Part of the main street in Newport, Shropshire

Image: © Jeremy Bolwell Taken: 12 Sep 2012

I have a confession to make. I've lived in Shropshire for the best part of a decade and had never visited Newport before today. I've wanted to, many times. But I have never had reason to and in my mind that kind of sums Newport up. It seems to me that you have to fight through a vortex of some kind to get there. Admittedly I live in deepest South Shrops but no one in ten years has said "I was in Newport - you must go!" It's not near anywhere and it's certainly a long way from Ludlow. I've even been to that Gingerbready place - Market Drayton, I believe it's called. And Whitchurch. And Telford. Once. (No many times in reality). But until today I was unknown to Newport and it to me. That is rectified and I loved it - but my god it took ages to drive there. I drove and hoped, drove a long way further and had to pull over and check my road atlas and I passed through places that made me believe I had strayed into a parallel universe where even the place names seemed obviously made up (Crudgington, Cherryton and Edgton if I recall correctly) and I appreciated again what a big - really big - county Shropshire is. I was fascinated and rewarded by my visit. I'll be back.

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