This was one of the original group of UK entries to the list, the site is essentially the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution. It was here that coke was first used on a large scale to produce iron, speeding up the process and making this town the industrial heart of the world for about a decade. The British list is quite heavy on Industrial heritage, and I think quite rightly so, as they are of massive global importance.

The town itself now is an idyllic little town, which is kept immaculately without being too sterile. The centre of the town is on one side of the river Severn, which is crossed by the Ironbridge (pictured) this was the first bridge to be made of this material in the world. It is an impressive piece of engineering and is a fantastic symbol for this period of history.

The site also includes neighbouring towns and their foundries, the most famous one is at Coalbrookedale and this is now a museum. The museum was nicely laid out, and if you want an introduction to the Iron making process then this is a great place to start. At the back of the forecourt are the remains of the first furnace to use coke, which I found to be a little more interesting than the museum itself.

Overall there are about 10 different museums in the area and you could easily spend a full day here going from one to the other. The distance to some of the museums can slow down progress unless you have your own transport, but there were a few buses running around.

The nearest main towns are Telford and Shrewsbury, which have train links to the major cities (mostly via Birmingham)and buses running down to Ironbridge