Thatched cottage - in the present

Penkridge is a modern large town with the feel and outlook of a quaint small village - or maybe the other way round.  It's a contradiction that is hard to explain, but Penkridge itself seems comfortable with the double identity.
For example: as you stroll past a 1980s shopping area you then come to traditional houses, then you come to modern-build, then to flowery squares - and so on, all in their turn.

Wonder viaduct

I don’t care what anyone says: bridges are amazing things.    The Penkridge Railway Viaduct over the River Penk looks dull (I admit) from a distance - but it is a work of art in fact.
Thomas Brassey was the contractor; and it opened for business in 1837.  (This work was the making of Brassey – from then on he became the great railway builder of the century.  His biography says that by 1847 he had built one out of every three rail miles in Britain...)

One of the wonders of Staffordshire!

Tombstone quip

I'm not sure whether the writer of the epitaph on this tomb at Penkridge Church is being rather learnedly-clever or writing with tongue-in-cheek. 
Maybe the point is that each of the relatives could interpret it as they wanted...?    Or maybe I'm reading too much into a few simple lines?

Here's the modern version:   
Reader!  It was thought enough, upon the tomb of that great captain, the enemy of Rome, to write  no more but 'Here Lies Hannibal'. 
Let this [the two lines, below] suffice thee then, instead of all [that might be written]:   Here Lie Two Knights, Father & Son / Sir Edward and Sir Edward Littleton.

Now, is the writer being sarcastic with his comparison of regional land-owners to a major figure of history like Hannibal?  Or respectful?  Or, very subtly, both?!

Penkridge's grand parish home

This very grand building, Haling Dene Centre, is the home of a parish council.  This surprised me, as most parish councils that I know can just about afford to rent out a village hall room for their monthly meetings, let alone run a rather portentous centre like this. 
What's more the parish council concerned - Penkridge - has bought the place outright (it's not on a lease) and the facilities there are used extensively by locals.  It even runs its own transport fleet!

Admittedly, Penkridge can safely be described as a large village, even a small town, but the whole set-up is still rather an impressive feat for a parish council - a body that is (essentially) the most ignored tier of local government...

Crook house

Penkridge looks from the main road that passes through it as though it's just another dormitory town. In fact it has a long and quite staggering history.

Crook Cottage (now renamed the Old Cottage) is another surprising sight, that just pops up as one turns a corner in this historic town. It was a town lock-up in the 1780s. 'Crook' is Australian slang for 'out of sorts', so it seems an apt name for this rather warped structure!

There are plenty of publications written about the town, including An Historic Trail, sponsored by the local civic society. Worth buying, and taking the walk I think.
Link: History of Penkridge

Fatality 'shrine' at Penkridge

Near Penkridge, on the Teddesley Road, you'll see this sad 'shrine'. It's dedicated to Lesley, who died in a car accident on this spot. The piece of paper says she died in 2002, so whoever looks after this spot has never forgotten. it always has fresh flowers when I see it.

You used to see a lot of these, though few are as permanent as this one. They are sad reminders of the cost of driving.
I don't know why, but there are not many now - perhaps because the number of fatal road accidents is decreasing (?)

See: BBC - Roadside memorials to accident-victims in Staffordshire