Bill Bryson praises Hart and soul of Ironbridge

Delighted staff at Ironbridge's White Hart Inn said they had no idea the author had paid them a visit while researching his new publication, The Road To Little Dribbling, which came out this week.

It is a follow-up to his Notes from a Small Island, which quickly became the best-selling travel book ever.

To mark the 20th anniversary of Notes, Bryson retraced his steps to see what has changed, following a route he dubs the Bryson Line from Bognor Regis to Cape Wrath.

This time he ended up in Ironbridge, which he said has become his "favourite community" in the county.

He writes: "I went to Ironbridge, a village in Shropshire so proud of its most prominent structure that it named itself after it. And it is a very fine structure, it must be said.

"Ironbridge is an unexpectedly serene and pretty village standing on the side of a steep, wooded ravine facing the bridge above the River Severn.

"Though it clearly exists these days to serve tourists, it does so rather more stylishly than it has any need to.

"The shops are interesting and attractive, and the cafes and guesthouses looked pretty good, too.

"At the bottom of the village was a pub called the White Hart Inn, which had a signboard out front stating you could use the toilets without buying anything – a statement so kind and agreeable and unique that I instantly made it my favourite pub in Shropshire and Ironbridge my favourite community." However staff at the pub had no idea Mr Bryson had paid them a visit, and general manager Alex Nicoll said he was "tickled pink" when he heard about it.

"I wish I'd have known," said Mr Nicoll, "but he's written a fantastic little review for us, which I am sure will gain us a lot of attention.

"The sign already gets a lot of attention from people as you see many tourists stop to read it. But we do find they use the toilets and most of the time they do come back later for lunch or dinner.

"When I took over the pub in January 2014 the pub was very quiet, so I came up with the idea of the sign, a lot of people were a bit sceptical at first but it works.

"But for Bill Bryson to comment on it is awesome – I really am tickled pink to hear about it.

"My friends are fans of his books, but I imagine I may not have heard about it for a year or so, until they read the book. It's fantastic marketing for us, and hopefully it will attract more customers."

While he was in Ironbridge the author, who is originally from America, took the time to visit the Coalbrookdale Museum of Iron and learn about the history of the town. Bryson writes: "This district, once a permanently glowing hellhole, is now a picturesque cluster of preserved buildings, dominated by a large brick factory that is now a museum. Entrance was £9.25, but I got a pound off, to my quiet satisfaction, for being a qualified elderly person."

He describes his visit to the museum, saying most of the technical information went over his head, but he did learn about the Old Furnace where it is believed the industrial revolution started. Bryson explains how until the 1950s the furnace lay hidden under decades of soil and rubble, and he also learnt about the different techniques used within the steel industry – however most of that went over his head, too.

He ends his museum visit and his five-page commentary by saying: "Content with what I had seen. .. I walked to the bus stop and waited for a bus to take me back to the twenty-first century."