Home About Us Contact Us January 2010 February 2010 March 2010 April 2010 May 2010 June 2010 July 2010 August 2010 September 2010
|
 Narrowboat Maid of the Mist Blog - February 2010We hope you enjoy reading about our travels around the British Inland Waterways1st and 2nd - Returned from Wrexham and took the opportunity to have a night out at the cinema. Chose to see Sherlock Holmes and were not disappointed. The cinema is just a very short walk from the marina. In the same complex is a bowling alley and bingo hall. Next to the marina is the Toby Inn if you want a drink or meal out. 3rd - Trentham 4th - Stone. Moored by the car park and popped into Morrisons to top up on supplies. BW have removed the 'disabled only' signs on this side of the canal, so we took advantage of this for one night only. Trawled the charity shops for some more books. Can't managed without my thrillers. 5th - Weston upon Trent 6th - Junction Great Haywood Staffs & Worcester Canal7th - Moored opposite the Moat House Hotel - during the summer there are wedding receptions held there most Saturdays. The lawns fronting the canal are a hot spot for photographs. 8th - Penkridge 9th - Gailey. Arrived at last. Ordered our supplies for the boat from JD Supplies opposite the Round House. Collect them tomorrow. JD Supplies are Shire engine dealers and service agents. Had a visit from our eldest daughter Lea. She came for tea and dropped off Poppet (the 2yr old PomPoo) for us to look after for a couple of weeks. We love having her and I look forward to walking her along the towpath while Graham cruises. 10th - Well what a day. Morning beautiful sunshine. Collected our boat supplies and set off towards Autherly Junction about 11.00am. Walked the dog as far as Calf Heath Bridge, and then Graham took over the walk for a short distance. Unfortunately there was a fishing match on so felt it better to get back on the boat. Passed the anglers and the snow started. Decided to moor up at Hatherton for lunch and as soon as we did the snow stopped and the sun shone again. Graham decided we should go on again and no sooner had he left the bank the snow was at it again. This seems to be continuing on an off for the day. Today has become a very special day for us. Graham and I have been thinking of having a dog on board, so we called in at Sunnyside Rehoming Kennels near Coven and guess what, we have just bought ourselves a beautiful 4 yr old Jack Russell. We are staying close by tonight and picking him up at 11am tomorrow. I will post a picture when we collect him. We do not have a lot of information with regard to his background as he was a stray, but suffice it to say he is a very good looking dog with a lovely temperament. I doubt I will sleep very well tonight as I am excited. We have had dogs most of our married life, but after I lost my last dog at age 14yrs, I have not been able to consider another until now, 6yrs on. We are going to call him Jack and he will be well loved. 11th - Still near Coven and today started really well. There is a nest box on a tree adjacent to the Driving Range, and at 10.00am we watched a hedge sparrow fledge. Having collected Jack from the kennels we have now moved to Autherley Junction to do some shopping and wait for Zoe, who will be joining us on Saturday for a few days. Jack seems to be settling in ok and is very much in love with Poppet. Need to watch that as neither have been spayed yet. 18th - Still in Wolverhampton (got permission from BW to exceed the mooring restrictions as Jack is booked in at the vet tomorrow to be neutred). On Monday and Tuesday Graham took Ryan to the Wolverhampton Art Gallery. They thoroughly enjoyed themselves, and yesterday we all went to Bantock House , which is on Finchfield Road (a short bus ride away). In the house you get to see a Drawing Room, Dining Room, Games Room, Bedroom and Nursery. There are clothes to dress up in and toys for children to play with.
Besides being involved in transport, they were also involved in mining and manufacturing. Alderman Thomas Bantock was heavily involved in local politics as a Liberal. He also did a term as Mayor and established Tettenhall College. His son, Albert Baldwin, inherited the property after Thomas died in 1895. Albert took an active interest in the local hospitals and was a co-founder of Lea Road Congregational Church. He also was a Liberal and Mayor. The property is well worth the visit. See more images of Bantock House here. Zoe has just gone home and we enjoyed her stay with us. 19th - Jack in the Vets being neutred. Staying in the basin again. 20th - Jack's fine so we set off today along the Wyrley & Essington Canal (known locally as the curly Wyrley). I have to say I have not seen such a filthy canal in a long time. We were scraping along for a lot of the way. One good thing in it's favour, we saw our first fox of the year. We have moored on the straight south of Freeths Bridge, there being very few official mooring sites. Hopefully we will have a quiet night. 22nd - On the way back to Broad Street. A long cruise today. Stayed overnight at the Bentley Bridge Retail and Leisure Park. Main reason was Graham's love of KFC (lunch tomorrow for him) and my desire to go to the cinema again. Saw 'Invictus' - great movie. 24th - Having taken Jack for his post op check at the Vet yesterday, we are now on the move towards London. We are staying 48 hrs at the Black Country Museum. Hopefully we will get in tomorrow on a reduced price ticket so we can do a write up on www.canalcuttings.co.uk, our online canal magazine. 25th - Sadly we did not get into the Black Country Museum. There was no offer of a reduced ticket and £21 for the two of us is a little expensive. However, Graham did take the trip boat through the tunnel which he found very interesting - see images opposite. I am not keen on tunnels. We then took advantage of a break in the rain and moved to Birmingham. We are moored on the 14 day moorings quite close to the National Sea Life Centre to enable us to take in as much as Birmingham has to offer. Here's hoping for a nice time.
Bus numbers 103 and 126 go from Broad Street, which is just the other side of Brindley Place. Today Graham visited the Ikon Gallery in Brindley Place. I am ashamed to say I am not interested in paintings. I love museums, but not art galleries.
Author: Jean Beven |
Moat House Hotel, Staffs and Worcester Canal
The old brewery at Stone, Trent and Mersey Canal
10.02.10 - Poppet (Daughter's dog) and Jean walking the towpath from Gailey Wharf to Calf Heath Bridge. Jack - age 4yrs
25/02/2010 - Inside Dudley canal tunnel
25/02/2010 - The murder tunnel seen on the Canal Society trip through Dudley Tunnel.
27/02/2010 - Markets, Birmingham |
It is believed the house dates from around the 1730s. Thomas Bantock was apprenticed to James Brindley and learned all about canals and transportation. They started to build their own canal boat fleet, but were later contracted to build boats for Fellows Morton & Clay working out of Albion Wharf in Wolverhampton. When the railways began to develop they transferred most of their cargo business onto the railway and then later still, onto the roads. 
28th - Enjoying our stay in Birmingham. Visited the Bullring and markets yesterday. Sadly it was raining, but we enjoyed the walk round anyway. 
