The Industrial Heritage of the Black Country

Day 1 – Cadbury’s World

Board our private executive coach at your preferred pick up points – stop at Cadbury’s World at Bourneville, dedicated to the history of chocolate – check in at the 4* Park House Hotel in Shifnal.

Day 2 – Ironbridge & Blists Hill Victorian Town

Ironbridge, the great symbol of the success of the iron industry, was cast in 1779 by Abraham Darby and its great arch enthralled visitors who came from all over the world to admire its construction, as they still do today – see the Ironbridge and Toll House and visit the Coalport China Museum and the Jackfield Tile Museum – Blists Hill Victorian Town is a recreation of life in a Victorian community with working factories, shops and cottages as well as the ‘townsfolk’.

Day 3 – Wightwick Manor & the Barber Institute of Fine Arts

Wightwick Manor, one of only a few surviving examples of a house built and furnished under the influence of the Arts and Crafts Movement, contains many original William Morris wallpapers and fabrics, Pre-Raphaelite paintings and de Morgan ware – time at leisure in Birmingham and on an individual basis you may choose to enjoy a canal cruise – the Barber Institute of Fine Arts is home to a fine art collection by artists such as Monet, Manet, Renoir, Rubens, Rodin, and van Dyck.

Day 4 – Stokesay Castle, Ludlow, Severn Valley Railway & Bridgnorth

English Heritage’s Stokesay Castle is a perfectly preserved medieval fortified manor house dating back to the 11th century and nestling in a green valley in the heart of the Shropshire countryside – time at leisure in Ludlow for lunch – one way 16 mile steam train excursion from Kidderminster to Bridgnorth on the Severn Valley Railway is a wonderful way to explore the beauty of the River Severn (those not opting for the train excursion continue by coach to Kidderminster) – remainder of the afternoon in the historic town of Bridgnorth.

Day 5 – Black Country Living Museum

The award winning Black Country Living Museum, with period shops and houses set in a landscape of 26 acres, offers a glimpse into 300 years of history and reveals what it was like to live and work in one of the world’s most industrialised landscapes.