Ironbridge spans the river Severn downstream of Shrewsbury and upstream of Bridgnorth. More precisely it's five miles south of Telford, within whose boundaries this premier industrial area now stands. Buses from Telford to the nearest town of Madeley are frequent but, unless you're willing to walk the last stretch, those to Ironbridge proper are rarer.
A short stretch of the Severn Valley in Shropshire lays claim as the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution. Geology bequeathed it all the right raw materials for successful manufacturing - coal, iron ore, limestone and clay. The Ice Age gifted the river a deep gorge carved by glacial meltwater. And when Abraham Darby discovered a process for making pig iron from coke rather than charcoal, the whole place ignited. In reality the Industrial Revolution was a broader church of numerous innovations over a far broader area across a much longer timespan, but Ironbridge is the World Heritage Site and rightly lauded. [15 photos]
The valley had been choking with activity for decades before the iron bridge was built, with steam rising from belching furnaces along its length. But getting goods and raw materials across the river was difficult, the Severn being an unpredictable beast, so in the 1770s a new bridge was proposed at the heart of the gorge. Unsurprisingly local industrialists wanted to show off the building material of which they were most proud, despite nobody ever having constructed a cast iron bridge before. Abraham Darby III therefore ended up using a design more suitable to carpentry, bending several individual ribs of metal across the water, then topped it all off with a sloping roadway. Opening day was 1st January 1781, although the Roman numerals on the side of the bridge cite MDCCLXXIX, the year construction began.
That the Iron Bridge still stands is tribute to its construction, although numerous urgent repairs have been required over the years and road traffic had to be banned in 1934. It remains a magnificent structure, aided and abetted by its mid-gorge setting. Until fairly recently it was grey, but research confirmed it was originally red so English Heritage had the entire structure repainted.
So impressed was Georgian society by this engineering marvel that the bridge became a tourist attraction in its own right. A hotel was constructed directly opposite the northern end, despite this being the one place from which the arches are invisible, and a small town grew up along the slopes of the gorge. That town too is still there, long after industrial activity transferred to larger mechanised facilities elsewhere, and remains the hub of the local area's tourist trade. Savvy businesses have worked out there's only so much staring at a bridge visitors can undertake, so have arrayed a chain of cafes, emporia, cupcakeries, bookshops and teddy bear outlets on the river-facingroad. Rest assured it's quite tastefully done.
Steps lead down from the promenade to a footpath along the side of the Severn (or there's a gentler ramp from the western side if you prefer). The path actually passes through the struts at the bottom of the bridge at the point where they abut the abutment, which is a great opportunity to get right up close to the structure. Optimum spots for the taking of photographs are available but in short supply, so you may need to wait your turn. Try not to get in anyone else's shots while doing so. The river was fast-flowing on my visit, but occasionally rises considerably higher after particularly heavy rain. Several signs around Ironbridge show the height of the floods in 1795, on which occasion Darby's new span was the only bridge anywhere down the Severn not to be washed away.
The bridge is free to access, sealed off only by a row of bollards. The footway rises to a central point, then drops back down, a bit like if Tower Bridge jammed a few degrees from fully closing. Other than one floral flourish in the centre the railings aren't overly decorative. It's easy to forget just how high up you are, even as you stare out along thegorge in both directions, its wooded sides currently bedecked in autumn colours. From the Ironbridge end of the Iron Bridge you might also catch sight of the cooling towers of the local power station, or at least you might this month because they're scheduled to be demolished in November.
And on the southern side is the Toll House, from the days when horse-drawn coaches were charged up to two shillings per crossing and every individual pig a ha'penny. Today it's open as a Tourist Information Office and a museum, which is somewhat optimistic for a small two-storey building so there isn't much substance to either. It's also the only one of the ten museums under the Ironbridge Gorge Trust umbrella without an admission charge, so acts as a gateway drug to encourage tourists to visit the others. Only one other museum is within short walking distance, which might not be £26.50 well spent, but I managed to visit the majority of them (and I'll tell you about those tomorrow).
