Tuesday 16 August 2016

Sparks fly at the Black Country Living Museum

Today was Black Country Living Museum day, so David and I cycled off to Tipton Station to get the cheapest rail tickets to qualify for the 2 for 1 deal on museum entry. An outlay of £2.80 saved £16.95 for Jan and me; David did the same for him and Penny. We were in the site not long after opening; by the time it shut at 1700 we felt like we'd done enough.

Some brief picture highlights: demos involving hot metal are always good to watch. Here the chainmaker bashes some steel into shape.

Originally it would have been wrought iron, but apparently it's not being produced in this country any more so they buy local steel for the demonstrations.

In the afternoon we were given a good tour of the old working boats, including Clayton's tar boar Stour, Primrose, Bessie and Diamond.

Large parts of Diamond's elm bottom have rotted away.

Just before the museum shut the lift bridge was raised to allow Atlas and Malus to tie up.


This is the portal of Dudley Tunnel we had been hoping to approach from the other direction.

One day ... one day ...

In the evening had a good curry at a restaurant whose name I cannot remember in Tipton. As we walked back to the boat we came across Mad O'Rourke's mad pie place. I enjoyed a Lumphammer ale while we looked around.

Brum city centre tomorrow, I think.

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