What's in Ironbridge other than an iron bridge?

A trip to Ironbridge for Gillian's 60th, regrettably coinciding with the 4th World Congress of Psychogeography in Huddersfield which regular readers will know I was part of in 2018. Spookily, many of the others at the Ironbridge gathering were from Huddersfield so they were missing the Congress too.

Ironbridge and Coalbrookdale look as though they were built just last month for a new BBC period drama - nothing is out of place except the people and queues of tourist buses. The evening life is also a little anachronistic, although certainly quite fun.

I psychogeographically compensated for all this by executing my own score for a quasi-derive on Saturday morning: locating all the scarce postboxes in the postcode (categorised as "A" by LBSG).

It was successful in the respect that I saw many bits of TF10 which others didn't, and that were really very jolly. Two boxes evaded me, but here is number 1036648, with its grotty replacement in the foreground.

But in the nature of the exercise, other discoveries took precedence. The highlight was without doubt the Quaker burial ground

wherein is interred Abraham Darby, the man whose name is on the eponymous bridge. The description shows the grave locations, but all headstones (written in true Quaker style) have been moved to the rim. The result is an area that has a tranquility that makes most cemeteries look like Leeds railway station at 5pm on a weekday.

Other highlights included a marvelous telephone exchange building

and a Euro-relic.

I also rather liked a view from the bridge that omitted the bridge.

I believe the birthday party went very well but I find my memory incomplete. And so do many other people. Thanks, Naz.

Other pictures exist.