Iron bridge - silhouettes of women who could vote in 1918 (37/160)

Surprisingly, I've never visited Ironbridge, even though I lived in the Midlands for a while. I've wanted to visit for a while. Bit of a trek to get there (hour and a half) and to our surprise, it was covered for restoration! So I still haven't seen Iron Bridge. It's a lovely quaint village for a wander though. At Coalbrookdale, there was a Votes for women exhibition which I wanted to see. The installation is silhouettes of women who could have votes following the 1918 Act - 37 out of the 160 who worked in the industry. It's a stark reminder that 1918 was just the start and not everyone could vote. 1918 was just the start.

On the way back we stopped in Wenlock Priory, an English Heritage property.

Berrington Hall - A wander around the grounds

We don't usually go to National Trust sites because not all allow dogs, but Berrington Hall does. At £10 to enter, on our walk we reflected how we would love different prices for dog owners who can't enter the house and into some parts of the garden. Instead, we stayed on the outside and walked the grounds. Alas the commentary focussed more about what they will be removing in the restoration, rather than interesting facts about Capability Brown's last landscape design. We spent most of the walk walking over fields of grass for livestock. The lake was lovely, as was the heron island.

Queenswood country park and arboretum

A gorgeous walk around Queenswood country park. £3 for 2 hours of parking but worth it. We intended on the fox route, but as normal, got lost and ended up on the badger route instead. I’ve never noticed so many benches before, but there were loads. We walked to the viewpoint which alas couldn’t see. The Californian Redwoods were stunning and the Tibetan Cherry tree our favourite. Definitely a gem of a place.

Westonbury Mill Water Gardens

What a find. Just £6 to visit the gorgeous water gardens which are full of colour. It was so lovely to see Rae and walk through the gorgeous plants, over little bridges and looking at the mill and wine bottle cavern. A gorgeous spring wander.

Goodrich Castle

Penny does love an English Heritage site and Goodrich Castle was a corker. We wandered up the pathway and then the huge intact castle appeared. Penny loves walked in an our of all of the nooks and crannies, sniffing the stone. The chapel was especially nice with stained glass windows.

Suffrage Tree and Glasgow Women's Library

I heard about Glasgow Women’s Library at a suffrage conference and so had to pop in while in Glasgow. It has a umbrellas stand painted in suffragette colours from the 1910’s. I wandered the aisles looking at the books and stopped at the suffrage section. I chose ‘Suffrage in photographs’ and sat on an arm chair reading it. After the library I visited the Suffrage tree, planted in 1918 to commemorate the Representation of the People Act. Alas it was struck by lightening recently, but new shoots were forming.

Suffrage London

I’m working my way through the list of suffrage visits and today ticked off many. It started with an immersive suffragette tour of the Albert Hall. Alas, it wasn’t good and time after time, was given incorrect facts about suffrage history. I liked the actors portraying Lord Curzon and Helen Ogsden but gosh, calling Emmeline Pankhurst by the wrong name wasn’t a great start.

Onwards and upwards to Brampton Cemetery to visit the grave of Emmeline Pankhurst. While paying my respects, a woman touched the grave and said ‘Well done Emmeline, you done good’. It gave me goosebumps. On the walk to the tube, I passed the blue plaque of Hattie Jacques which made me smile.

The LSE exhibition, including the letter agreeing to the split of the Pankhurst’s and Pethick Lawrence’s. The exhibition had banners, sashes, medals and focused on WSPU, NUWSS and Women’s Freedom League. I then walked around and around and around in circles trying to find the plaque which commemorates the WSPU Headquarters but nope, I just kept coming across building works again and again.