Wolverhampton and the Border lands

Wednesday 14 August

A late start today. Eventually we seem to have worked out the phone alarm with John's help and it now seems to be off. It certainly did not wake us up at midnight. Perhaps our exhaustion helped us sleep through it.

 

We left home with Jane around 9:30am and headed south to the Black Country Living Museum. This is an outdoor museum of a huge variety of houses, shops and more industrial use buildings that have been donated and painstakingly rebuilt on the museum site. Each has been fitted and furnished in their correct era and there are volunteers who live-in at times. Jane and the girls have done this in the past so Jane was able to give us some extra little insights.

There are mines and working pumps, chainmakers, nailmakers and lots more. There were old buses, horse drawn coaches, trolley buses and trams as well as a canal with boats and a canal tunnel. The houses all had vegie and flower gardens and were well kept. We chose not to join the queue for the canal boat ride but really enjoyed watching people playing various games on the street corner and having fun in the old amusement park with a real helterskelter.

 

After we'd become quite exhausted at the museum Jane took us to the Bilston Craft Gallery for a quick look then home to get the washing in as the rain was just starting.

Our dinner date with Brenda and Pete had been cancelled as Brenda is unwell but Jane had prepared a lasagne for Elaine so we went around to her flat and enjoyed dinner together talking patchwork and looking at a few photo albums.

 

Thursday 15 August

Unfortunately I was awake at 6am even though I had plenty of time to sleep in. Elaine and I spent the morning blogging and sorting ready for Jane to pick us up just after 10am then drive around to collect Kiran and Kate. After a bit of car sorting we all drove to the mediaeval town of Ludlow where we eventually met Bron and Denis for our Ludlow tour.

 

Our first walk was the Bread Walk along the Teme River to the bridge under Ludlow Castle. There we had a picnic lunch in the park. Then a walk around the 11th century castle walls on the outside. The walls were incredibly high and we could even see where the garderobes emptied out. It was market day in Ludlow so the market square was full of market stalls. This took a little time for seven people to browse through so eventually we split into two groups.

 

Bron, Elaine, Denis and I walked through the church, another very ornate parish church with a Norman font and lots of mediaeval carvings in stone and timber. We followed this tour with a drink at the Church Inn. I actually had a Guinness for Surrey and really enjoyed it. On then to The Feathers pub (c. 1616) and a little walk inside.

I then saw some strawberries and raspberries in the butcher shop opposite so went in and bought some for our dinner. Bron found some fish for dinner a little further along then we slowly strolled back down to the car in and out of rain showers, all meeting up at the bridge.

 

Ludlow is a fabulously old town with some very beautiful photo opportunities.

 

We then said our farewells to Jane and the girls who were driving back to Wolverhampton while Elaine and I went with Bron and Denis to their “caravan” (actually a rather well-appointed mobile home in the Orleton Rise holiday park). We spent the evening making and eating our scrumptious dinner and going for a few short walks in and around the holiday park. It is lovely to be out in the countryside watching blue tits and robins on the bird feeders and listening to the sheep and doves.

 

 

Friday 16 August

The rain really set in during the night but I had a good sleep and eventually got up at 7:30am. We watched the birds visiting the feeders at the back window - blue tits, chaffinch, robin, nuthatch, sparrow, great tit.

 

At about 10am we left for Hereford. Our destination today was to see the Mappa Mundi but in doing that we visited Hereford Cathedral where it is housed.

I've lost count of cathedrals and churches now but this one, although still a magnificent structure, had a lovely cafe for lunch in the cloister and a jazz concert in the grounds during the afternoon. As I was sitting with blue sky and umbrella up for the sun in the small chapel garden I couldn't help smiling and thinking I was playing an extra in Midsomer Murders. It was so picturesque.

One of the more interesting flowers in the cathedral garden was globe artichoke allowed to flower then go to seed.

 

A bonus in the Mappa Mundi exhibition that none of us were aware of was the chained library. I was surprised by the unimposed silence in the chained library and mappa mundi exhibition. I think everyone who came in was in awe of such an old map on vellum and ancient texts on heavy paper.

