Tamworth

Of all the times we’ve been up and down The Coventry Canal we’ve never made the effort to go into Tamworth ….. until yesterday.  Moored up at Hopwas, we found a footpath which follows the River Tame all the way to the town centre.  It was such a lovely walk across open fields.  We wish now we had discovered this sooner.  Once again, Lola enjoyed a swim – it’s almost impossible to keep her out of the water!

                   

 

On reaching Tamworth, we headed towards the castle and castle grounds.  What a pleasant surprise!

Reading the information boards (like you do!) whilst cooling off with an ice cream (it had been quite a long walk!), we learned that there has been a castle of some sort at Tamworth since at least Saxon times.

Tamworth was the capital of the old kingdom of Mercia and the first stronghold was the home of King Alfred’s daughter, Ethelfelda (spelling seems to vary!). 

The present stone castle is of Norman origin.  We didn’t go inside the building itself because of Lola but had a good walk around the beautifully kept grounds.  In fact, the whole of Tamworth seemed to be bursting with beautiful flower arrangements.  Everywhere you looked – in the town itself, the gardens, the church and along the roads there were flower displays.  They certainly take ‘Tamworth in Bloom’ seriously!  We didn’t explore the shopping areas very much but there seemed to be plenty of shops and plenty of people milling about.

 

This is the old arcaded town hall -

           

Boating issues:-

Something strange is going on!  Something un-to-ward is happening!

The loo is being very temperamental!  It’s a vacuum-flush and doesn’t want to re-charge itself as often as it needs to and ………………..  the heating system is getting neither the radiators nor the water as hot as it used to.

BOATS!! 

The batteries are under suspicion!  When himself tells me the cost of a new set I suspect I will need not only something medicinal but a lie down too!!   Various investigations, monitoring and trials are underway!                          

There are still plenty of boats out and about on the system.