's a class element to it as well. most of the riverside properties are quite pricey.


 
I can understand that - its like the amount of sympathy generated when Henley on Thames is threatened with flooding.  None!


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## Poot (Aug 2, 2013)

farmerbarleymow said:


> Further proof that Shropshire is indeed stuck in a time warp back in the 17th century!
> 
> Is the town you mention Shrewsbury? That was the one that was badly flooded a few years back wasn't it?


No, not Shrewsbury. And not that it's a parochial and small minded town or anything, but it wasn't people coming from the Black Country to poke fun that was the problem, it was people coming from THE OTHER SIDE OF THE RIVER to poke fun that really got on people's wicks


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## farmerbarleymow (Aug 2, 2013)

Poot said:


> No, not Shrewsbury. And not that it's a parochial and small minded town or anything, but it wasn't people coming from the Black Country to poke fun that was the problem, it was people coming from THE OTHER SIDE OF THE RIVER to poke fun that really got on people's wicks


 
Its a right hornets nest of local rivalry surfacing here! 

I have absolutely no idea what you're on about.    Other side of the river?


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## discokermit (Aug 2, 2013)

farmerbarleymow said:


> Other side of the river?


dunno where poot is from but bridgnorth, for example, one side is built into and on top of sandstone cliffs, the other is a bit of a floodplain until it rises up the other side of the gorge.


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## farmerbarleymow (Aug 2, 2013)

discokermit said:


> dunno where poot is from but bridgnorth, for example, one side is built into and on top of sandstone cliffs, the other is a bit of a floodplain until it rises up the other side of the gorge.


 
So they all point and laugh from their cliff-top vantage point at the poor flooded buggers below? Town unity at its finest!


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## Poot (Aug 2, 2013)

I'm from a very small town that I don't want to name because, well, it's a very small town. My husband's mum is from one side of the river, his dad is from the other. Their families fight for this reason


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## discokermit (Aug 2, 2013)

farmerbarleymow said:


> So they all point and laugh from their cliff-top vantage point at the poor flooded buggers below? Town unity at its finest!


i don't know if they do, poot might be from somewhere else. i just gave that as an example.
i might pop over there tonight for a pint. might not though as the place reminds me of former loves and lovers and i might get a bit melancholic.


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## Poot (Aug 2, 2013)

discokermit said:


> i don't know if they do, poot might be from somewhere else. i just gave that as an example.
> i might pop over there tonight for a pint. might not though as the place reminds me of former loves and lovers and i might get a bit melancholic.


Do I know you


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## farmerbarleymow (Aug 2, 2013)

Poot said:


> I'm from a very small town that I don't want to name because, well, it's a very small town. My husband's mum is from one side of the river, his dad is from the other. Their families fight for this reason


 

This sort of silly rivalry exists everywhere I suppose, but it is daft when looked at from then outside.


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## discokermit (Aug 2, 2013)

Poot said:


> Do I know you


doubt it.

unless someone has bought you chips, took you to the bench by the top of the cliff railway in bridgnorth to eat them, then propositioned you. that might have been me.


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## kebabking (Aug 9, 2013)

discokermit said:


> doubt it.
> 
> unless someone has bought you chips, took you to the bench by the top of the cliff railway in bridgnorth to eat them, then propositioned you. that might have been me.


 
i've done that. am i you?


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## discokermit (Aug 9, 2013)

kebabking said:


> i've done that. am i you?


did you then take them to a narrowboat you had borrowed for an evening of wooing?


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## kebabking (Aug 9, 2013)

discokermit said:


> did you then take them to a narrowboat you had borrowed for an evening of wooing?


 
nah, i drove home in an embarrassed silence after my 'kind offer' was politely, but emphatically refused. it worked in the end though, i married her 12 years later after we'd both tried other people. i am casanova, and i claim my five pounds.

i'm not, however, you. this should be an enormous relief to you.


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## discokermit (Aug 9, 2013)

kebabking said:


> nah, i drove home in an embarrassed silence after my 'kind offer' was politely, but emphatically refused. it worked in the end though, i married her 12 years later after we'd both tried other people. i am casanova, and i claim my five pounds.
> 
> i'm not, however, you. this should be an enormous relief to you.


it's worked for me two times out of three. i am now sad and lonely. i wish i was you.


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## kebabking (Aug 9, 2013)

discokermit said:


> ...i wish i was you.


 
i can dispel that wish for you if you'd like - 30 or 40 seconds of my company seems to do the trick...

Shropshire drinkies perhaps? the running horse outside Bewdley has Ludlow Gold, Hobsons Town Crier, and Backyard summttorother. all were in good nick last night.


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## discokermit (Aug 9, 2013)

that could be a plan, haven't been to bewdley for yonks.


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## kebabking (Aug 9, 2013)

evenings?


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## discokermit (Aug 9, 2013)

yeh, dunno when though, i'm a bit agorophobic at the mo. and skint.


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## kebabking (Aug 9, 2013)

ok, decide what suits you and we'll have a little 'urbs in the country' drinky at some point. without being stalkery/sex-pesty, i could come up to you if thats best for you...


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## discokermit (Aug 9, 2013)

kebabking said:


> ok, decide what suits you and we'll have a little 'urbs in the country' drinky at some point. without being stalkery/sex-pesty, i could come up to you if thats best for you...


sounds good, urban day out in shropshire!
don't come to me, i'm in bilston. unless it's good chips you're after!


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## kebabking (Aug 9, 2013)

discokermit said:


> sounds good, urban day out in shropshire!
> don't come to me, i'm in bilston. unless it's good chips you're after!


 
i seem to remember getting some brilliant 'Black Spot' cheese in Bilston Market...

ooh, a Shropshire day. hmm...


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## friedaweed (Aug 10, 2013)

I'll turn up for a Shropshire day. The Mrs lives in Wellington. I can highly recommended The Cock Hotel


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## kebabking (Aug 10, 2013)

a picnic on Long Mynd or Stiperstones?

perhaps something in a town - Ludlow, Shrewsbury, Bridgnorth etc..?

we should take pictures and show them to the urbs in that there fancy London - clean air, the ability to move without being in someones armpit, actual trees and stuff. not having black snot by lunchtime. a sheep... actually, maybe not - then all those manky fcukers will come here and spoil it.


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## mr steev (Aug 10, 2013)

kebabking said:


> a picnic on Long Mynd or Stiperstones?


 

We often go camping around there. There are a few nice little pubs around


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## cyberfairy (Aug 10, 2013)

I went to Bewdley last week and liked it- lots of decent strongish  cider floating about too. Stayed in Cleetown- strange place.


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## kebabking (Aug 10, 2013)

cyberfairy said:


> ...Stayed in Cleetown- strange place.


 
ooh, do tell!


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## friedaweed (Aug 12, 2013)

Keep us informed. I'm off to Ironbridge Saturday for some of that man's gold down by the river


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## cyberfairy (Aug 12, 2013)

Cleetown had lots of men swearing utterly  constantly but in a vaguely  friendly way about owls in a pub from noon onwards. 

Lots of good cider was to be found though which might explain it.


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