 

After about three hours at the cathedral we walked through some narrow lanes, one with a fiddle playing busker.We bought some supplies in the Butter Market then found that the Old House (1621) was open and free. This was so old and had some great pieces of furniture and other fittings. These black and white buildings are wonderful in their free-form structure with bent timbers and crazy angles. 

Back to the car and a drive home to the caravan where we spent the evening relaxing together. Our dinner was actually a full english breakfast and it was delicious - eggs, bacon (Gloucester Old Spot), sausages (Gloucester Old Spot), tomato, mushrooms, baked beans and fried left over potato, peas and mango salza from last night. Dessert was fresh local strawberries and left over rice pudding. An amazing meal.

 

Wolverhampton - a day in Chester

Tuesday 13 August

Today we had an early start with a train to Chester at 7:41am. Jane drove us to the station and came with us for the day.

 

When we arrived at Chester we walked towards town and saw a lovely Lombard House Cafe where we had coffee to start us on our walking adventure.

 

 Again I was gobsmacked when we turned a corner to see the Eastgate of the walled part of the city with all its stunningly old buildings. 

 

On the way to the information centre we passed the Chester Cathedral and I wanted to go in. Although I had visited Chester in 2006 I did not go into the cathedral then. It is truly a breathtaking experience to be in such an awe inspiring space: stone flagged floors, very high vaulted ceilings, a huge pipe organ and another smaller one, many smaller side chapels, decorative tile floors, old stone cloisters, the list goes on. To experience the ancient links with history is truly marvellous.

 

 

 

 

We then walked down Bridge St towards the river admiring yet more old buildings. Esther had suggested lunch at the Bear and Billet (a 1664 pub) but as we arrived there a bit early we walked along the river front to the Roman Garden then returned via the city wall.

 

 

When we got back to the Bear and Billet we only had a short wait for the pub to open. I had my first English fish and chips meal of this trip. Not bad!

 

 

After lunch we continued walking around the city wall in a clockwise direction past Chester Castle, the racecourse (the first in Britain), the Water Tower (for defence rather than storage) and eventually took a side walk off the wall to see some locks in action on the canal.

 

On again around behind the cathedral and down at the Eastgate for an icecream.

 

 

 

Then we had to decide what to do for an hour before we had to make our way to the station so headed for an area that was archaeological dig site in 2006. It was now open and developed into a roman amphitheatre on the site of the original one. There were centurions and kids having fun in the arena. The ruins were accentuated and used as seating surrounding the arena.

Then we passed St John's church which was being renovated and an amusing man was touting for visitors with cries of free toilets and even coffee and tea inside. This was another magnificent structure and the organ was actually being used by the cathedral organist for practice.

 

Behind the church we were entertained by the squirrels in the park for a while before heading for the station exhausted and happy to sit and wait for a while for our train.

 

Back home again. Kiran had arrived and was busy making dinner for us. We were soon joined by Julia, Kate and John and enjoyed a delicious meal and good company.

Kiran

Julia

   

 

 Eventually we got to bed by about 10pm after ore than 14000 steps.

Wolverhampton - Episode 1

Saturday 10 August

Well it is now 10 days into our trip and the start of a new leg. We spent the morning at May Cottage. While I updated the blog, Elaine went for a walk to find a chemist. At 11am Sue took us for another tour of Bowness to see bits we had not seen before dropping us at the station in plenty of time for our train to Wolverhampton.

 

It was a pleasant and quick journey although there was not enough room for our luggage and we'd been booked in non-adjoining seats. Jane was at the station to meet us and we drove back to Ned's where we would base ourselves for the week while Ned and Terri are away on a cruise. Jane had been shopping for supplies for breakfast and snacks that included a variety of gluten free foods for Elaine, hooray! Kate and John were already at Ned's making sure all was shipshape and gave us the key and light initiation.

 

We all then went to Wightwick Manor (pron. Wittick) which was built around 1890 in the Old English style and had a link to William Morris. His work is showcased beautifully in the soft furnishings, curtains and wallpapers all through the house. The house itself is magnificent. We only had time for the interior so will do the garden another day if we have time.

