POLESWORTH 2
This is our second day in Polesworth, and
it is quite wonderful to be able to spend more than one night near a village. We have about 4 days to travel 19 miles to our
wharf in Birmingham where we will leave the boat while we travel abroad. So,
some welcome wiggle room for us.
It was as if we had it all planned. So
fortuitous that just outside our boat was a paved path winding through a beautiful
natural reserve with a lake, bird sanctuary, pedestrian bridges, and an
historic church. We joined the many dog walkers and moms with strollers finding
our way to the Abby Gate.
The people of Polesworth claim that William Shakespeare attended school here in 1585. David found a headstone in the cemetery that had the name William Shakespeare, but that Will had died in 1905. There is a poetry walk throughout town, as well. Boulders with copper bands and stones along bridges were engraved with poetic quotes.
After our lovely stroll we found a small
grocery store and stocked up. It is amazing how much product they can make room
for in such cramped spaces. We found everything we needed and added crumpets
and scones just cuz they were there.
Wide load! Backpack full of groceries
Once we got back to the boat, the rain
started in full force. Once again, our timing was impeccable. It continued to
rain all night and into the next morning. The well outside our doorway to the
stern filled up with about 3 inches of water! David took a pan outside last
night and tried to bail it out.
When we were here in the 80’s, we were not
tennis fans, but we certainly got caught up in the Wimbledon frenzy and enjoyed
watching the matches. Now we find ourselves enthralled with soccer because of
the World Cup in Qatar. We watched the England v Iran and the Wales v USA
matches yesterday. The athleticism is astounding. The Welsh fans are so devoted,
and their enthusiasm is infectious. Wales has not competed in the World Cup in 64
years so this is a big deal. We had considered going to a pub to watch one of
the games but thought it would be crowded and boisterous so stayed in our cozy
vessel and sipped tea.
David cooked a chicken last night which was
delicious. The oven is rather a mystery when trying to regulate the temperature
because it only has the numbers 1,2,3,4,5 on the dial for heat. It’s a guessing
game. Dave decided to leave the upper cupboard door open while roasting since the
heat really seems to settle right in there. He had already removed any chocolate
items from the cupboard so no melted mess this time.
Town Center
As we strolled the town center of Polesworth today, we were thinking about what the villages we have visited all seem to have in common. What seems similar are the number of salons and barbershops we find, you can count on at least one church, a school, maybe a post office, a small grocery, not always a bank in the smaller towns, at least one pub but most likely more, usually a butcher but not always a baker and never a candlestick maker. Without question, they have all presented their own charm and wonder.
We ended up at The Kings Head pub at the
end of town which disappointedly only served pizza. We knew we had some soup on
board, so we got ourselves two pints and played a couple of games of cribbage. I
do love a Guinness. It was a dog friendly establishment, so several canines were
patrons, as well. I was the only women
there besides the barkeep. One gentleman apologized to me for his colorful
language. Another occasionally would come over to our table to see how the game
was going. The Hitchcock Cribbage Invitational is a tie at the moment.
On the way back to the boat we took the
narrow muddy, squishy path along the canal. It is so hard to even attempt to
keep the floors on the boat even remotely clean. Sigh.
Repurposing tires and tire treads
Glad you're able to get some rest today before and that you're ahead of schedule. I've finally caught up on the blog and wow - what an adventure!
ReplyDeleteWe're also watching the World Cup from here, and it's so exciting, although I know Europe goes crazy during these sporting events. The Pauels are arriving this afternoon. Glad to see you enjoyed Poleworth. Good luck getting to your destination on time!