The TRAVELER'S JOURNAL: November twenty-first, honoring two lads from Shropshire.

Last time, we visited Somerset County in Southwest England. One hundred miles to the north, there's another offbeat area equally well-endowed with history and charm.

Shrewsbury is the seat of county Shropshire. Situated on a hilltop nearly encircled by the Severn River, it was for centuries a strategic English stronghold for border clashes with nearby Wales. The hills and valleys of Shropshire comprised the original kingdom of Arthur Pendragon, a 5th-century warlord who turned back an Anglo-Saxon invasion near the town of Bandon. King Arthur, as legend recalls him, went on to great things.

Shrewsbury Castle and Abbey are considerably newer, dating back to just the 12th century. The town's many well preserved, black and white, half-timbered buildings jut sharply out over its narrow streets and alleys, giving it an authentic medieval air.

Shrewsbury was also the habitat of the fictional Brother Cadfael, the Benedictine monk with a penchant for solving crimes, who has been popularized on the PBS series, "Mystery." Shrewsbury Quest, a walk-through exhibit recreates the milieu of this 11th-century Sherlock, and a trail of painted footprints leads visitors around the town to sites associated with the curious monk.

The bucolic Shropshire countryside is still dotted with numerous middle-age era villages and industrial age baronial estates that offer the prospects of wonderful sidetrips by foot or car.

FMI For information, contact the British Tourist Authority at 800-462- 2748 (800-GO-2-BRITAIN) or www.visitbritain.com.

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