Dungroamin 2025
The holiday that smells but has no taste
Sunday 8th June
Geraint had to leave us this morning as he had an important opticianing situation to prepare for. So we wished him well and sent him on his way.
Our chosen destination for our first visit of the day was Wroxeter Roman City - apparently the fourth largest city in England at the time. On the site was a reproduction of a typical house of the time, which had been constructed as part of a TV programme.
It was quite a chilly day so we did not linger long. The site suffered by not having the much needed café for some refreshments.
The remains of the Basilica wall of the baths at Wroxeter with a reconstructed Roman villa through the arch.
The reconstructed foundations of the Roman villa.
Another view of the site.
A typical house, reconstructed as part of a TV programme.
Our next local attraction was Battlefield 1403, the site of the Battle of Shrewsbury. The Battle, fought on 21 July 1403, was waged between an army led by the Lancastrian King Henry IV and a rebel army led by Henry "Harry Hotspur" Percy from Northumberland. The battle was the first in which English archers fought each other on English soil, reaffirming the effectiveness of the longbow and ending the Percy challenge to King Henry IV of England.
There seemed to be some event going on here, so it was very busy but we eventually found somewhere to park. It was starting to rain, and although there was a café, the chances of getting a seat were looking remote.
Have you tried the shed round the side, they said. We went to see and luckily, the brass band which had been performing were getting ready to leave, so Jerry pounced and managed to bag a table or two. Dungroamin strikes again!
Jerry celebrates his success at ejecting the brass band from a potential eating area.
One of the many birds of prey on display.
After lunch, we looked around the exhibition on the Battle of Shrewsbury, which was much more interesting than the museum at the castle which we had visited the day before.
There was also a very good Owl sancturay which had 33 different birds of prey. Chris was very pleased because he didn't need his binoculars to see them, or at least I don't think he did. He was disappointed though not to see a Red Kite.
On our return to the hotel, we managed for the first time to correctly negotiate the complicated roundabout off of the A5 without missing our turn.
We then had time for a bit of a rest before the final saga of the day.
The scene of our taxi nightmare.
What! Loads of empty parking spaces.
We had booked into the Boathouse for our evening meal - the busy riverside pub we had seen from our boat trip. Our research online suggested that there were not very many parking places at the pub and that you could not park on nearby streets. So deciding to go by taxi seemd a grand idea. It meant we could all have a drink to celebrate the last night of our Dungroamin adventure.
Jerry decided to still go by car in case he wanted to leave early.
There was a phone on the desk of reception at the hotel, where you could phone direct to order a taxi - how convenient. Kathy volunteered/was elected/nominated to make the call.
We pre-booked a taxi for 6:30pm. As the clock approached 7pm, we were still waiting. But eventually one taxi arrived, so half of us bundled in, and then a bit later the second one arrived.
We arrived at the pub to find that there were sufficient parking spaces, so we could have come by car. Jerry had no trouble parking.
So having all arrived we had a lovely meal in a lovely pub. Again we had no problems settling the bill. What's going on? This is not Dungroamin!
We had prebooked our return taxis for 9:00 from the same taxi firm (VESUU for the record). So we went outside to await our taxis.
Half an hour later we were still waiting. Kathy ran the taxi firm and they confirmed the taxis were coming.
The Boathouse is a lovely old pub.
The pub has a lovely riverside setting.
Another half an hour and still no taxis. Kathy rang again, and this time they hung up!! Oh dear - probably no taxi then!
It was starting to get dark by now, and we were wondering how we were going to get back. It would take around an hour to walk it, and that wasn't something that Brian could contemplate.
Meanwhile the Dungroamin spirit was stirring in the group, as Pete came up with the idea of calling an Uber. It seems that Shrewsbury isn't a top location for Uber taxis but luck had it that an Uber taxi from another area had just brought someone to Shrewsbury and he picked up Pete's call.
Hooray, a taxi arrived, and having persuaded the driver to make two journeys, we loaded up the ladies for the first trip.
It was getting a bit cold by now, so the men retired to the pub where Pete and Brian warmed up with a large Monkey Shoulder. It might have been appropriate if this was a shoulder to cry on, but it was a Scotch Whiskey.
Our Uber hero quickly returned to pick up the guys and we were soon all back in our hotel, where strong words were had about the quality of the taxi company they were recommending.
But just another saga for the Dungroamin record book!
Where are our dam taxis?