Trip Log - Saturday 8th July

Rog and I followed Friday's birthday celebrations with a day of refined exploration down in Kinver. Well, he does have to be a little more careful now he's getting on a bit...

• Start off by walking into Stourbridge so Rog can get his ticket
• Its then off to the Bonded Warehouse (a hidden Black Country gem) to begin our canal walk at Stourbridge Basin
• First stage takes us along the Stourbridge Town Arm down to Wordsley Junction, glimpses of industrial heritage amongst the greenery and tranquility
• Wordsley Junction - a canal location I'd wanted to visit for ages, I wasn't disappointed. Lots of photo potential with the junction bridge, junction signpost and Stourbridge Locks all providing targets.
• Join the main branch of the Stourbridge Canal and head down to Stourton Junction - the canal becomes more rural and, rather annoyingly, the bridges don't seem to have names. A relaxing stroll in the sunshine, with Stourton Locks providing further photo opportunities
• Stourton Junction - another canal location crossed off the hitlist, with a chance to take shots of the junction bridge and nearby signpost as we join the Staffordshire & Worcestershire Canal
• Just along from Stourton Junction is Stewpony Lock, a well known canal location with a distinctive lockhouse that has unfortunately closed down. Onwards through Dunsley Tunnel to Hyde Lock, one of Rog's favourite canal places, bringing back memories of our February 2005 visit. Then its a quick photo of Kinver Bridge where we leave the canal. What a fantastic walk that was, even Rog really enjoyed it - no Bromsgrove or Streetly style cursing this time round!
• Next up, a visit to The Vine pub. Threatened with closure and demolition not long back, the pub has survived, meaning Rog and I could enjoy a refreshing drink in the beer garden overlooking Kinver Lock - great pub, great weather, great view.
• We walk down into Kinver hunting a bit of lunch and a few local photos. I must mention the local butchers on the High Street; we popped in for some old fashioned pork scratchings and it was like stepping back in time, great service, time for a chat, an old cash register - real village atmosphere. It gave me a sense of what a village shop should be like, something that is all too quickly fading away in this age of convenience. And the scratchings were delicious by the way.
• We had time to spare before the bus back so we ventured into The Cross for a quick drink. This gave Rog the chance to introduce me to Metallica with the aid of the pub's jukebox machine, I still haven't recovered.
• The 228 provided the first bus ride of the day as we caught the route up into Wollaston and then transferred onto the 294 to investigate Mary Stevens Park. I've been on the 294 before but paid more attention this time, making mental notes of local photo targets on the Norton Estate such as Broadway shops or the Gigmill pub.
• Mary Stevens Park provided another trip down memory lane, recalling our very first joint outing. The park seemed popular and lively on a summer's afternoon, and I followed tradition by taking photos of the war memorial and park gates
• We return to Stourbridge along Worcester Street and finish the birthday celebrations off with a couple more drinks and a read of the evening paper.

All in all, a really enjoyable outing and a great way to mark Rog's 30th. Surprisingly though, the outing involved very little in the way of buses - not that either of us actually minded.