L-R Kate, John, Jane, Elaine

Kate and John hosted us for dinner, a delicious Brazilian Chorizo and Black Bean stew with dunking bread. We then sat and looked at some of their photos of Orkney and our photos from our trip so far on their big screen TV.

Jane drove us home and after delivering us some coffee for breakfast left us with strict instructions to be ready by 8:30am tomorrow for our visit to the quilt show.

 

Sunday 11 August

After a sound sleep (interrupted at midnight by some sort of alarm in the house) and breakfast on our own, Jane collected us for our day at the Birmingham Quilt Festival. We drove to Wolverhampton station where we caught the train to NEC near Birmingham Airport. It was about a 45 minute journey.

 

Between wandering the isles of displays and stalls we met to have snacks together. Jane had packed a lovely lunch for us all with special consideration for gluten free options. The quilt show was certainly big and gave us all lots of ideas and inspiration. I was able to buy the small cutting board I wanted for travelling and a bit of fabric for the next step in my Japanese quilt. I can now continue with my project when I have some quilting time during our travels. By 3pm we were absolutely exhausted and headed for home again.

 

First we did a load of washing at Jane's and while that was running we had a show and tell of the quilts that Jane had at the flat (she has more at the cottage which we will see next weekend).

Jane showing us one of her quilts.

After hanging out the washing we walked around to Bron and Denis's for dinner where we were soon joined by Julia. Bron had prepared a delicious lamb roast with all the trimmings and a gluten free cherry cake with yoghurt for dessert. Once dinner was cleared away we sat around discussing our itinerary for the rest of our stay. This has all been planned in fine detail by Bron with leaflets for both of us about each stop in our guided tour. Precision will be needed in all our timing and it is going to be loads of fun even if only half of it happens. As we were leaving Bron presented Elaine with a hamper of assorted gluten free foods so she will be well and truly catered for during our stay and possibly as we move on to our other visits. At least we now know that gluten free alternatives are available. Back home to settle in before collapsing into our comfy beds.

 

Monday 12 August

Bron picked us up and Jane walked around to join us on our tour today. We headed west out of Wolverhampton and through Bridgenorth then on to Much Wenlock.

The Guildhall, Much Wenlock

Inside the Guildhall

Another beautiful old building in Much Wenlock

This is a beautiful town with many old buildings. Bron decided to follow the Olympic Trail as Much Wenlock was apparently the site of the first modern olympic movement. On the way around she read us the olympic themed commentary but we saw lots of the town in the process. It seemed that every second step provided another photo opportunity. We ended our walk back in the market square and had morning tea in a lovely cafe with old style décor to suit the town. One most impressive building was the Guildhall (1540) which we all went into. It had fabulously carved wood panelling and solid old furniture.

 

Back into the car for a fairly short drive to the Ironbridge. There we had a picnic lunch by the Severn River. We walked across the Ironbridge (the first iron bridge in the world – 1779 – and designed by Abraham Darby) and had a look at the displays in the Toll House. The Severn River is really flowing fast at the moment and the ducks were having to work very hard to swim across.
 

Elaine, Bron and Jane

Back to the car and across the Severn R. to the Jackfield Tile Museum. This was a magnificent stop with a huge display of decorative and utilitarian tiles that had been made there for use in public buildings and homes for hundreds of years. The colours, patterns and designs were fabulous.

 

On again to a stop near the Tar Tunnel near Coalport where we had our first close encounter with a canal. There was a Hay Inclined Plane that brought goods or perhaps even boats from one high canal down to the other. We walked along the lower canal for a short way before going back to the car just as it started raining.

 

Then we headed south to Claverley to see a magnificent old church – All Saints. This was made from the local red sandstone and had some very old wall paintings in the nave dated at c. 1220. There is a fabulous hollow Yew tree in the grounds said to be over 2500 years old. We chatted to the gardener who said he often found very old human bones when tending his gardens. There are two fonts, a Saxon one from elsewhere and an early Norman font.

 

After such a magnificent day we headed home to a cuppa at Ned's then dinner at Kate and John's provided by Jane.