This time we're in Shropshire, jumping back 200 years
to the industrial revolution and to the home of this magnificent bridge!
Ironbridge
Ironbridge gets its name from this iconic bridge. It was a world first when
it was built in 1779. Spanning the river severn and the ironbridge
gorge, this area would have been full of factories, smoke, noise
and grime 250 years ago.
Today it's much more peaceful and the many museums here help
keep alive this historic period. We're just here for a weekend
so let's get on and explore everything you can do in this fascinating part of England.
As well as the town itself 10 museums
are dotted around the area and we'll cover all of these in our guide.
Ironbridge.org.uk will give you all the information about ticket prices
for the 10 museums that are here in the gorge.
They offer a one-year pass rather than a traditional
day ticket and we had a special offer of £20 instead of £27 booking online
before we came, and that allows us to revisit if we wish
uh any time within the next 12 months The only caveat is that because of covid
at the moment the Blistshill Victorian town needs to be pre-booked
before you travel and you get a time slot to visit that location,
and we'll see that in the next video when we visit that tomorrow.
Let's jump right back to a significant historical event
some 311 years ago at Coalbrookdale ironworks.
The amazing buildings, the viaduct and the derelict structures around us are
all part of Coalbrookdale ironworks and it was
here that Abraham Darby I perfected the smelting process of iron ore
in the early 1700s, and that really kick-started the iron
industry in the uk, and it's probably why iron bridge is
known as the birthplace of the industrial revolution.
Inside the museum you can find out how iron is made and the significance of
coalbrookdale coal. Learn about the Darby family the
building of the first ironbridge in the world,
and over two levels see beautiful exhibits of cast ironwork and cookware
some from the great exhibition of 1881.
This magnificent table made entirely of cast iron and weighing 1600 weight
is the deerhound hall table designed by john bell it was made in 1855 for the
paris international exhibition and is testament to the skills of the
coalbrookdale company. The building behind me protects what's
left of the original blast furnace that Abraham Darby used to perfect the
smelting process. Basically he worked out that if he used
coke coal, used locally rather than charcoal then he could
actually mass produce iron ore much cheaper and that really
kick-started the industry.
The old furnace was already 50 years old when Darby took it on.
There is some contention over whether the date painted on the lintel is
correct at 1638, with some believing it should be 1658.
Sadly you can't walk around inside at the moment due to covid.
The viaduct has 26 arches, built in 1862 this would bring materials into coalbrookdale.
Known as the golden mile because it was expensive to build.
The iron tie bars were added later to hold the viaduct together
as trains got heavier.
Make sure you walk outside the museum gates under the viaduct and see the
furnace pool. This provided water power to drive the furnace bellows
and to turn machinery in the works. It's a very picturesque area.
Just up the hill from the iron works is Dale house,
and this was built in 1717 for Abraham Darby I
Our Abraham Darby III, who built the Ironbridge,
inherited this at the age of 13 when his father died.
It overlooks the whole area and the furnace pool
and you can imagine what it must have been like looking out of the window at
the age of 13, the belching black smoke, all the noise
and being overwhelmed with what he'd just inherited.
But of course we know he went on to be very successful.
Rose hill house is next door to Dale House and was used by other members of
the Darby family. They're both grade two listed
buildings. Today, unfortunately they're both closed we can't go inside
due to covid19 restrictions, but hopefully by the time you come and
visit ironbridge they'll be back open and you can tour around the properties
and find out more about the Darby families.
After a few hours exploring you might like a drink and a snack and the newly
opened furnace kitchen is not a bad spot to rest.
Before we leave Coalbrookdale there is an interactive technology and design
center, currently closed probably because of
covid, more for children to get hands-on with the past present
and future it's included in your ticket.
Having ticked off the first three museums , it's time to head back into
Ironbridge to the gorge museum and stunning town.
Now tourism has been bad in 2020 and not just because of the global pandemic,
here at Ironbridge gorge a double whammy of storms in February 2020 caused
absolute carnage here with flooding through the town and the
river severn rose by 6.8 meters!
This is one of the two badly damaged museums in the flooding in 2020.
The museum of the gorge portrays the history of
ironbridge gorge through the years and the exhibitions inside are currently not
available because of the damage. Normally you'd be able to see
interactive screens and check out how the gorge evolved over the last
couple of hundred years but now, at the moment all you can do is
pick up some leaflets from the tourist information.
There's a little shop, there let's hope it opens soon.
The area around the bridge on the river severn was once called Coalbrookdale,
but following the construction of the Ironbridge in 1779 and as the town grew
around it, it was renamed Ironbridge.
The gorge is in the heart of the colebrookdale coalfields and was rich in
minerals, coal, iron ore, amongst other things.
As iron ore production took off the river severn became an obstacle for moving materials
and cast iron products from either side of the gorge.
Up to that point massive barges were used to ferry things across
but eventually this became untenable so the construction of a bridge was agreed
and guess what our friends the derby family
were commissioned to build it. Abraham Darby III to be exact.
Right from the start this bridge wasn't just going to be for moving goods and
people from side to side it was also a massive PR stunt for the Darby family,
to showcase what wrought iron could do and to hopefully
sell it to the world!
The bridge cost twice as much as originally thought coming in at £6,000
Luckily for them the bridge had a toll
from the moment it opened and proved very popular not just with locals
but even back then as a tourist attraction with people coming from afar
to see this spectacle of engineering. In just 12 short years the cost of the
bridge was repaid.
In 1986 the Ironbridge gorge was one of the first locations to be designated a
world heritage site within the uk and has just gone through a massive
conservation project and has been fully restored to its original red brown colour.
Parking in town is limited and can be pricey.
Note as well in summer the main road next to the river is closed
weekends for pedestrians only.
You can of course bypass the museum tickets and just spend a whole day
walking around this lovely town. There are plenty of pubs and shops to
keep you occupied and in summer you can hire a canoe and float down the river
under the bridge and beyond.
Hotel Tontine right next to the bridge was built just four years after it
opened, to accommodate travellers and
industrialists coming to the area. Extended in 1786 you can still see the
difference in the brick color on the right.
There is still so much more to show you in part two of this ultimate guide to
ironbridge, including the very famous Coalport
china factory, and the Jackson tile company and finally
in part three our favorite and worthy of a whole episode
the blistshill victorian town. Thank you for watching and happy travels from the
Memoryseekers!