Still here …

Wednesday 2^nd September; Penkridge

It rained overnight and was still raining when I took the dog out.  By the time we came back and called in at the shop it was almost school time – the senior school is just down the road – and the little covered area was heaving with chattering students avoiding the rain.  I had to shout (politely of course) to be heard to get through!  The rain stopped after breakfast so we all walked down to the village and this time everything was open – the cake shop, the butcher and the greengrocer.

The very popular and busy cake shop

The progress update to the stoppage notice came through just before 4 yesterday afternoon, saying that a repair would be attempted today.  The rest of the morning was a repeat of yesterday – reading and coffee, and today some yummy cake too.  After lunch there was still no update on the lock, so I took Jess for a walk as far as Otherton Boat Haven to check on towpath mooring in case we decided to move on today.  Along the way I met a boater with a windlass – Bogg's lock had opened at about lunchtime, and they had been moored close by so could see the progress being made.   The towpath mooring at Otherton looked very crowded, but anyway it was too close to the motorway for our liking.  When I got back we wondered about moving on through Penkridge and Filance locks and mooring near the Cross Keys pub, but decided in the end to stay put.  I had bought a birthday card this morning but discovered we had run out of stamps so I went back down to the Post Office in the Co-op, quite a long walk when you’ve already done it once.  At least I caught the last post.

The butcher and greengrocer, both of which we visited this morning

I have certainly got my steps in today, over 14,000.  I thought as I walked that there were a lot of interesting buildings and if only I’d called in at the council offices near the canal I would have been able to pick up a leaflet.  There is quite a lot to see, most of which we missed, such as the stocks which we must have been only yards from as we walked past the library.

Now called the Gothic House, this Grade II listed house was originally the School House, built for the Headmaster and Headmistress of the primary school which is still functioning next door.

Very few boats have been on the move this afternoon.   CRT has still not updated the stoppage notice, although the Staffs and Worcester canal society Facebook page posted a nice photo of the repair at about 4 pm.