The green rolling hills were framed by an array of newly leafed trees. In the centre of the field stood a magnificent copper beach ,surrounded by a carpet of blue bells. A rural idyll. At the bottom of the hill, just beyond a hedge of hawthorn flowers, a boat suddenly chugged along on a canal , previously hidden from view.
The canal, known locally as the 'Staffs & Worcs', was one of the major routes of the canal age, and would have been constantly busy with coal boats. It runs for 46 miles, connecting the River Severn to the Trent and Mersey canal . It was completed in just five years by James Brindley. It would have been dug by hand and powered by horses, an almost incomprehensible feat by today’s mechanised standards.
At the same time , in 1764, James Watt, was transforming the steam engine into something that could power the industrial revolution. Coal, its life blood , flowed along canals , its first arteries. The local lord , looking down from what is now our hotel , would have been shocked by the noisy and smelly first steam barge disturbing his tranquility. No one was going to escape this revolution.
We were in Kinver , a pretty, but growing village on the banks of this canal . Lady Jane Grey, and others , are alleged to haunt the local woodland ; surprising inebriated guests at the town’s pub. Today we were met by the unexpected refrains of ‘ The A train ‘. A seven piece jazz band entertained us while we sampled the local gin and beer. They were collecting for Ukraine , here in remotest rural England . Not a response the Kremlin was expecting.
Two days later it was the Dave Weckl / Tom Townsend experience providing the jazz ,this time at the more famous Ronnie Scott’s club in London. It was our adjacent listeners who were the real aficionados. Two Dutch , who had travelled especially for the evening performances. As professional drummers themselves, they had watched Dave ( the drummer) over 20 times; convinced he was one of the worlds greatest; …and we didn’t know!
Amazingly, on average two women in the region give birth with no idea they were even pregnant. Not possible you may say . Apparently the baby is behind the placenta, which disguises the bump. Our friend’s granddaughter had even passed an employment medical at 7 months; and still no one knew. An uncomfortable night of stomach pains, and the next morning a full term baby appeared. The mother , not surprisingly, took four days to get over the shock . Despite the trauma all are well and happy; an instant family out of the blue .
You can never tell what is just around the corner. Ah yes ! tomorrow is a birthday party for my sister’s 70 th , with family appearing from around the globe . She may have been expecting the day, but not the attendees.
Rural magnificence
But with canals then an industrial transformation.
Even the dogs are taken care of in this pub
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