Whittington

Lots more rain overnight but this morning was surprisingly sunny.  We thought we’d better make the most of it so walked down the canal to Whittington, leaving the towpath at the first bridge, Bridge 80.

After you’ve walked past all the modern housing, the centre of the village is rather nice.

We went for a cuppa at the very pleasant the Main Street Cafe, outside of which is a post box with a Remembrance Day knitted top.

The local estate agent, which has a branch on the main street, has an unusual name and a novel way with its sold signs.

We walked through the village and bc, onto the towpath at the far end, Whittington Bridge.  That’s the last one on the part of the Coventry Canal which was actually built by the Birmingham and Fazeley company.  After that, the bridges revert from names to numbers again.  There was a little bit of rain as we walked back, but again we were lucky, because no sooner were we inside the boat than it chucked it down.  There’s been more heavy rain this afternoon.  Adrian has been for another appointment about his foot, while I’ve done a couple of little boat jobs. 

Lord Vernon’s Sudbury Hall

The forecast said this morning would be better than this afternoon, so we headed off in the car to the National Trust property, Sudbury Hall.  The estate was owned by the Vernon family — and they also owned coal mines in Poynton, and had a canal basin, Lord Vernon’s Wharf, which is of course now the home of Braidbar Boats.  The hall is rather impressive outside and inside.

The basement contains a museum of childhood, but we decided we didn’t particularly need to see that.  Just outside the National Trust property is a collection of former stables round a courtyard, now converted into artisan shops including a pottery, and a coffee shop where we had tea.

Then we had a walk round the village, which has some interesting buildings and quint streets.

We drove the half hour back to the boat, just as the rain started for a little while.  This afternoon, Adrian has been doing work on his charity job while I went out to complete my steps, only getting rained on right at the end.

Fizz and cake

Quite a nice sunny day this morning, and while Adrian had a call to do, I went to do my steps along the towpath.  He then joined me to do a few more.  This afternoon, we drove down to the Tidy’s where Helen was having cake and bubbles to celebrate her birthday.  A very nice relaxed afternoon meeting some of their other friends.  And I haven’t taken a photo all day!

The Red Carpet

A few domestic tasks first thing, like filling the water tank, and then we got in the car and headed off to Barton Marina.  We’d booked with the little cinema there for a lunchtime viewing of I Swear, a fantastic film about a man with Tourette Syndrome, who did a lot to educate people about it.  The cinema itself is really cute; we were in the little screen, but I can’t imagine the big one is much bigger.

There’s also a cafe bar there which looks pretty good.  The marina itself is a rather soulless place, with the noise of the A38 being very intrusive.

After the film we headed straight down the A38 to Lichfield for a top up shop at the big Tesco, then back at the marina we popped out for a walk down the towpath.  There were boats moving, something that seems like a rarity at the moment.

November Braidbar visit

We drove up to Braidbar today for the last visit before we take possession on Kingley Vale later this month.  There’s a full update over on the KV blog.  The boat is looking great, inside and out.  Lots more photos on the other blog.

It was late afternoon when we got back, but I was seriously short of steps so went out to stride the towpath until it was dark!

Stoke

We drove the hour or so to Stoke this morning, stopping first at a fabric place to see what they had.  Not what we wanted, was the answer.  A cup of tea in the M&S Cafe was next on the agenda, followed by a bit of shopping for things for the new boat.  Then we went down to Trentham Shopping Village, as Adrian wanted to visit the Tog 24 shop, to see what ski jackets they had.  We had lunch of Staffordshire oatcakes in a cafe there.

This afternoon, I’ve baked for tomorrow, and been out for a long walk as my steps were way behind.

Huddlesford Junction

A pretty dull and slightly rainy day.  This morning we drove into Lichfield to the big Tesco for a shop.  After lunch, Adrian went off for an appointment about his painful foot, while I had a walk down the towpath to get my steps in.  I went down to Huddlesford Junction, where the Lichfield Canal used to go off (and may again one day).  It’s currently moorings for a boat club.

There has been lots more movement of hire boats round the marina.  One has gone into the shed for work, and two have been put over the far side, presumably because they’re not needed at the moment.