Lots of Postcards from Bishop’s Castle

Not on the main road to anywhere much, Bishop’s Castle (nowadays it no longer has a castle) may be somewhere to settle if you’re something of a creative type: an artist, a musician, a writer or a craftsperson. It’s an interesting town for a day trip – in our case because we were going to meet fellow blogger Tish Farrell, whose blog Writer on the Edge is one I know many of you read (And if not, why not?). We both enjoyed a morning with Tish and her husband before they waved us off to discover the town under our own steam.

I’m settling for a few postcards. Here’s the view from the Town Hall down the main street. If only they hadn’t been digging the entire length of the High Street up! No fun at all.

We pottered around quirky independent shops. Here’s our favourite – The Poetry Pharmacy.

The world’s first ever Poetry Pharmacy offering walk-in prescriptions, literary gifts, and books to address your every emotional ailment.  Visit our beautiful Victorian shop in the small town of Bishop’s Castle, Shropshire, to browse the bookshop or pause in the Dispensary Café to be prescribed coffees, tisanes, sodas & sherbets to lift the spirits.

There was the House on Crutches Museum – sadly, closed that day: and so many charming buildings worth a second glance.

Or you could go looking for images of elephants, a reminder of two things. First, that Clive of India, whose family Coat of Arms included an elephant, once lived here. More memorably, during WWII, several circuses moved their animals out of the cities to Bishop’s Castle to avoid the air raids. A good few elephants were housed in local stables …

Perhaps my favourites were three houses at the bottom of the street. Terraced, and each painted a vibrant, different colour, the first was ‘zipped’ to the second, which was the ‘jigsawed’ to the third.

And that was pretty much it. A rewarding day that lived up to its promise. The featured photo shows almost the very first house we spotted on our way to find Tish. The first of many cheering sights.

A multi-tasking post.

For Natalie’s Photographing Public Art Challenge …

and Jo’s Monday Walk …

and Debbie’s Six Word Saturday.

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Author: margaret21

I'm retired and live in North Yorkshire, where I walk , write, volunteer and travel as often as I can.

65 thoughts on “Lots of Postcards from Bishop’s Castle”

  1. Lovely warm memories! We so enjoyed meeting Tish and Graham. Feels like a lifetime ago now. And we’ve wandered down that high street before we ever knew they’d live there. Enchanting, isn’t it? Despite the roadworks (Tavira looked like that for much of the summer). Many thanks for sharing and happy weekend to you!

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      1. Ha! I was just writing a post ‘complaining’ about the heat. I’d forgotten about the Bank Holiday- we always did the same. Doesn’t sound very jolly for Leeds Festival this year…

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      3. More cat feeding and medicating here, t’ai chi, food and concert tonight, then the wonderful medieval fair at Castro Marim tomorrow. No rest for the wicked 🤣💙

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  8. Ah, Bishops Castle…used to drive through when my parents lived in Shropshire, nearly 40 years ago….think the place was a it sad then. Looks worth a visit now, and great that you met Tish and Graham

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    1. It was a really good day from beginning to end, and we loved the time we spent with you, and seeing ‘for real’ the home you’ve described piecing together, as described in your blog.

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  12. How lovely that you were able to meet up with Tish! I’ve been following her for some time and have enjoyed getting to know Bishops Castle through posts since she moved there. And now I get to see it through your eyes too 🙂 I love the Poetry Pharmacy, all the elephants (especially the stained glass window) and those zipped and jigsawed houses – what fun 😀

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  13. I like the ideas of a Poetry Pharmacy too! I’m not sure when we visited BC but it must be a good 10 years ago on a rather dull winter’s day. It’s an interesting town, more so now by the looks of those quirky paintings – love the laburnum mural on a house next to Laburnum Alley! I recall having lunch in the pub at the bottom of the High Street – The Six Bells – and popping into the church across the road which has a pretty lychgate. Nice that you met up with Tish, somehow we never managed that!

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      1. We have a poetry cafe in Covent Garden. Despite the advertised times it is never open for me. I suspect whatever the poets’ equivalent of a secret handshake is required. I managed it once many years ago when I was less cynical

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  18. I love the three houses at the bottom of the street, the elephants and the Poetry Pharmacy. The stained glass elephant is beautiful. There’s something whimsical about all of the murals. Thank you for your PPAC contribution.

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  23. Such a fun post Margaret – sorry I’m late to the party! Believe it or not my husband and I both came down with Covid and I’m just now digging out from under the weather. Always great to meet up with another blogger, I always enjoy Tish’s posts and remember when she moved there. What a great, picturesque town! (Bummer about the orange barriers tho!). I absolutely LOVED the zipper/jigsaw – how very creative!!!

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