Foxton, Birmingham, Ironbridge and Leicester

For our first outing from Nuneaton, Mike took us to a family favourite, the Foxton Locks – an impressive piece of engineering from the early 1800’s on the Leicester line of the Grand Union Canal. These consist of a still operating, double series of 5 staircase locks, plus the rusting remains of a later ambitious inclined plane boat lift.

The last time we visited Birmingham, it was to the bustling Bull Ring shopping area. We have since found that there is a whole lot more to the city. For one, it apparently has more miles of canals then Venice. Many of the original industrial areas beside the canals have now been redeveloped. The Brindley Place office/commercial/restaurant zone is reasonably sympathetically done and obviously popular with the local populace, particularly for hen’s parties.

Whilst I was exploring, Ingrid, Mike and Pat found refuge in a variety of bars and cafes. You may guess what was served in their favourite, the Epernay bar. Sadly, this was apparently badly damaged in the “civil” riots of the weekend after.

Continuing on the canals and engineering theme of our holiday, we visited Ironbridge and Coalbrookdale in Shropshire, touted as the birthplace of the industrial revolution.

Leicester does not feature grandly in the guide books, but it turned out to be a gem. Due to considerable immigration from Pakistan and Southern India since the 60’s, it is renowned for the flavours of the subcontinent. This was delightfully apparent as we wandered through the covered market in the city centre. We visited the cathedral, which has a regimental chapel and a memorial stone to Richard III, who rode from here to the (for him, fatal) Battle of Bosworth. The cathedral also features some impressively ornate ceilings.

Although it was closed, a very pleasant lady let me in to see the interior of the 15^th century Guildhall. The timber framed structure has moved over the years and now has a marvellous crooked house feel. It is reputedly haunted.

Whilst Ingrid went shopping, I went on a pilgrimage through mostly derelict industrial areas along the River Soar and branches of the Grand Union Canal. It was quite eerie, desolate and beautiful at the same time. It was inspiring to see the obvious pride that went into the building of the factories, canals and various elements of infrastructure.

Amongst all this, it was a shock to come across the National Space Centre with its suitably science fiction inspired tower housing the Blue Streak and Thor rockets.

 

My goal in this trek in the rain was the Abbey Pumping Station with its magnificently decorated, steam powered, Woolf compound rotative beam engines previously used for the inglorious task of pumping the city’s sewerage at the rate of 200,000 gallons per hour.

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