Nice tomb see you, tomb see you nice!

Tuesday 11th October 2016 - near Much Wenlock.

After a grey start to the day things started to brighten up.  Our aim was to go to Tong Chuch, in the village of Tong, just off junction 3 of the M54 east of Telford.  We had a great cycle to get there and passed RAF Cosford enroute (I had heard of it but never knew where it was).  

Tong castle had been owned by the de Pembrugge family but when there were no male heirs in 1446 it passed to Sir Richard Vernon who was a grandson of one of the Pembrugge sisters.  The castle passed to the Stanley family when Margaret Vernon married Sir Thomas Stanley, who died in 1576.  As a result, Tong Church has four large tombs from the Vernon family of that period, two are Sir Richards, one for Sir Henry (Harry) Vernon and one for Sir William Vernon and their respective wives.  Sir Harry was a tutor/advisor to Prince Arthur (King Henry VIII's brother) and he actually witnessed the marriage of Prince Arthur to Catherine of Aragon at St Paul's Cathedral, she later remarried Henry VIII.

Here, Sir Richard has his head on a boars head.  Doesn't sound too comfortable to me.  

The Great Bell of Tong was given to the church by Sir Henry "for the tolling of it when any Vernon comes to Tong".  Sadly, the tradition hasn't lasted as it stayed silent for my visit!

We moved on to Telford and looked for the town centre.  The Town Centre turned out to be a large modern shopping complex.  I was looking for older buildings and a town hall.  Although these shopping complex are a bit soleless it was quite spacious and certainly had all the shops you could want.  We took advantage of having another cheesy scone at the M&S.

Ironbridge was our last destination.  I know most people will be aware that Ironbridge was the first ever iron constructed bridge in the world.  I had never been before and it is something that I learned in school, so we had to visit.

Built in 1789 with iron made at Coalbrookdale (about a mile down river).  The village is pretty set in a gorge.  We will probably explore a bit more tomorrow.  All we had to do is cycle back to the van up a steep hill to earn our tea.