Journalist heaps praise on Shrewsbury where he met the town's answer to Hagrid
A journalist at a national newspaper has heaped praise on Shrewsbury after visiting ahead of the town's starring role in a TV drama.
Sunday Times writer James Stewart was a guest of Visit Shropshire ahead of the broadcasting of a new adaptation of the Charles Dickens classic Great Expectations on BBC1 this spring.
My Stewart remarks on not being too impressed as he passes KwikFit and the Star Kebab & Pizza House on the way in to town but was soon blown away by the old buildings including on Wyle Cop and around the town centre.
He remarks on the fact that the Tanners building was around in Dickens' time.
Mr Stewart writes in the Sunday Times: "Of the many hopeful small shops in Shrewsbury, the most optimistic sells Harry Potter merchandise.
"There may be a market for JK Rowling’s world, but surely it can’t be here, not in a fantastical town where Tudor houses sway and carved grotesques gurn as you pass."
He gives Shrewsbury's giant town crier Martin Wood, a "7ft 2in, full-bearded giant" and calls him "Shrewsbury’s own Hagrid" - as in the Robbie Coltrane character in the Harry Potter books.
He spoke to the Great Expectations location manager Leon Seth, who was equally impressed. Mr Stewart quotes him as saying: “It’s one of those places that, once you see the architecture and sense the history, makes you ask: ‘Why haven’t I been here before?’
The article also list places to stay and reviews of local establishments.
See the Sunday Times article here: https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/the-overlooked-market-town-thats-an-understudy-for-london-flh338xgr
You can also watch the Great Expectations trailer below:
