Bartimaeus

Tracey had told me that she and Richard had been to the Rock Houses near Kinver, many years ago, but she didn't remember the visit. That reminded me that we had meant to go back on a day they were open. On Sunday we went to see them. As usual we went first to the cafe where I enjoyed an orange and poppyseed sponge and Shane chose a rock bun. It wasn't as hard as he expected a rock bun tOn the walk there, from a cool start, it had started to feel increasingly warm. Inside the rock houses they were cool and the thick walls provided insulation from the cold in winter and from the heat in summer.

The first area we went into were bare carved spaces, with connecting tunnels, which gave an idea of the dug out nature of the way they were made. Many visitos had carved their names in the walls. A bird has built a nest in a hollow, a home within a home.

Some houses had been restored and furnished to give an idea of living there but one was closed with a notice saying horseshoe bats lived there - another home reclaimed in the rocks. Two others were open though and looked quite cosy. There had been an explanation on the path up that the residents did not have flushing toilets but buckets under a seat outside. It was no surprise then that the reconstructed houses had wash stands with jugs and basins and a chamber pot under the bed.

Without doubt the original residents wouldn't have had such a large fire guard, but they probably made their own rag rugs, as many people did then, and a number of other crafts were on display too.

Several families lived in various levels of the houses, many generations grew up in them. Another little nest for a baby showed off some more handmade items.

Bringing coal up to the houses up the  steep path would be no mean task but gas pipework was later put through the rocks and could still be seen. The well dried up at some point , at which time they got mains water.

They also grew their own vegetables as there was some good garden space as well as rock faces. They has roses, fruit trees and vegetables. There weren't any nearby shopping streets so growing your own was no doubt essential. People who had lived there had fond memories of the gardens. They are tended still and plenty plums and apples were growing.

On the walk back through Kinver, we saw a home that seemed to have been made earlier than the rock houses, or wee there just no records for the earliest inhabitants. This Kinver house looks a few centuries old and but augmented later with brick and the local sandstone walls. 

Back aboard the afternoon heated up. We sat on the towpath in the shade. We were opposite some impressive houses with steep gardens coming down towards the canal. I saw someone look like he was walking on a path and then he appeared in the garden watering the plants. He gave a cheery greeting. When I mentioned how the garden was being admired, he said it wasn't his, he lived further along at the end house.

I noticed another person walking along above the garden and in front of the houses. Shane checked his map and a footpath was marked and he saw a circular route we could make using two bridges. The path is a right of way and we duly reached the end house of the man we had seen before and had a chat with him. He is busy building new steps and a pond in his garden. I asked if this has road access and he said no they park a little away and come along this path. He loves the location and view and uses a wheelbarrow if there is a lot to bring from the car along the path. More than one wheelbarrow is in use for the building work making his new steps. 

He had said he often sees deer, but we weren't so lucky, but it was a pleasant varied walk. Our evening stroll ended walking over a bridge that we had been under a few days ago. It is only a footbridge and looks very pretty from here. 

The next day, being not on mains water supply ourselves, we moved to the water point. While filling up we had a jaunty conversation with a passing couple and again at the lock, another man came to help push the gate for me. He must be from the private moorings and have his own boat as he was coming through the locked gate with his car. He was impressed by Shane's steering into the lock in reverse, acknowledging that bow thrusters would make that easier, and then was interested in the solar panels and that we were getting all our domestic needs from the sun in these summer months. 

We moved back to the one day moorings, as we wanted to be near the road so Rob could bring his van and bring his tools and a parcel along to do some home improvement for us.