A long night and a quick look at Worcester.

What an interesting night we had last night. The moorings by the Commandery, while pleasant enough, don't give you a clear shot at the T.V. satellite so no telly. It must have been bell ringing practice as the cathedral bells were ringing out most of the evening and with Classic F.M. and a good book telly was not missed. About 2230 we decided it was bedtime and then discovered an interesting phenomenon, the boat had taken a decided list to starboard making it difficult to get out of the chair. On investigation we found that the pound had dropped by the best part of two feet and we were firmly aground. Much pushing and shoving failed to get us afloat. Checked the lock and found it was not leaking but realised that the back pump was running but no water was coming up from the basin. Now B.W. came to the rescue, it was past midnight by now but a call to their emergency number and in under an hour two of their finest turned up to investigate, it turned out that the pump intake was blocked so no water was coming up but the pump on the next lock up was still running and was sucking the pound dry. It is the first time I've heard of a pound draining into the next pound UP. We finally got to bed about 0230, felt pretty shattered this morning. All pumps are now sorted and running properly.
Worcester, motto Civitas in Bello et Pace Fidelis, was the site of the first and last battles of the civil war and remained loyal to the king throughout.

The Commandery, originally a medieval hospital, was the Royalist H.Q. during the Battle of Worcester and Charles II watched the battle

from the tower of the cathedral. He lost and had to nip off to France for a while, on the way he spent some time up an oak tree which is why we have lots of pubs called The Royal Oak.

This is a statue of him on the Guildhall,

a most elaborate structure on the High Street. This is the building in which the Oddingley murderers were tried, how about that for continuity?
Friar Street that runs parallel with High Street has a wealth of timbered buildings,

but to me the real architectural gem is The Eagle Vaults.

Just look at the glazed tile work,

while inside the old back bar is still there, complete with clock.

virtually a complete Victorian city pub. The beer and sandwiches were pretty good as well, what more could you ask?
Tomorrow we're heading back up towards Brum. as we have more family coming on Friday for a week.

Watch this space...........