- Bromsgrove Station -
It's Friday 1st July 2022 and great news that the Bromsgrove Beer Festival has been restored to its customary slot on the summer schedule after Covid necessitated its cancellation in both 2020 and 2021. Nick and I meet at Birmingham New Street in readiness for the 10:50 train to Hereford, touching down in Worcestershire at around about quarter past eleven. Bromsgrove Station is a much-improved facility compared to when I first clapped eyes on it, with the 2016 rebuild now firmly bedded in and Cross City services terminating here every half an hour. The bus interchange outside offers links into a town centre which is still a fair old walk away.
- Monarch's Way at Finstall -
Nick and I will be doing some walking but the town is not our target - nope, we want to explore a stretch of the Worcester & Birmingham Canal at Tardebigge. Getting there requires usage of the Monarch's Way, a lengthy trail that reputedly charts the escape route taken by the future King Charles II when fleeing the Battle of Worcester in 1651. We pick up the footpath on St Godwald's Road, flank the railway line and then nip down the side of Bromsgrove Rugby Club (our festival setting for later) from Finstall into Stoke Cross. Dusthouse Lane takes over, passing Stonehouse Farm before we edge across fields to reach Alcester Road.
- Tardebigge Tunnel -
The village of Tardebigge has earned a certain notoriety in canal circles for being the location of the longest lock flight in the entire country. There are thirty narrow locks in total here and it is said to take somewhere in the region of four hours for boats to traverse from one end to the other. Our first glimpse of the Worcs & B'ham comes courtesy of Tardebigge New Wharf, a small marina and pumping-out station situated just below the southern portal of Tardebigge Tunnel; the tunnel itself is 580 yards long and dates from the early 19th century. Christening himself as the 'Merry Monarch' for the day, Nick is intending that we should investigate the whole flight but an unexpected heavy shower sets in and we need alternative plans.
- Mad Goose at the Tardebigge -
Coming to our rescue is the Tardebigge pub which is stationed a little further along Alcester Road, albeit getting there still results in a minor drenching. We're soon able to dry off however in the comfort of an airy bar populated by lunching schoolmums and various prison wardens, HMP Hewell Young Offenders Remand Centre being not very far away. Bright floral wallpaper and dangly chandeliers are the other notable features as we listen to George Ezra (against Nick's will) and sup our decent halves of Purity Mad Goose. We wouldn't ordinarily have made a special effort to visit this one although the building has an interesting history having been constructed by the Earl of Plymouth in 1911 to serve as the Village Hall.
- St Bartholomew's Church -
Whilst we're in the area we might as well see what else Tardebigge has to offer, with the most definitive landmark being St Bartholomew's (otherwise known as the 'Church on the Hill'). The tall spire of this imposing place of worship dominates the landscape for miles around and will be a familiar sight to anybody regularly working the canal locks down below. Our visit happens to coincide with an assembly involving the adjacent Tardebigge First School, hence we are treated to infant voices singing a succession of hymns such as 'Give Me Oil In My Lamp' and 'Shine Jesus Shine' - it's simply magical to hear the songs and gaze out over the churchyard.
- Tardebigge Locks -
Our village detour has done the trick in terms of allowing the weather to improve, and we're now bathed in summer sunshine as we commence our curtailed descent of Tardebigge Locks. Top Lock (No. 58) is just beyond the wharf I mentioned earlier, and then the sequence really begins in earnest after Dialhouse Farm Bridge (London Lane). Of the thirty we cover a mere nine - not even a third of the complete length - but what we do see is enchanting countryside, the very essence of England. Several of the locks have accompanying cottages and for an amateur photographer such as myself it really is camera heaven! Our exit point is Bridge 54 (Grimley Lane) because we've got a beer festival we need to get to...
- A Tennis Elbow diagnosis -
Said festival as ever is being held at the Bromsgrove Rugby Club hence there's a massive marquee in situ beside the clubhouse and part of the wider pitches appear to have become an impromptu campsite. Armed with 'Yellow Pubmarine' Beatles-themed glassware and the all-important beer tokens, I work through a kaleidoscope of ales from pale (Backyard's Tennis Elbow) to golden (Platform 5's The Coaster from Torquay) to copper-hued (Teme Valley's Wotever Next) to dark (Strawberry Fields' Marmalade Skies Oatmeal Stout). Each of those proves very enjoyable but my favourite tipple is undoubtedly Byatts' Madagascar Stout thanks to its hefty thwack of coffee, chocolate and vanilla - gorgeous!
- The Merry Monarch goes international -
But what of our resident royal I hear you ask? Well Nick takes his role very seriously and thus embarks on a programme of international diplomacy. He starts off very much British care of Beowulf's Dragon Smoke Stout - always a favourite - but then progresses to Madagascar (that Byatts stout again), Ukraine (Ambridge Zenyk, brewed using aromatic Ukrainian hops) before finally landing in Brazil with a nod of Colchester's Brazilian Coffee and Vanilla Porter. That such globetrotting is all achieved from the confines of the rugby field is a very impressive effort indeed. With that we retire to the railway station for our homeward trains but it has been a truly excellent day, even with the vagaries of the English summertime. Cheers!
No comments:
Post a Comment