I visited a bustling village on the edge of the Shropshire Hills and found friendly locals and a thriving social scene
Pontesbury is a village in name but a bustling town in spirit - with various shops, school, library and thriving community life, it proves small places can have big personalities.
Pontesbury might be a village by name, but boasting its own library, primary school and medical practice, I'm sure the locals would forgive you for mistaking it for a town.
Unlike many other former coal mining areas, Pontesbury has slipped into the 21st century with great ease, and today serves as a popular centre for the surrounding hamlets.
Don't let the size of the place fool you though: if you weren't convinced of the worthiness of its village status, the local councillor is also the village's butcher/greengrocer/purveyor of baked goods.
Hignetts of Pontesbury is a jack-of-all-shops dating back to 1919. It's an amazing store, with locally sourced rapeseed oil, jams and chutneys, on shelves next to kimchi and tiny Italian biscuits.
