Sheltering from a thunderstorm in Hartlebury isn't perhaps the most ideal way to spend an afternoon but that's the fate that befell Nick and myself during a memorable day that otherwise began with a Droitwich Canal dalliance and culminated with the seaside-themed Kidderminster Beer Festival...
- Droitwich Station -
We're underway in Worcestershire when we alight the train at Droitwich just after 11 o'clock. This was my first time photographing the station here and I quite liked it although the ticket office is relatively modern, incorporating the Snax on Trax shop. There's a remnant of railway history on the Worcester-bound platform where an old building with sawtooth wooden awning particularly catches my eye.
- The Droitwich Canal -
Although heavy showers are forecast, the weather is actually being kind to us (for the moment at least) so we can explore the Droitwich Canal and the River Salwarpe. The canal is of special interest to us having been brought back into use following a concerted restoration effort, the reopening in the summer of 2011 marking the completion of a project that had been ongoing since the 1960's. Such dedication simply has to be applauded and the result is a resource that the community can treasure.
- Vines Park Volunteer -
We pick up the canal at the side of the Railway pub and follow it through Vines Park, passing Netherwich Basin moorings and encountering various lock and swing bridges through to Bromsgrove Road. The restored canal in full links the River Severn near Hawford with the Worcester & Birmingham Canal at Hanbury Wharf. Vines Park itself has some interesting features including 'Volunteer' - an artistic representation of a broad Wych Boat which historically ferried cargoes along the canal - and a statue of St Richard, born in Droitwich and later a Bishop of Chichester.
- Cuddly Chums in the Hop Pole -
While in Droitwich we naturally sampled a couple of the town's most characterful pubs, both of which are located on Friar Street. The Old Cock is a Marston's house with an impressive ecclesiastical window while the Hop Pole is a rather eccentric place with a paddling pool, cuddly gorilla and excellent value meals - no wonder Nick felt so at home!
- Soaked but still smiling -
Our afternoon entertainment saw us stopping off at Hartlebury, beginning with a look around the Tap House pub/restaurant in the converted former station building - the Worcestershire Brewery with their Attwoods Ales have an impressive outlet here. Venturing further into the village, it was then that that the weather finally caught up with us. Huge grey clouds loomed ominously for some time before finally unleashing a torrential downpour that turned Inn Lane into a river - Nick's sturdy umbrella tried valiantly but a drenching could not be avoided. Thankfully we could dry off in the White Hart, although my half of Hobsons Bitter could not prevent me from doing a bedraggled drowned rat impression.
- The White Hart -
Eventually the rain relented and we could see a little bit more of Hartlebury. The village seems to come in three distinct parts - there's the old centre by the White Hart and St James' Parish Church, then another focal point by the post office and the Talbot pub (closed and up for sale with the potential for a change of use) and finally a few railway cottages and industrial units out by the station. Trains generally call here hourly now, a considerable improvement on the timetable that was in place.
- Skull Splitter -
Into the evening and the beer festival awaits, but not before we've acquainted ourselves with the Weavers micropub on Comberton Hill, a gem of a discovery that we wish well for the future. The festival itself saw us returning to Kidderminster Town Hall and savouring the seaside theme complete with complimentary stick of rock - I wasn't expecting that! Several coastal beers were on offer including examples from Orkney, Dorset, Devon and Cornwall although some of the more local ales were also very tempting. Among those sampled were Cannon Royall Black Bear, Mordue's Workie Ticket, Fownes' King Korvak and RCH's Old Slug Porter although the most memorable beyond a doubt had to be the Skull Splitter, a very powerful concoction indeed! We proved that all cranial bones were still intact with a swift half in the Olde Severn Stars (the delicious Titanic Chocolate & Vanilla Stout no less) before heading home highly satisfied with our weatherproof Worcestershire wanderings.
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