What can you do in Shrewsbury?
As the severity of COVID-19 subsided in the county of Shropshire, we are finally allowed to take weekly trips to the nearby town of Shrewsbury for the first time ever this year. Starting from 28th April every Wednesday, there would be coaches near the Main Hall at 1:15 which can bring over 100 students to town at the same time. Since more of you will have the opportunity to take more and more trips to town, I believe now would be the prime time for me to introduce the things you could do when you get to Shrewsbury. When you get to Shrewsbury, you can…
1: Buy some stuff
I’m sure most of you would agree that the ability to purchase various things from Shrewsbury is one of the biggest reasons why the resuming of town trips is so highly anticipated. However, as most of you may only have been to town for a couple times, you may not be familiar with most of the places where Concord students would go in town in previous years. In this case, I would like to answer the question here: “You can buy some stuff. But from where?”
One of the hot spots you can go to is Darwin Shopping Centre. There are quite a lot of stores there which sell a variety of goods that you might be interested in. Looking to buy some drinks and snacks for a low price? You can go to Poundland or Home Bargains. Planning on getting a new outfit to look nicer for the summer term? There’s a Primark and H&M waiting for you. You can even go to Marks & Spencers in the mall that acts as both a supermarket and clothing store… If you are trying to do both of these activities in one go!
There are some other places where you can go shopping in Shrewsbury, such as the ASDA supermarket, Market Hall and Parade shopping centre. One of the shops I recommend going to is Setonaikai, a store located in Parade. The shop sells a variety of Japanese food, ingredients, and condiments that you would most likely not be able to find elsewhere in the town!
2: Get a haircut
Did any of you miss out on the hairdresser in mid-April and are now stuck with reeaaally long hair, or alternatively want a new, flashier haircut that fits you better? Then rejoice! You can go to town and get yourself a haircut now! There are loads and loads of barber shops around town like Seven Salon and Hinces, where you can visit when you get the chance. Now that town trips are open again for the first time, maybe you can get the chance to visit one of the barbers for the next Wednesday!
3: Go for a walk
Shrewsbury is a beautiful town with lots of places to sightsee and visit, so why don’t you go for a walk around town when you have the time? There are a lot of structures in Shrewsbury like Shrewsbury Abbey, Saint Alkmunds Church and the Darwin Gate that are quite pretty to look at when you go around the town. There’s also a park in Shrewsbury called the Quarry, where you can reach when you go straight up the alleyway next to the Hong Kong City restaurant. As you walk around the park, you can feel the chill atmosphere of the green grass fields along the walkway. The path also extends to the area of the park that borders the River Severn, the river that nearly surrounds the Shrewsbury town centre, making the park one of the best places to sit down, relax and appreciate the scenery of the town.
4: Order takeaway
Right now, even though it is safe for us to go to town again, many of the COVID-19 restrictions are still in place for a lot of the restaurants there, so expect very few restaurants to offer dine-in services for anyone in town (sorry for you, foodies!). However, if you’re really intent on trying the wonderful food of Shrewsbury for yourself (like me!), you can order takeaway from some of the restaurants and collect them near the end of your town trip for you to enjoy back in Concord. Some of the restaurants, like Ask Italian or Dough & Oil, can offer takeaway services for any of you that want a tastier Wednesday supper. If you’d rather feel like eating fast food, there is a KFC and Subway for you as well. Personally, I would normally buy a toastie from Say Cheese for around 4 pounds most of the time I go to town. However, due to the pandemic, the shop has temporarily closed for now. At the time when COVID-19 no longer becomes a problem for us, we can finally dine-in at some of the loveliest restaurants in Shrewsbury, or maybe even try out the toasties I mentioned earlier (Trust me, they’re good)! At the end, there’s one more thing you can put in your bucket list on what to do after the pandemic.
Right here are some of the things you can do when you have the opportunity to go to Shrewsbury. The weekly town trips were once a staple of Concord life and I’m glad this tradition has finally returned at the end of this year. I hope this post could be helpful for any one of you new 6.1 students who are considering a trip to town soon. For those of you who are, stay safe, wear a mask, and last but not least, have fun!
Sacheel – 6.1