Rotary District 5550 Group Study Exchange 2011

We've had a great last couple of days!  We've been at Wroxeter on Monday, a livestock market on Tuesday morning with Concorde College and Shrewsbury in the afternoon, the RAF and Cold War museums on Wednesday morning, and took a nice breather with a relaxing walk about in the gardens of Lilleshall later on in the day.  I 've been looking forward to today and our visit to the town of Much Wenlock and to the town of Ironbridge.

Much Wenlock is a small town, but was home to a man named William Penny Brookes who was the principal founding father of the modern olympic movement through the Wenlock Games.  The town itself was very picturesque and we were lucky enough to have a tour of the Guildhall and council chambers!

Shaunna in the big chair

Council Chambers in the Guildhall

We had a quick bite to eat at Lena's Art and Food gallery and were off to Iron Bridge to take in the beauty of the industrial revolution.

Iron Bridge Panoramic

After a short look about the town and crossing the Iron Bridge (do make sure to cross the entire length of the bridge...no stopping half way and turning back), we went off to the Jackfield Tile Museum.  Very fine tile work and many rooms of how tiles were prepared and where you might see them.  Do see the gallery of some of our tour if you so choose!

We completed another great presentation for the good people at the Ironbridge Rotary club and were back home just before 11.  Tomorrow is an early start for breakfast at 7:15 at the Lion and then we're off to our vocational days...I'm off to see a Magistrates court and an English probation office!  We'll see how the Brits take care with justice!

Cheers!

Brennan

Hello all!!
This is day 5 of England! The trip so far has been great! Arriving on Saturday I am pretty sure I don't remember most of the afternoon on Saturday, which should of been the middle of the night for me. My host family took me downtown Shrewsbury, and I was determined not to sleep until the evening so I was able to sleep that night. After a few hours I had powered out and went for a couple hour nap. I can report that even though I had a nap I had an excellent sleep that night!! Just one other thing before I give a short account on the Wednesday tours is that I loved being in the Livestock Auction! I was able to actually seem smart explaining to my team how things worked there, and how that compared to being home in Canada. I had an interesting conversation with one gentleman that was selling Holstein x Belgian Blue calves and hoping to buy a couple of Holstein cows that day to add to his herd at home. Very interesting how things work, and how farmers make a living here compared to home, especially with the small land base that they have to work with! There is not a whole lot of room to expand.

Wednesday was another really nice day outside. We keep hearing about the weather in England and how it is never very nice this time of year, and for the first couple of days I was very overdressed weather wise. I can tell you though that as I write this it is raining outside, and I've heard that we might have seen the end of the nice weather. But I have learned since I have come here that you never know what the weather is going to be like until you stick your head outside! In the morning we went to the RAF & Cold War museum, and I found this really interesting. They had an account of the timing of things happening starting in 1912 until today, and there were a few flights made by women that I took special notice of such as the first solo flight! I also found the newest hanger the Cold War exhibit to be extremely interesting. I knew the story of the Cold War growing up, but didn't know a whole lot of specific details about it, and I really feel the museum did a very good job of telling all sides of the story.
Lunch was at a very nice pub called the Bell Inn. Pubs in England I have found are nothing like what we would consider a pub back home, and most of them are sit down restaurants serving meals. The one we ate at Wednesday was very good, chicken Tikka being my meal of choice.
The afternoon was a visit to Lilleshall which is one of 4 English National Sports Centres. Lilleshall specializes in football, field hockey, and gymnastics. The grounds were beautiful, and I can only imagine what they would look like in the spring and summer with all the flowers blooming, and grass as green and lush as grass can look. The grounds and the estate used to belong to the The Duke of Sutherland who owned a lot of the land in the area. The large estate was a hunting lodge, and wasn't even the Duke's home. The details that they have inside the now hotel, and outside the building is just incredible! I am very impressed and thankful for the people we have met along the way it seems people will take a minute or two, or even longer out of their day to explain things to us. One of the managers of Lilleshall saw us in the gardens and came down to give us an explanation of the estate. We asked about a thousand questions which he seemed very happy to answer. I am really enjoying the information and pride that people here take in knowing facts about history of buildings and the surrounding area, and England as a whole. It is really very impressive.
In the evening we had a supper with the Rotary club of Newport and did a presentation for the club.
The day was a good day for all involved!!
A full day of activities is planned for Thursday, and soon we will be moving on to a new Host family. I can not believe that we have been here almost a week already! Had a great first week and I am looking forward to the next 3. I am especially looking forward to Harper Adams on Friday.
Signing off for now & will post some pictures in the next day or two.
Jody

Hi everyone,

Well today was another busy day that began at 09:30 and did not stop until around 11:00 pm!  Our day started off meeting our guide for the day, Malcolm Cooper of the Shrewsbury Rotary Club who took us to the Livestock Market, where sheep and calves were being auctioned off.  We got up close and personal with the livestock and even left with a small piece of them on our shoes!

Concorde College

After the market we were taken to Concorde College, an International school, and taken on a tour of the grounds by Headmaster Neil Hawkins and 3 of the top students.  The school houses over 400 students whose main focus is in academia but also attempt to achieve helping the students grow into well rounded adults.  We had an amazing lunch at the school and then headed off to our next stop which was the town of Shrewsbury to meet the Mayor, Tony Durnell.

Mayor of Shrewsbury Tony Durnell

After speaking with the Mayor we headed off into the heart of Shrewsbury with the Town Crier, Martin Wood.  He gave us a tour of all the historical sites which consisted of the Market Square, Grope Lane, Butcher's Row, and some pretty interesting English trivia to go along with it, such as what a "ducking stool" was.   Any guesses?   It was used for nagging wives when their husband complained.  The wives were tied to stools and dunked into the river until they stopped shaking their heads or drowned.  I can imagine that there were some pretty unhappy households for a while after that, if they happened to live!

Town Crier in Shrewsbury Market Square

After our day in the town we did our first presentation for three clubs at the Lord Hill Hotel, which I personally think went very well.  It was a fun filled day that ended on a great note as our first presentation is now finally over!

Shaunna

Hi everyone!!
As  you can tell by today's title - it was a manic Monday, but in a very good, and busy way!!

We kicked the day off with a visit to the Severn Hospice which included a tour of their wonderful, caring  facility, and we learned about healthcare in the UK from Martin Beardwell and Paul Cronin.

We also had the privilege of meeting Lord Lieutenant Algernon Heber-Percy, who shared knowledge regarding what it means to be the the Queen's Representative, and how that position evolved over time from centuries ago.

Next, we  visited the Wroxeter, Roman ruins left over from when the Romans lived in Britain for approx. a 40 yr span starting in AD 43. Very impressive to see the remains from the baths and their intricate designs.

Next, we scooted over to the neighboring St. Andrew's church in Wroxeter which has beautiful stain-glass windows (and pipe organ).  One item of particular interest (that I haven't seen in any other church I've visited) is the tombs that were up front near the altar.  They are apparently from the 16th century, and depict the person laid to rest.  In front you will notice the carvings of each of their children with their respective coat of arms.  Very interesting...some even had pets carved next to them.


We concluded our day with a visit to the Roman Vineyard, which was also close by - and had a good time visitng there with some of the Rotary Club members from Wellington.
Thanks to everyone for making this day a great, "first day!!"   :-)
Alicia

Good afternoon folks, Brennan checking in.  We've made it into Shrewsbury and have divided up to our host families!  My hosts were gracious enough to take me on a tour of the National Trust's Attingham Estate today just outside of Shrewsbury.  The walled garden there was quite the sight and the restoration of the estate seems to be going quite well!  The trees on the grounds were quite amazing.  The sculptures from the House of Beasts collection were a tad odd though...they often mixed human and animal together in a strange way.  I thought they might have reflected the madness of King George III (who had many paintings/portraits in the estate), but I may be drawing embellished conclusions.

They didn't allow pictures of the inner estate, but the rooms that had been restored were magnificent.  My hosts were very knowledgeable about the estate and the grounds, and gave plenty of insight into what to do with my future garden!

There were many small shops setup inside the walled garden area, and I picked up my first trinket.  A metal sign for the entrance of my new house back home:


Quite fitting!  I believe it will suit my house rather finely.

We took a short jaunt up and through Much Wenlock due to me recognizing a name there (more on that later in the week when we go to Much Wenlock as a group) and then back home again.  Do see the gallery of other photos if it so pleases you.

Not a bad start at all!  All the best,

Brennan

We've made it to the Regina airport and are waiting for the plane to take us away.  Our GSE gear came in too!  Check it out.

See you soon, England!

Hey everybody.  Just 3 days to go. Are we ready?  I phoned England yesterday, just to make sure it was there, I guess. Not really. Thought I'd best make sure we had all the correct international codes for our families to make calls to there. I spoke to John Sayer. He sounds as interesting and organized as his emails have indicated. They are ready for us. And a bonus he says the weather has come up beaut. I knew it would. Now if we can get there before it changes.
Dave.