Lauren Plant is currently living life in the fast lane, working for sports car maker Lotus in the US. But she frequently finds herself yearning for the more leisurely pace of the leafy Shropshire countryside, which holds her fondest memories.
A keen walker, she’s got the beautiful Apalachan mountains on her doorstep near Atlanta, Georgia, where she’s been living with her husband Andy for the past year.
But she says: “As warm as it is, and as blue as the skies are, nothing compares to getting muddy chasing through the woods and then having a drink at The Boat or Black Swan in Jackfield.
“Although we have been up on to the Appalachian Trail, its not the same as Wenlock Edge, The Wrekin, the Stiperstones or any of the walks we have found.
“Our dog Jack goes on all these walks — he is a nine-year-old English Springer who can be seen with either a stick or tennis ball in his mouth on any of our hikes.”
Lauren, who is one of six children, was born in Wednesfield but comes from a well-known Shropshire family and spent most of her childhood in the county.
Her mother’s family came from Broseley, while her father’s hail from Bridgnorth, and the couple ran the Colour Centre, a paint and wallpaper store in Broseley’s square — a building which is now a bed and breakfast house.
Her grandfather was also a well-known character, once running a car breaker and repair shop by the Wharfage in Ironbridge.
Lauren’s first memories of Shropshire date back to her time as a four-year-old, when the family moved to Church Hill, Ironbridge, and she followed in her mother’s footsteps by attending Coalbrookdale school.
“My brothers and I would run all over the place back then, playing cowboys and Indians down Cockshutt Lane, going down through the woods to Patterns Rock and Ironbridge,” she recalled.
“We moved to Woodside when I was about eight, but still went to Coalbrookdale, taking the bus or sometimes walking up the Wharfage to the bridge then up the steps under the church, up Church Hill over the field behind the White Horse pub, and sometimes up Lincolns Hill.”
But just as she was planning to join the Abraham Darby School, in 1980, her parents relocated to North Wales, and then again to Norwich two years later.
“I moved around a bit — I lived in the States with my dad for a while then moved back to Norfolk, and got a job as a nanny in London. My grandad was ill at this time so many weekends were spent on the train to Telford.”
Although Lauren is on the other side of the Atlantic, her family still has strong Shropshire ties. Her sister Tamzin has been living in Coalbrookdale and her children have also gone to Coalbrokdale School.
Tamzin has been working at the Greenwood Trust along with her husband Larry Jones, and one of Lauren’s last walks on a recent Shropshire trip was to see the benches up on the Quaker walks which Tamzin had been project manager over.
“Although I have not lived in Shropshire for 20 years, I consider it home. Since moving to Georgia last year the one thing we miss most is walking — Wenlock edge on Boxing Day, the Wrekin on Christmas Day, the Silkin Way from Jackfield up to the Telford town centre and back. The Gorge at Ironbridge … all of it.”
- Are you a Shropshire expat? We’d love to hear from you, and see your pictures. Please contact starfeatures@shropshirestar.co.uk
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