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Welcome to Shropshire & Cheshire!

SHROPSHIRE & CHESHIRE

        This gentle, sleepy, English countryside is keeper of a great secret. Here along the Welsh border where the great River Severn is scarcely more than a good sized stream, the rich broad fields of flat English farms adjoin rolling hills streaked with minor coal veins.
        With local water and coal power available, a nearby outlet to the sea, and agricultural goods being produced in abundance, Cheshire and Shropshire had the right stuff to be among the first

English catalysts for the Industrial Revolution.

Indeed, Ironbridge, Shropshire, is a preserved village

monument to those times, as are the canals and railways which crisscross the region. But the Industrial Revolution did not leave deep scars here, as it in Birmingham, Manchester, and elsewhere in the Midlands.

Ironbridge, near Telford, Shropshire, is
recognized as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.
This sleepy village witnessed some of the earliest
expressions of the Industrial Revolution. The
village remains much as it was when the world's
first cast iron bridge was erected here in 1779.

 

IRONBRIDGE, SHROPSHIRE
Photo courtesy britainonview, Pawel Libera.
 

The English Country Life and Much More.

        Today, Cheshire and Shropshire remain largely a rural backwater — pretty, agricultural, and within day-trip reach of Shakespeare's Cotswolds to the south, the mountains and castles of Wales a few miles to the west, and one of England's greatest medieval towns, Chester, to the north.

THE 17TH CENTURY TUDOR HOUSE,
MARKET DRAYTON, SHROPSHIRE.
Photo © HOME AT FIRST

LOCATE SHROPSHIRE & CHESHIRE ON HOME AT FIRST'S MAP OF ENGLAND & WALES

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Historic Lodgings with Comfort and Style.

        HOME AT FIRST’s accommodations on the Cheshire/Shropshire border, on the grounds of a Cistercian abbey dating from 1133, offer a peaceful and stylish retreat, and serve as a great base for touring throughout western England and large portions of Wales. The 1,100-acre abbey estate offers the elegant simplicity of English country life in the midst of rural splendor.

SEVERAL COTTAGE APARTMENTS ARE LOCATED
ON THIS JACOBEAN ABBEY ESTATE.

Photos © HOME AT FIRST

Quality Lodgings!

          HOME AT FIRST’s Shropshire/Cheshire lodgings are well equipped with all the comforts of home, and are decorated tastefully with quality furnishings. Each has private parking and outdoor garden. These cottages in the quiet countryside are perfectly located as bases for day trips throughout the Cheshire, Shropshire, and North Wales.

LIVING ROOM IN A COTTAGE
ON THE ABBEY ESTATE

Independent Travel with Home At First's Help.

Stop at the Crown for a hearty
pub lunch in historic surroundings.
Photo © HOME AT FIRST

  Lots to do on foot, by train, or with your rental car!
         Drive the hedge-lined lanes. Explore pretty villages. Poke around craft shops. Hunt for antiques in Nantwich. Walk or bike on trails and towpaths. Stop for high tea. Ride a steam train on the Severn Valley Railway. Leave the car at Crewe and take the train to London for the day. Go to market at Market Drayton and buy fresh gingerbread — and stop at the pub for lunch. Visit the aerospace museum at RAF Cosford. Do as the Romans did at Wroxeter Roman City. Take a hike along the limestone escarpment of Wenlock Edge in southern Shropshire. Explore the museums and galleries of medieval Shrewsbury. Ride the canal boat across the dizzying Pontcysyllte Aqueduct (126 feet high!) near Llangollen, Wales. Marvel at England's best-preserved 13th century manor house, Stokesay Castle, near Craven Arms in south Shropshire.

         Head north to Chester, with one of Europe's best-

preserved medieval old towns. Walk its encircling walls, and

shop in its famous arcaded Rows. Take the train west from Chester to Conwy, Wales, and explore 13th Century Conwy Castle, a World Heritage Site. Drive, or take the train north to Liverpool, the maritime city on the Mersey the Beatles put back on the map. (Take a Beatles tour, and visit the Cavern Club and other Fab Four landmarks.) A day trip to Manchester (by car or train) lets you discover that the world's first industrialized city is now England's modern "northern capital". Head southeast to Birmingham by rail or car. Shop and stroll Birmingham's Gas Street Basin, once the hub of canal commerce in the Midlands, but now the canals are full of pleasure boats and the wharfs renovated into boutiques, restaurants, and pubs. Even Shakespeare's hometown, Stratford-upon-Avon is within day trip reach of Home At First's abbey cottages at the

Tudor townhouses
in medieval Chester.
Photo © HOME AT FIRST

Shropshire/Cheshire border.

       Discover and enjoy local pubs and fine restaurants throughout the region. HOME AT FIRST guests in Shropshire/Cheshire receive our exclusive England Activities Guide, full of suggestions and maps for day trips and other activities for your visit.

Home At First's exclusive
"England Activity Guide"

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CLICK HERE! to see a sample day trip from
HOME AT FIRST's exclusive "England Activity Guide"

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The Right Prices to Create Your Dream Trip:

 SHROPSHIRE & CHESHIRE FIXED PACKAGE PRICING 2013
  PRICES ARE DOWN AS MUCH AS 11.90% BELOW LEVELS OF 2009 — FOUR YEARS AGO! 
  MOST 2013 PRICES ARE BELOW 2012 RATES, TOO! 
NOTE: Any included airfares are subject to change until tickets are issued and may
be subject to fuel surcharges and tax increases.
NOTE: Any included car rentals may be subject to any locally charged taxes & fees.

 
  ECONOMICS 2013: WIN TWICE WITH TWO-TIERED PRICING:
   1. England Fixed Package Prices are as much as 11.90% below 2009 rates!
   2. Instant Discounts can save you hundreds more under these 2013 rates!
        Call or email us for a quote on your dream trip to England for 2013.
 

INCLUDES: Round-trip Flights from NEW YORK USA to LONDON or BIRMINGHAM UK

   + One Week of Lodging & Car Rental.

LO SEASON
–$280/prs.

$825
PER PERSON

INCLUDES: One Additional Week at the Same Lodging & Car Rental Extension.

$899
PER PERSON

INCLUDES: 1-Week Occupancy at a Different Lodging + 1-Week of Car Rental.

 
1 Week
GROUND ONLY ARRANGEMENTS
2013 PRICES AS MUCH AS
11.90%
UNDER 2009 RATES!
 

 
1 Week
LODGING ONLY
2012 PRICES AS MUCH AS
11.77%
UNDER 2009 RATES!