A5 near Shrewsbury facing overnight closures
Drivers have been warned of more than a week of overnight closures to a main road in Shropshire.From 11 to 16 June, the A5 near Shrewsbury will be closed eastbound from Edgebold Roundabout to Emstrey Island between 21:00 and 06:00 BST.The westbound carriageway will then close from Emstrey Island to Bayston Hill Roundabout during the same hours between 17 and 23 June.The closures are to allow for resurfacing work, with the second stint including a closure of the A49 northbound from Sharpstones Lane to Bayston Hill Roundabout.
National Highways said the closures would only be on weeknights and the resurfacing would allow road users "safer, smoother journeys".It warned drivers to leave extra time for travelling and to follow signed diversions.
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A current of creativity also flows through this corner of Somerset, and later that morning I meet Buc Dennis at his family's Dennis Chinaworks in an old stable block outside Shepton Beauchamp (open Monday to Friday, and weekends by appointment). Visitors can buy beautiful vases and jugs, with patterns hand drawn by Buc's mother, Sally Tuffin, a former fashion designer now in her 80s. It's not the only creative family hub in these parts, and afterwards I swing by the Temperleys' Burrow Hill Cider Farm. The familiar Glastonbury cider bus is parked outside, the pumps fired up on Saturday afternoons, when local families spread picnic blankets between the apple trees, entertained by food trucks and circus troupes. Across the yard, Mary Temperley's Make store is stocked with zesty body washes (also in bathrooms at Thornfalcon), baskets woven in Ghana and suzanis stitched in Jaipur. Sign up to The Traveller Get travel inspiration, featured trips and local tips for your next break, as well as the latest deals from Guardian Holidays after newsletter promotion Sophie and Panu, too, fizz with ideas. 'When I developed long Covid, creativity and making were one of the key things that made me well again,' Sophie told me when pointing out a framed needlepoint she had stitched in one of the cabins. This summer, the first bottles of wine and cider will be ready; there are plans to take beekeeping courses and plant lavender fields; and to host feasts, yoga classes and painting workshops in a lovely old barn. It's inspiring to be around, and equally, easy to dip into as much or as little as you choose. A place to get fired up or sink into a slower way of living, or, as I tried, to find a balance between the two. Accommodation was provided by Thornfalcon Winery & Press: the Coach House sleeps five from £125 a night; the Vine Hut and the Lambing Shed sleep two from £170 a night, and the Gypsy Caravan an extra £70 a night (all two nights minimum), Train travel was provided by Great Western Railway, which travels directly from London Paddington to Taunton,
