Travels: Cradle of the Industrial Revolution

We started the day in true English fashion with a hearty breakfast of eggs, bacon, sausage, toast and marmalade and tea cooked by Mum.
Nicely rounded we drove to Derek and Dawn’s house to meet them, wish him Happy Birthday and go out for the day.
A 45 minute drive on narrow country roads brought us to the Severn Valley and the birth place of the Industrial Revolution. We parked the car in a public car park on the outskirts of Ironbridge and walked along the road next to the river to the town of Ironbridge, appropriately named because it is the site of the world’s first bridge constructed entirely of iron. We walked along the river bank, under the bridge, then climbed steps back to the road so we could walk across the bridge. We declined the opportunity to buy a T-shirt proclaiming we had “crossed the world’s first iron bridge”.
After visiting the small museum in the bridge toll house we walked to the White Hart pub and restaurant where we sampled real ale from the Ironbridge Brewery and ate fish (cod) and chips and mushy peas.
(Real Ale is a generic name given to bears that are brewed using only water, hops, barley and yeast in the same way beer used to be produced before beer making became an industrial process. Most Real Ale is brewed by regional micro breweries producing 1,000 – 5,000 gallons a week and the flavor in the beer is obtained by using hops and barley and yeast from different regions or countries and by the minerals and salts in the local water. The carbonation in the beer is from the brewing process and the beer is pulled from a barrel by an old fashioned hand pump. The beers are served at the cellar temperature of approximately 58F).
Walking back to the car we stopped at the Ironbridge Brewery, talked to the owner and bought some bottled beer to drink later and also to add to my collection of bottled beers.
When we got back to the car it appeared I had apparently parked illegally and had been given a ticket that is to cost me 15 pounds for parallel parking when I should have parked nose-in. There were lots of reasons to dispute the charge but given our short time in the UK this was probably futile.
Dropped mum at home and we went to spend the night with Derek and Dawn at their house. They fed us a lovely supper. After supper Derek opened a bottle of Champagne to toast his birthday. After an hour or so Dawn and Patricia went to bed and Derek and I solved the problems of the world with the help of half of a bottle of Lagavulin Isle of Islay Scotch whiskey.