A sunny day in Willington and beyond

We travelled to Willington on Tuesday evening and took the opportunity to catch up with Andrew Denny, aka Granny Buttons, once again as it's his home village.  Andrew jogged along the towpath to Northern Pride for an evening drink, and we returned the favour by dropping by his lovely home on Wednesday for a cuppa and some fascinating story telling.  He very kindly lent us his 4 disc set of 'The Travelling Man' so we'll watch them over the next few days or weeks and report back!  I was living in Germany when the series was on in UK, and it never got to New Zealand, so we hadn't heard of it until we read about it recently on Andrew's blog.

Plenty of 'Canaltime' hire boats along this stretch

But still many colourful owned boats

  The road bridge over the River Dove photographed from the aqueduct, between Burton and Willington

No, not jet vapour, but a very striking cloud formation in the early evening light

Opposite our mooring - Andrew spotted the dusk sunlight on these red hot pokers, but by the time I'd got the camera it'd gone - still makes a nice shot though

 

 Along the canal bank - a cow for Maggie and a toppling gate, each reflected gloriously in the glass-like water

The busy canal wharf near Willington Village - note the 'Fellows, Morton & Clayton' sign

Interestingly, there are a number of boats on the canal system still showing the 'Fellows, Morton & Clayton' name, but apparently only one is legally entitled to do so.  The boat is called 'The Black Country Man' and is owned by the Stourbridge Navigation Trust which uses it for boat trips, charter cruises and its commercial arm.  The boat is franchised out and the current franchisee has announced his intention to retire so applicants are invited to apply to the Financial Director at the Stourbridge Navigation Trust.

A couple of last shots before it got too dark - and I needed a drink!

We found Willington to be a very quiet and well kept village, with a couple of appealing looking 'green' pubs (The Green Man and The Green Dragon), and a good co-op only a short walk from the canal which was handy.

It  may feel like you're being watched in Willington!

There's an abundance of beautifully manicured gardens in the village

 

Three pubs in the village, two of them are opposite each other, 'The Green Man' and 'The Green Dragon' - you don't think this might cause some confusion?

The cute little village church

After lunch we moved a short way to visit the newly opened Mercia Marina which is vast!  There's a well stocked chandlery, though it didn't have the oil filter that Barry's been searching for and we arrived at Stenson chandlery 10 minutes too late to see if they had one, damn!  The owners are trying to keep the marina in keeping with the natural habitat, with the recent addition of a huge chandlery built of wood with a lawn on the roof!  There's also plans for a gastro pub and leisure centre at the marina, and a holiday village, and Andrew informed us that they've even put aside a piece of grassland especially for owners to walk their dogs bless them.

Plenty of boats here

Not the towers again!  But they make a great skyline

Purportedly one of the largest inland marina in Europe, holding up to 600 boats

Didn't stop to count them

The impressive, newly opened, 4,000 sq ft chandlery superstore

Andrew's dazzling display of rose's above his front door

Back at the marina we had a visit from a local swan family - mum, dad and five teenagers 

We gave them all some duck food, though mum preferred a bit of meat!  She'll have foot and mouth disease by now!

They left happily sated, though mum did look slightly off colour!

It was refreshing to feel the warmth and see the blue sky and sunshine for a change, so we continued our journey a few miles until we found a quiet spot to moor for the night, just past Sarson's bridge by Weston-on-Trent, away from the constant drone of traffic or the persistent noisy interruptions of trains speeding by.  Whilst travelling, with me driving, Barry managed to get a brew of beer on this time, which made the boat smell as though we were still in Burton!

We followed another 'Canaltime' boat and shared a couple of locks with them

The basin at Swarkestone - formerly the entrance to the Derby Canal (under restoration)

Swarkestone Lock in glorious sunshine and an unusual sapphire blue sky 

We're back to the double locks again now, Swarkestone lock being almost 11 feet deep; I'd forgotten how difficult they can be to open the paddles and gates.  Luckily we shared the first couple with a hire boat and their crew - a young couple and baby who were on holiday from Hove in Brighton, not far from where my daughter lives.  The amusing thing is that it was the females of the two crews who got stuck working the backbreaking locks while the boys remained on the boats chatting amiably!  A reversal of roles for a change!

One of Granny Button's roses that Andrew gave to Sandra - thanks Andrew!  Fabulous to see you again, hope to catch up again on our travels ...

A brewer's delight - The National Brewery Centre

We thought we'd visit the Bass Museum in Burton today as we couldn't remember why we didn't go there last year.  Having moored out of the town to get away from the busy main road, we had a bit of a treck to get back in, foolishly believing we'd be able to catch a bus fairly easily - little did we realise until the return journey that the only buses along the road were those travelling directly to Derby 'non-stop'!  We missed one on the way in as we'd given up waiting (hence my harassed stance) and thought we'd walk to the next stop; then on the way home we waited for half an hour only to see the bus sail merrily past us without stopping!  Ah well, the four mile plus round trip was good exercise for us!

