is remarkable - "the nearest earthly place to paradise," according to author P.G. Wodehouse. The county has been touched by every era of history the British Isles have known: Bronze Age people, Iron Age tribes, Romans, Saxons and Normans all left their marks in hillforts, earthworks, roads, churches, place names and legends, while Shropshire's position at the once-turbulent Anglo-Welsh borders has left a legacy of castles, castle ruins and fortified manor houses, all carrying stories of clashes and feuds. In the north, flat, fertile plains plus meres and mosses give way to hills, valleys and woodland in the south.