After lunch on our first visit to Wappenshall Wharf we drove to Birmingham to get another stamp in my Cathedral passport. Parking in Birmingham became a challenge. Many roads are closed due to work on the HS2 and neither the diversion signs or the in-car SatNav were able to help navigate the mess. We ended up going round in circles. Eventually we found a way to our usual car park but our afternoon challenges did not end there.

We arrived at the Cathedral to find a service was about to start. This wasn’t obvious before entering the Cathedral. We decided to leave and come back later when the service had finished. This was our third attempt at getting my passport stamped. On the first occasion the Cathedral was locked due to children practicing for  a concert. We were advised by a teacher waiting outside that the practice session had overrun. On our second attempt we were able to enter the Cathedral but there was no-one around that could help with a passport stamp or the purchase of a guidebook.

On this, our third attempt the only church official available after the service was in deep conversation with a member of the congregation. As we waited we noticed some (passport?) stickers and a guidebook on the the ‘Welcome Desk’. I applied a sticker to my passport, paid some money and took the guidebook.

All was not lost, I enjoyed seeing the artwork ‘The New Nativity 2025′. The New Nativity Set was commissioned by Birmingham Cathedral to weave together the stories of the Birth of Jesus at Christmas, the heritage of Birmingham, the stories of the cathedral community, and the needs of the world.

I left the Cathedral feeling unfulfilled with the uncomfortable feeling that (after three attempts) the Cathedral Church of St Philip was not welcoming me…

Since it opened in December we have been meaning to visit the Welldeck café at the newly restored Wappenshall Wharf. We finally got round to visiting in July. We enjoyed it so much that we have been back a couple of times since our first visit.

After the canals were abandoned by an Act of Parliament in 1944, they were left to fall into disrepair. In 1968, the wharf was sold by British Waterways to a coal merchant, who used the site for a decade before selling it to a truck repair business.

Telford & Wrekin Council bought it in 2008 and later leased it to our Trust on a 125-year peppercorn rent. Since then, our volunteers have worked tirelessly to bring the East Basin back into water, restore the smaller warehouse, and transform it into a café and meeting place.

The day started with a late breakfast in the Café where we had lunch in the day before. Mr C had left his cap behind!

After breakfast we briefly visited Shrewsbury before heading off in the direction of Church Stretton. As we travelled we decided to visit Stokesay Castle and by the time we arrived the grey sky had turned to brilliant sunshine.

In 1785 Morgan David Morgan agreed to rent this cottage from the Plas Taliaris estate for about £9 a year.

The family were self-sufficient, keeping a pig and growing vegetables, so they could have food available all year – even if money was scarce.

The walls of their cottage were mad of ‘clom’ – a mixture of clay, stone and straw. Friends and family often helped with building work. The thick walls helped keep the house warm in winter and cool in summer.

The chimney is made from woven branches of hazel just like a basket, and its surface is covered with daub – a mixture of clay and dung.*

*information from a signboard next to the house and pigsty

The North wing of Hartlebury Castle houses the Worcestershire County Museum. The museum displays the the story of Worcestershire and what life was like for people who lived there throughout the ages.

Although I am not Victorian, the Victorian school room captured my imagination. There were many familiar things from my own early schooldays.

This is a one-roomed rural school built in 1880. By this time, every child between five and twelve years old could expec an education.

In 1900, the Headmistress, Miss Rachel Ann Thomas, taught thirty six pupils aged between five and fourteen. The lessons were in English, although the children’s fist language was Welsh. The emphasisi was on the ‘three R’s’ – reding, writing and arithmetic.

The school used to close on harvest days, as the children had to help on the farms.

The brightest senior girl would help the Headmistress as pupil-teacher. Her high desk faced the rows of pupils.*

*from a signboard next to the school

Evan Jenkins built this small commercial bakehouse in the garden of Derwen House. Thespian Street, Aberystwyth. His daughters, Catherine and Mary, ran the business. They worked from 6am to 10pm.

Home ovens were too small to bake enough bread for large families. People prepared their dough in tins and took it to be baked in commercial ovens. Successful bakehouses expanded their operations, delivering their own bread to wide areas.

The oven takes 3-5 hours to heat up from cold, and will take about 220 loaves of bread.*

*from a signboard next to the bakehouse

Workmen’s institutes, or ‘Stutes’ as they were fondly known, were once common sights in Welsh industrial towns and villages. Groups of coal miners and other workers built them to provide educations and leisure facilities for them and their families.

This one contains a library, reading room and a concert hall upstairs. The institute played an important role iin the welfare of workers during the 1926 General Strike and the 1930s Depression.*

*from a signboard next to the building

The mill has three storeys. Grain is stored on the top floor, ground into flour on the middle floor and bagged on the lowest floor. Because of the wet climate, farmers would often harvest corn before it was thoroughly dry. The miller then had to dry the grain before grinding it. This was done on a drying-floor on the upper level, heated by a fireplace.*

*From the St Fagans National Museum of History guidebook