Unexpected break: where might I go?

Well, to be honest, when you reject some many possibilities, what are you left with? I would select one of those options. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Peak district. Yorkshire. Chester is an interesting little city.

Stratford on Avon for the Royal Shakespeare Theatre and good restaurants, pretty town albeit very touristy which is to be expected. Lots to see obviously. Shakespeare's house in the town, nearby Anne Hathaway's and Mary Arden's. . Warwick where you are going is only about ten miles away I think, that town has an amazing castle. The beautiful Cotswold villages are very nearby. For hill walking the Malvern Hills aren't far from there either. . Ironbridge in Shropshire, would that count as industrial architecture?

Mid Wales, just the most beautiful place!

Isle of Man?

Peak District is an obvious place, lovely towns such as Bakewell, Matlock, Dovedale. Lots of flat walks around reservoirs I particularly like Carsington.
Or maybe Nottinghamshire nice walks around Sherwood Forests. Visit Newstead Abbey - Byron’s home.
Ironbridge is interesting and include a visit to Blists Victorian Village.

How about a leisurely drive based on the A49?
The Anderson canal boat lift is just south of Manchester. Shrewsbury is an interesting town and there is the famous Iron ridge not far away.

Then across to Stratford-upon-Avon. Finishing with Warwick castle - one of the best days out, though you may need to give the battlement walk a skip as it is rather u even and full of trip hazards.

How great to have a time space to conjure with. I hope you have a great time whatever you do.

Ludlow is really lovely and great for food, walking and history. Ironbridge obviously has Telford's bridge and the open air folk museum so sort of leans towards industrial history.

Base in Shrewsbury and explore Shropshire. Still mercifully not full of tourists. As flappergirl says lots to explore.

Worcester and the Malverns would be my choice.

Thanks folks, some nice ideas there.

I live very near Warwick and Stratford-on-Avon, so although they are indeed lovely, I won’t stay this time.

And - I should have said - I’m picking someone up in Warwick and we’re heading to Malvern, which will be great. I’m going to reluctantly say no to the Peak District (I do love it, and lived nearby for a couple of years) as I’ll just do too much! I have very poor self-control 😀

Ironbridge and the Anderton Lift are both great shouts - despite having lived on my boat in Cheshire and Manchester for a while, I’ve never made it to the boat lift, and it is donkeys’ years since I went to Ironbridge - I hear it’s great.

I wonder if I could swing back into mid-Wales too or down into Shropshire too.

Off to Google madly, thank you all.

And yes, it’s really nice to have an unexpected trip. I am surprisingly excited.

Chester, Ludlow definitely, Leominister, Ledbury or Malvern, Tewkesbury, Broadway in the cotswolds easy drive back to Warwick- lovely little market towns & the Welsh borders have gorgeous little wooded valleys & half-timbered villages.Malvern hills great for views & there might be an event at the 3 counties showground. Although I havent visited some of these for a while- hope they're mainly unchanged.

Peak District or Shropshire

Thank you again. Lots of nice ideas, and if I can’t use them all this time, I can store them away for the future.

I’d suggest 2 nights in Chester, then one night in Shrewsbury and one night in Ludlow. Lots of nice hotels and quirky B&Bs in each place. Great shopping in Chester and Shrewsbury, but lots of historic buildings too!

If doing Shropshire, Much Wenlock is very pretty too and Bridgnorth

We have just returned from a couple of days in Bridgnorth. We went on the Severn Valley Railway (which has a station in Bridgnorth) and explored Bridgnorth itself which has a funicular lift to get from the lower town to the upper part - only runs 10am-6pm so you must walk up if you plan to spend the evening in the upper town. We intended to visit Ironbridge on the way home but it was a lovely day so we went birdwatching instead. There's lots to see in Ironbridge, you can get a ticket valid for a year and spread it over a few days instead of trying to see everything in one day.

York would be my suggestion, lots of history, excellent base to explore the history and countryside around it

I notice no one has mentioned Herefordshire with its Black & White Trail through Tudor type villages and in the south The Forest of Dean where there are Eild Boar. Also, the map of Mundy in Hereford cathedral

If you don’t mind a longer drive, can I suggest North Wiltshire? There is some wonderful walking along the Ridgeway, which is mostly pretty even. Great historic sites, including Uffington White Horse and Avebury, Silbury Hill and West Kennet long barrow. Some good walks out from Avebury too. Looks like you have 5/6 nights. I would think about staying in Marlborough - historic market town. Try to book a guided walk here - well worth it. Try to fit in a trip to Lacock, very pretty estate village often used for period dramas, with Fox Talbot museum and ancient abbey. (Both NT.)
Perhaps finish off with a couple of nights in Bath, which is less than an hours drive west. Check out the Theatre Royal plus several small theatres and The Little independent cinema - good for solo visits. And more history than you can shake a stick at!
(Or Bristol if you’ve been to Bath previously.)

My choice would be Bath. Beautiful buildings great shops and cafes. Westonbirt arboretum is also worth consideration for a trip before heading up to the Cotswolds then on to Warwick.

Cath 9 - Leominster & Ledbury are in herefordshire - I did mention them as I love herefordshire! Havent heard of Black & White trail though

Shropshire would be an excellent choice. You could go down to Church Stretton and up to the Long Mynd if you enjoy walking. Ludlow is an interesting place as is Shrewsbury with its interestingly named old streets history, and independent shops.So much to see there. Attingham Parkand Ironbridge are worth a visit as are Blists hill , Much Wenlock, Wenlock Edge amazing scenery and views .Nice places to eat in and around Shrewsbury too.

Thank you all so much. I am taking all this in, and there are great ideas I would never have considered, and at least one I’d forgotten! I read an article about Bridgnorth a couple of months ago and thought it sounded nice, and then it just slipped my mind.

Dare I admit that I’m not overly fond of Bath? Pretty much every in-law (the American side) that visits wants to go there, so I’ve overdosed on it a bit, I think. On the other hand, I’ve only been Ludlow and Much Wenlock once, and liked them both very much.

Only vaguely relevant fact: I was once part of a volunteer group that worked with the National Trust repairing a footpath on the Long Mynd.

I’m saving the ideas for other trips as well - I think my husband would like North Wiltshire, and neither of us has been there, so that’s a definite for the future. And I keep promising to take the grandkids kayaking, so Herefordshire/the Wye Valley works well for that.

I think for this trip, I’m going to Quarry Bank Mill, the Anderson Boat Lift, a meander down the border, then across to Shrewsbury/Ironbridge/Bridgnorth, and perhaps one more Shropshire stop if I have time.

Thank you all again.