The railway runs straight through Burton, parallel to Ryknild Street

There are still some old brewery buildings standing

And the new brewing towers are also apparent

   So far this would be the largest English flag we've seen, on the side of the brewery - appropriate I guess!

Barry visited the Waterways World offices to talk about photos and books and things, while I went into the shops for a few bits and pieces - not least some Piriton as I'm on my last couple and don't wish to repeat last year's experience when I ran out in July (in the mistaken belief that the hay fever season had ended) and my eyes were so bad I could hardly open them!

We discovered the reason we didn't visit the 'Bass Museum' last year even if we'd wanted to, was because it'd closed down!  This year however, they've opened 'The National Brewery Centre' which is just on the edge of the centre of town.  We had a coffee and scone for lunch and pondered whether or not to spend £7.50 each on admission charges - it seemed a lot and that was £1 cheaper than weekends and bank holidays.  It's difficult to comprehend what's in the museum from the entrance which doesn't do it justice somehow, neither does the information leaflet given out.  We were persuaded by the girl on the front desk - mostly due to the fact that there was beer tasting included in the price I think!

The brewing process is brought pictorially to life - including a holographic show

One of the beer tasting stations

We were astounded at the expansive range of memorabilia from Burton's brewing history to be found in the centre and museum and had a fascinating afternoon strolling around - being almost the only visitors there.  We were told that there'd been another three boating couples in previously, so they must be getting lots of business from 'the cut'!

Horse and carts - without the shire horses sadly, who are only there weekends and bank holidays

Barry learnt to drive in a Morris Cowley - a version just a little later than this one

Part of an old steam boiler

Roll out the barrels

The chemist in his lab - apparently the windows would have been painted out to prevent industrial espionage

The canals are featured as the main means of transport that revolutionised the beer industry in 1777, prior to the railways in 1839, to distribute supplies around the country

William Bass, a carrier, was travelling to and from Burton frequently when in 1777, he saw a small brewery for sale and purchased it.  The Bass Brewery was to become one of the largest in the city.  The workers had one week off a year, plus a few days for Christmas, and there would be the annual brewery 'day out' on the railway to London or the seaside in June or July.  In 1900, 11,241 employees were taken on 17 trains to Blackpool for the day!  Imagine the scale of that!  Sadly the world war put a stop to these excursions for all of the breweries and they were never brought back.

An amazing scale model of Burton (complete with working railways) as it would have been at 10:30am on a particular date in 1921 - reconstructing the events of that day from old newspapers and historic records 

Barry in his element!

A few shots of the authentic public house, examples of bar games played, and the workers, found in the museum ...

Cheers!

 

Some of the many traditional old pub games you could try in the pub (there was a very old dart board but no darts due to health and safety concerns!)

The harmonica player

Talking of saying 'cheers' or 'proposing a toast', apparently toasting is from years gone by when a large loving cup would be filled to the brim with a piece of toast floating on top.  This would be passed round at banquets with the host eventually draining the cup, swallowing the toast in honour of his guests.

A very old engine - the compartment in the middle was originally used to transport the officials inspecting the Manchester Ship Canal many years ago

Vintage transport

The 'Brewery Tap' bar and restaurant on-site is open from 1100 - 1800 Sunday and Monday and 1100 - 2300 the remainder of the week.  We completed our tour there and had another sample of beer and a bar snack.  Unfortunately it was empty apart from us and one other person and is struggling to get custom - they've only been open since 1 May so hopefully business will pick up soon.  It's a very tastefully decorated place with an extensive menu - a bit pricey for a family day out at the museum but would be well worth a visit for an evening meal.

All-in-all we were more impressed with Burton this year than last - but then last year it was pouring with rain on our visit so that always leaves a more negative impression.  To make up for it, here's five fascinating facts about Burton on Trent:

1. Burton upon Trent is the largest town in the National Forest, and is internationally known as the capital of British brewing.
2. It's the water in Burton that makes it such a special place for brewing beer - but not from the Trent as you would imagine - the local water in the gravel beds contains a high proportion of dissolved salts due to the gypsum in the surrounding hills, meaning more hops, a natural preservative, can be added to the beer.
3. Marmite is a by-product of the brewing industry, and there's a factory in the town. This in turn generated the production of Bovril.
4. Burton will be the location of the planned English National Football Centre, due to be opened in 2010.
5. Burton was home to the Peel Family, who played a significant role in the industrial revolution and founded the Peelers, which became the modern day police force. The family home is still visible in town as Peel House on Lichfield Street.

We didn't after all watch the NZ Slovakia match - though Barry did catch a few minutes of the first half in a pub in town.  Spookily enough, when we left the Brewery Centre, the only other man who'd been in the pub was just walking past and informed us that New Zealand had scored in the final minutes to make it a 1-1 draw!  So we've still a slim chance of getting through to the next round ...

 

Waiting for the bus that never stopped

 

 

 

 

 

Sorry no flower shot today - Barry had a couple of beers at the museum and forgot to take one!