Ow bin-ee me owd butties? As we had to drop some of me booklets off in Dorrington we decided to pop into Condover for a bit of a brivet.
As shroppieoomon and owd Stanleydog were joining me we left me owd trusty rusty tied up at whum and went in the posh car, shroppieoomon’s motor.
Having parked outside the former Black Lion inn in Dorrington, we posted the booklets at a lovely house and then cut through to Bank Drive and back to The Bank to give owd Stanleydog’s legs a stretch afore driving to Condover, do folks still pronounce it Cun-dover or is that just me?
We went down Station Road so I could bore Shroppieoomon about how the White House was another former inn and it also saved us frum owd Stanleydog getting over excited thinking he was off to hydrotherapy.This road brings you in to Condover over the owd Cound Brook which was flowing quite high.We parked at the owd school,saddened to see that the needs for security has cost the owd wicket fence, shroppieoomon pointed out that the buzzes were running so we moved along out of the buz stop and sauntered back to the village centre.
Although it was a Friday afternoon, the club, the post office(get well soon Terry and Marcelle) and the shop that replaced the wonderful Bert Butler’s butchers were all closed, so we had a brevit at the owd conduit(has it alus bin there?) and milestone, where owd Stanleydog did his usual impression of a cross collie at a collie cross, then headed to the sebunctious church of St Andrew and St Mary.
The church dates back to Norman times but, as the little guide book(only 50 new pennies) informs us, the main part was rebuilt in the 1660’s following the dramatic collapse of the tower.
Inside are some beautiful yet very sad monuments,the wurk of G.F.Watts, the mon kneeling, is Thomas Owen, previously Cholmondley, who unfortunately died on his honeymoon in Florence of Typhoid. Another monument is that of Alice Cholmondley who died in labour and her daughter died a fortnight later.
The large oak chest seen in front of the monuments is the sole survivor frum the mediaeval building.
We then took a little fisk round to Condover Hall, this fine Elizabethan Manor was built in 1598 by Judge Thomas Owen for his son Sir Roger. A member of our Memories of Shropshire facebook group who used to work here, has informed me that legend has it that should Ivy ever cover the stone gate, the hall will fall down.
Condover is well worth a brevit if ever you have time for a spot of Shropshireing but that’s enough chunnerin’ frum me save for the thought that struck me on returning to the car, i’m sure the gud folk of Condover are very grateful to the children of Florence Cohen for their fine buz stop but why did they build it so big?
thank’ee muchly to anyone who is still reading this far down, now run along and play nicely – shroppiemon