Ironbridge, UK
Highlights
Blists Hill
Ironbridge
Enginuity
Why visit Ironbridge?
For a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution, with loads of interesting museums and family friendly activities, all set amid beautiful countryside.
Getting There and Around
We drove our electric car from our home in Sheffield to Ironbridge in Shropshire. This was a quick and straightforward drive that took 2 hours.
To get around we used our car but it is also possible to walk between some of the museums in the gorge valley. Others are harder to reach on foot, being located up the steep valley sides.
Parking at all of the Ironbridge Trust sites costs £1 per hour, but is free at Coalbrook for YHA guests, and free at Enginuity if you spend over £25 in the Furnace Kitchen restaurant.
Early on the morning of our departure, before the museums opened, Harriet drove for 5 minutes to the outskirts of Telford where there were a range of EV fast chargers. It took less than an hour to charge the battery to 75% - more than enough power for the journey home.
Accommodation
We opted to stay at the YHA Coalport which is located right next door to the Coalport China Museum. Parking at the museum car park was free for YHA guests. We like youth hostels because they provide low cost accommodation in excellent locations, and this one was very well located indeed, in a pretty spot in the Ironbridge gorge valley.
We stayed in a family room with an en suite shower room. The room was very basic with no amenities to speak of, but it was more than sufficient to rest for one night.
Breakfast the next morning was a bit slow due to staff shortages but decent for the price. The room and breakfast cost £100.
Our star rating: 3
Our cost rating: 5
Blists Hill
We left home at 10am and arrived into Ironbridge at around 12pm. Check-in at YHA wasn’t until 5pm but that didn’t matter as we planned to spend the afternoon at Blists Hill anyway.
We’d purchased a Family Pass online a couple of weeks before our visit which cost £86 for 2 adults and up to 4 children. We think this is excellent value for money as it gives you entry into over 10 museums and sites in Ironbridge, and it’s valid for repeat visits for a year.
Blists Hill is a recreated Victorian town that brings to life the sights, sounds and smells of the late 19th century. Some of the elements such as the blast furnaces, mines and brick works are original. Others are historic buildings that have been relocated from elsewhere to the site, the pub for example. Some are replicas that have been purpose built for the museum, like the bank.
As soon as you enter the village you feel like you are in the past, with costumed people walking around and staffing the shops. Luckily, the staff talk in the third person and refer to the Victorians as they or them, so we didn’t have to go along with any cringeworthy role playing. In fact the staff were excellent at making us feel at ease, clearly well trained in their respective crafts, and very good at explaining lots of historical and scientific information to children.
There were horse and cart rides, a singalong in the village hall, a chemist, butcher, boot maker, plasterer, candle maker, saw mill, bakery, doctor’s surgery, bank and post office plus much more. We visited during the summer holidays when there was also a fairground with old wooden rides such as swing boats and a carousel.
In each shop or trade building there was an opportunity to see crafts in action or buy things made on site. We particularly enjoyed the candle makers and learning why candles had double wicks (to produce a brighter flame) and why some were green (for exclusive use by miners and to prevent theft of these candles from the mines).
Blists Hill is an outdoor museum but easy to walk around and when it rained we just ducked into one of the shops to take a closer look and continue the fun. We had a great afternoon out here and would highly recommend visiting with anyone who has an interest in history and/or making things.
Ironbridge
After Blists Hill we visited the village of Ironbridge which sits on the River Severn. The Iron Bridge that the village is named after opened in 1781. It was the first bridge in the world made from cast iron and is an important site of the Industrial Revolution.
The bridge itself is very striking and well looked after, and we also enjoyed the village itself with its cute toy shops, book shops and ice cream parlours. We had a good pot of tea and hot chocolates at The Tea Emporium.
After a pleasant afternoon at Blists Hill and Ironbridge we made our way to the YHA to check in, and then went out for supper at the Woodbridge Inn where we had booked a table a couple of days beforehand.
The pub was busy and our food took a while to arrive. When our food was served it was middling. The kids’ pasta and sausages and chips were decent quality, but the adults’ dishes (hamburger, and sweet potato curry) were just so-so. However, the service was good and our waiter was friendly; and the pub is located right on the river in a very picturesque spot.
Enginuity
After a basic but comfortable night’s stay, and a slightly slow but decent breakfast at the YHA, we checked out at 10am and made our way to Enginuity.
Enginuity is an engeniously titled museum all about science and engineering. A bit like the Eureka Children’s Museum in Halifax but smaller, Enginuity is a hands on and fun place for kids to learn through play.
Although it’s relatively small, there was loads to do here, including a big water play table complete with dams and clouds, an interactive exhibit on how cast iron is made, and lots of old vehicles and engines. There were also some touch screens with simple educational games and quizzes.
During our visit there was a free bridge building session in the craft room. The kids thoroughly enjoyed this and got really involved in it.
Final Thoughts
The Ironbridge area is in a beautiful part of rural Shropshire, and despite being so close to Birmingham, it feels quiet and idyllic. We loved learning about the history of the area and thought the Ironbridge Trust have done a great job preserving the character of the area while allowing for tourism.
Sadly we didn’t manage to visit all of the museums in Ironbridge on this trip. However, the Ironbridge Family Pass we purchased is valid for a year so we will be sure to return soon and visit the places we didn’t make it to this time.
