It’s been raining almost all day. There is a low pressure area covering North West Europe which is centered over the Midlands, and the rain had been circling round Birmingham all day like dirty bathwater round a plughole. Really dirty bathwater, like you’ve been cleaning out a sewer all day, and you need to take a second bath just to wash off the water from the first bath. (My brother says I have not been complaining about the weather enough….
I mentioned lift bridges yesterday, but did not get around to taking a picture of one as we were too busy getting the boat through. Here’s one we went through today. This was on a busy road, so it had been electrified to go up and down faster. All Paula had to do was unlock it with the magic Canal and River Trust key and press a button. While most locks have gates that swing open and closed when you…
In so many ways, you have enriched the world: The Magna Carta, the Industrial Revolution, Thomas The Tank Engine. So, what is so difficult about having both hot and cold water coming out of the same spigot? I know, I know. Historically hot and cold water systems came through unrelated plumbing parts in old buildings. But that was generations ago. And to this day, some people install separate hot and cold taps in new buildings. So, there you are in…
I know we’re getting close to the Black Country. I just bought a packet of scratchings. Scratchings are pork rinds, similar to the Hispanic chicharrón, but tougher and greasier, and still with the occasional bristle attached. As the pork scratching fan site HairyBarSnacks.com says, they are only for people with strong healthy teeth. They are a common pub food in the West Midlands. My favorite brand when I was a kid was Ernie Round’s, but they seem to have gone…
After yesterday’s fantasy about a murder mystery in a country garden, today we got to visit a library with ominous bloodstains in front of the fireplace. More on that later. Visiting old houses, the library is always my favorite room if they have left the books there. This library was at Baddesley Clinton, a moated manor house. There’s been a fortification there since the 12th Century, but most of the current building was late 16th Century. That was a relatively…
“Warping” is the process of pulling a ship from one place to another by using ropes rather than an engine or sails, so that when a ship is traveling at warp speed it is actually going very slowly. We moved the boat less than a mile today (thankfully using the engine, not warping), but it was all uphill, a total of nine locks. Even with the assistance of one of the Canal and River Trust’s wonderful volunteer lock keepers that…
We now have our own fleet of battle swans, sitting on the tiller. The tiller (that’s the bit you steer with) is attached to the rudder post by a metal pin, often with a brass ornament on top. There are a number of businesses run from canal boats, and one of them sells tiller pins, as well as rope-work fenders and rugs. I’d seen the boat, Hakuna Matata, on the Oxford Canal, and again on the Grand Union in Warwick,…
Today we went under Ugly Bridge. It I have no idea how it got that name as there are many even more grotesque bridges carrying roads and railways across the canal. Here is what it looks like from the canal. I mean, it’s not that bad, really. Of course, cygnets look no worse than the typical duckling, so that whole “Ugly Duckling” schtick is a load of bollocks, too. Look, here’s a cygnet. Yes, there is something about the look…
Today I decided to do the Riverside Walk through Leamington and Warwick. This follows the River Avon, and its tributary the Leam. Of course, River Avon is a tautology as “Avon” is the Celtic word for “River”. In fact there are nine River Avons in the British Isles, though this is the one that runs through Stratford-Upon-Avon, so it is the most famous. The Welsh word for river is still “Afon” (pron: Avon with a short “a” and a Welsh…
Smith Street in Warwick is an eclectic collection of shops and restaurants housed in an eclectic collection of buildings, from Tudor to Victorian. Rather than having a music shop, the street boats both a drum shop… and a guitar shop, so that drummers are not forced to mingle with mere guitarists when upgrading their kit. I spent some time in a used book store on Smith Street this morning. It was a little frustrating, as there is no room in…