Blists Hill – My Top 10 Heritage Sites – No 10

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Blists Hill Victorian Village – Iron Bridge

I visited Blists Hill Victorian Village once as a child and have isolated memories of the chips in the Victorian ‘chippy’ and the fairground rides, but not much else. But I do remember being left with the feeling ‘I must go back some day’.

Drawing up the 10 Ten list

When I drew up my Top 10 list for this series of blogs, Blists Hill immediately popped into my head as a place to revisit and explore for a blog post. So I booked my train ticket and an overnight stay in the Coalport YHA.

Having been working with a trainer for a year to improve my mobility and flexibility, this would be the first long distance trip with just my walking stick. I travelled light with just a rucksack, my camera and microphone, undies and a change of clothes.

The journey

Awake since 2.30am (2 hours before my alarm – I wasn’t best pleased to say the least), I got to Euston very early. It’s amazing who you can get chatting to on journeys and on this occasion it turned out to be one of the Liberty team – yes that Liberty. We chatted about the store, it’s history, the TV program and the architecture. A great start to my journey.

I arrived at a very grey, windswept Telford Central and got a taxi to Blists Hill, arriving just as it opened.

Testing the new camera

One of the reasons I’d booked this trip was to try out my new camera. It does both stills and video and I felt that Blists Hill would be the ideal place to test it. This proved to be the case, with challenging light conditions both inside and out.

Getting my ‘readies’ at the Blists Hill bank

My first stop was the Bank, to change my modern money into facsimile Victorian pennies, ha’pennies, thru’pennies and farthings. I felt like I was walking into Gringotts bank, with the old wooden counters, decorative railings and even a period Bank manager.

Weighed down with unfamiliar coins and burning a hole in my pocket, I headed off to the printer – a bit of a busman’s (or woman’s) holiday. On my first design course, I learnt how to set type the old fashioned way, with wooden and metal type blocks. We set a poster and then had to separate them out manually into 2 different colours: red and black. At Blists Hill I just set my name and operated the printing press to print my own poster.

A very informative tour was next, given by the grocer. This took us to an original mine shaft, the canal and cottages.

Walking past the baker (who had just put their bake in the oven, much to our chargrin), we arrived at the school, just in time for the lesson. What an interesting experience.

The school lesson

The re-enactor playing the schoolmaster was fabulous. He was strict, he had even the adults standing, sitting and saying ‘Yes Sir’. He even played the piano/harmonium and led everyone in renditions of All Things Bright and Beautiful and God Save the Queen.

A quick lunch of a delicious home made scotch egg gave me chance to sit and rest my sore back. That’s one of the drawbacks of this site, not enough seats under cover (it rained a lot) for people with mobility issues to use.

Wandering slowly back up the kill, I popped into the bakers to see if their bake was now out of the oven. I was lucky, it was, stocking up on a lovely fruit bun and a huge chunk of shortbread, both of which I saved to eat on the train home.

The photographer’s studio at Blists Hill – a busman’s holiday

Popping in to the photographer’s studio, it felt like a home from home. My father was a photographer. At one time worked for Lord Snowden and the BBC. He collected vintage cameras. His collection included old plate cameras. I saw several of which I saw around the studio in Blists Hill.

In the 1800-1900s studio photography was lit with natural light, therefore long exposures were needed. Sitters had to remain still for quite a long time so the image wasn’t blurry.

Loving the lace at Blists Hill

I popped into the carpenter’s and the blacksmith’s, the chemist and the haberdashers. There was a beautiful collection of lace items and I rushed down to see the lacemaker. I used to do lace making as a hobby and I enjoyed watching a skilled practitioner.

Blists Hill was built in 1973 and is built on the site of a former industrial complex in Telford, Shropshire. The museum recreates the sights, sounds and smells of a Victorian Shropshire town. It’s set in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. There wasn’t originally a village on the site. However an amazing village atmosphere has been created. It’s a fabulous day out for everyone. There are lots of different exciting things to see and do, like horse carriage and fairground rides.

Would I go back again? Yes. Would I love to work with them? Definitely.

The story behind my short film What did you do in the war Grandad?
Tips to help you make short films on a budget.
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