Destination: Shropshire
Dates: July 2021
Nights: 2 nights
Accommodation: Mountain Edge Lodge
Highlights: Blists Hill, Shrewsbury and Long Mynd
Lowlights: Pod life, flies and pig sty 

Day 1. Going back into time

Before meeting our pods we explored Blists Hill Victorian Town in Telford. Welcome to what life looked like when Britain ruled the world. It was an impressive interactive experience, what I thought would last an hour, lasted three. It’s an open museum with real working Victorian shops and cottages. It was great to see the staff play their part in Victorian outfits and share their knowledge of how life was back then.

Lunch was traditional chips cooked in beef dripping with a pint of beer in the New Inn Public House. At 1pm we all joined in the sing-song.

We did a few tours after lunch, including the school and iron works tour. They were free and lasted 15-20 minutes and we got to learn about the industrial revolution and the hardship of life in the 1800s. Very interesting! We walked around and checked out the other shops which had demonstrations of traditional crafts.

Shrewsbury

After an incredible start to the morning, we were told to visit the town of Shrewsbury, the birthplace of world-renowned naturalist, Charles Darwin . It was only a 25 minute drive from Blists Hill. The town is almost an island surrounded by the River Severn. First impressions were it had a lot of history with all the stunning Tudor building around town.

It was a lovely and easy walk around town.  We spent a few hours exploring the town. It had plenty of beautiful buildings, quaint cafes, shops and riverside scenes.

Mountain Edge Shropshire Camping Pods

After a pit stop at Sainsburys to stock up on food, we arrived home for the next two nights. Check-in was at 4pm, we arrived at 6pm. We were staying in the budget basic Pods, which only included a heater, lamp and a park bench outside. We had to bring everything else. We were based in Pod 1 and 2, which were positioned right next to the pigs, at the top making the many trips to car even more exhausting. Luckily, we booked dinner at The Station pub that evening as we didn’t have the energy to cook. The handmade in house station burger, washed down with a pint of Ludlow ale was exactly what I needed. We bonded with other pod stayers over the Euro 2020 England match and laughed at the fact we are so close to the pigs!

Day 2. Pod life!

The natural alarm clock of the chickens and pigs woke us up early. It was a good night sleep due the traveling and sightseeing we did yesterday. Breakfast was a disaster, we had prepared our gas cooker on the park bench ready for our eggy bread and beans but we weren’t expecting to bombarded by flies who had spent the whole morning in a pig sty. This was one of those idea and reality moments. We abandoned ship, managed to make a coffee and lunch inside the pod and went on the hunt for breakfast elsewhere. Facilities at the camp site were pretty basic with 3 showers, 2 toilets and a small awkward space to wash up.

Long Mynd

We headed to Church Stretton for breakfast at Hollybush Café. We needed enough fuel for the hike we were about to endure. We parked the car in Church Stretton and joined the path up to Long Mynd National Park. There are many walks you can do provided by the National Trust ranging from 30 minutes to 6 hours. We went with the ‘Ratlinghope Ramble – a walk to across the Long Mynd’ with our own detours. It took us 6 hours in total with lunch, snacks, water and sightseeing stops. There are paths for walking, cycling and horse riding with incredible view.

Finally, we ended back where we started in Church Stretton. We rewarded ourselves with a drink at the Kings Arms and drove back to the camp site to tackle dinner.

After dinner, we explored the rest of the campsite and saw how the other half lived. I guess they didn’t have the luxury of sharing their food with the flies. Nevertheless, it was a great experience, being my first time glamping with no extras. We bonded with other campers in the evening over the pig situation and with a jam packed itinerary and things to keep us occupied during the day the pods were a perfect place to rest our heads at night. Although, any longer I think we would have needed another holiday to rest!