Like many small towns in Shropshire, Wellington looks unsure of its true lineage. One moment it seems modern, the next it looks a little bygone, with Victorian buildings nestling against more recent additions. This sympathy is typified by Sunnycroft, a National Trust property which aims to preserves a Victorian gentleman’s suburban villa. Complete with pig sties, kitchen garden and a Wellingtonia avenue, it offers a unique insight into the life of an old-style professional man. Not far from here at Longdon-on-Tern is an experimental aqueduct that is indisputably the work of the canal engineer Thomas Telford. Overseeing the town is the Wrekin, a vast, flat-topped hill that was once the HQ for the Cornovil tribe. The view from the top is guaranteed to astound.

Sunnycroft at Wellington - Photo: Humphrey Bolton CCL