Explore the Shropshire Hills! Be a landscape detective!

(Shropshire County Council)

Reduced from £19.99

Shrewsbury- a souvenir guide book with town centre map

This books describes a mostly off-road walking route of 54 miles starting from the Holy Cross Abbey at Shrewsbury, the setting for the Cadfael stories.

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Just how does a place come to be known as Ell Hole?  How did the Kremlin Inn get its name? Just how long have Waterloo and Botany Bay been in Shropshire?  This dictionary of Shropshire place names examines their origins and meanings.  It includes not only towns villages and hamlets, but also rivers, streams, hills, fields and woods, as well as streets, buildings and public houses. A comprehensive description of the origin and evolution of each name is given, which brings to life the history of the place in a new and remarkably revealing way.  Few are aware of the background of the names that are part of our everyday language, and Anthony Poulton-Smith brings this enthralling aspect of Shropshire's rich history to life.

(by Anthony Poulton-Smith, paperback, The History Press, ISBN 9780752448893)

Shropshire Airfields tells the story of the county's airfields, from the quieter days before the Second World War, when the Midland Gliding Club first flew from Long Mynd, to more recent times. Shropshire Airfields is illustrated with over 200 photographs, accompanied by detailed captions, and is sure to appeal to all those with an interest in Britain's airfields and the people connected with them.

(Alec Brew and Barry Abraham, History Press, p/b, ISBN 978 0752 417608)

The Temptation and Downfall of the Vicar of Stanton Lacy

The story of Robert Foulkes is 'more real than any historical novel- more moving, more evocative, more human.' From The Magus by John Fowles.

(Peter Klein, Merlin Unwin Books, p/b, ISBN 9781873674716)

The Son of a shepherd from the Scottish borders, Thomas Telford rose to be the greatest engineer in Victorian Britain, whose bridges, aqueducts, roads and canals combined aesthetic grace with brilliant engineering. His life spanned one of the most dynamic periods in British history, the decades of the industrial revolution, and no one contributed more to making Britain the 'workshop of the world'.

(LTC Rolt, The History Press, p/b, ISBN 978 0 7509 4576 9)

In Shropshire, the largest and most fertile of England's inland counties, the quality of locally-produced food is second to none.  Over some three or four centuries its people developed a repertoire of very distinctive methods for converting their produce into a range of excellent dishes, each suited to a particular way of life.

This book, the first major study of the subject, draws on the widest range of local evidence to show how kitchens were designed and equipped, and various foods cooked, in cottages, halls and bakers' shops, either for everyday meals, or for special celebrations.  There are also over a hundred traditional Shropshire recipes, each hving been cooked in order to present them in in modern form for anyone wishing to accurately re-create them today.  It also makes a fascinating read for anyone interested i the country, with its stories of food riots, local industries, cooks, explosive firewood and more, including the histories and recipes of those great local specialities, the Shrewsbury Cake and the Shrewsbury Simnel.

(Hardcover 224 pages, Peter Brears, Excellent Press, 978-1-900318-39-6, Published 10th September 2009)

Almost 200 photos and illustrations enhance the story of this remarkable club which ran from 1947 to 1977. The club had a lasting effect on the district's youth and provided a great variety of entertainment for the town's leisure, cultural and sporting scene. (96 pages. Published by AJFPaperback Original)

Shropshire Murders brings together numerous murderous tales, some of which were little known outside the county, and others which made national headlines.

(by Nicola Sly, History Press, ISBN 9780752448978)

Suspense and thrills abound in this gripping adventure ... once started, you won't be able to put it down! Set at the time of the Roman invasion, it features The Wrekin Hill, Uriconium, druid Gwirocon, Roman governor Scapula and legendary British hero King Caradoc. (By Allan Frost, ISBN13: 9781872989075, Wrekin Books, Paperback, Publication date 28/10/2006, 224 Pages)

With over 650 to choose from and hundreds visited, the task of selecting a representative number of historic pubs in Shropshire was far from easy, especially since this perfect embodiment of an English county has so many unique establishments worthy of mention.

The search to find the choicest pubs took the author through all of the county's towns and villages, along its rivers, over the rugged hills and along Shropshire's lost and forgotten highways and byways.

(Jan Dobrzynski, The History Press, p/b, ISBN 978-0-7509-5118-0)

The book tells the story of the foundations of this family corset businessin Cologne in 1887, then charts the forced moves around Europe including France in the 1930s to escape Hitler's anti-Semitism in Germany. Whilst based in Paris the company developed the world's first radioactive corset, but then in 1938 was forced to move again to the "Angel" in London.  The company came to Shropshire to escape bombing by the Luftwaffe and set up production in the old Water Works in Shrewsbury.

(Nigel Hinton, p/b, ISBN 978-0-9550343-1-2)

(By Allan Frost ISBN 10: 075244767X Pages: 128)

This fascinating selection of more than 180 photographs traces some of the ways in which Wellington has changed and developed over the last century.

(Allan Frost, Amberley Publishing, p/b, ISBN 978-1-84868-762-2)

The latest in the popular and prize-winning series of "Year in the Life" books, this portrait of the Welsh Marches reveals the landscape, fauna and flora of this beguiling part of the country throughout the seasons. Stretching along the bordering counties with England - Cheshire, Shropshire, Herefordshire and Monmouthshire - the region is made up of an enchanting mixture of mountains and moorlands, farms and wooded river valleys, and contains the densest concentration of motte-and-bailey castles to be found anywhere in England or Wales. (By Derry Brabbs, Edition: illustrated, Published by frances lincoln ltd, 2007, ISBN 0711226350, 9780711226357, 112 pages)

A poacher and a retired soldier enlist in the KSLI in 1914 and teach their company how to fight guerilla warfare from the trenches.  An embittered captain seeks to destroy the officer who seduced his wife.  A shell-shocked sniper has to choose between death by firing squad and life as an assassin, knowing he can never again contact those he loves.  A deserter seeks help from British Intelligence in the hunt for his dangerous friend. Machine gun crews turn into Whitehall, intent on stopping an anti-war march at any cost.

(Graham Holbrook, GET Publishing, p/b, ISBN 978 0 955 6464 6 1)