Bartimaeus

I slept better last night. I don’t know what kept my mind whirring the night before, but it was no longer looping in my head. Though I had wasted effort in following my knitting pattern and had to rip it back, as I had not been doing a new stitch after the cuff. It’s called waffle stitch,  named after Belgian waffles – another reason to like it. But there now seem to be several things going on at once so I need to concentrate.

Shane set about making bread again today, this time his usual recipe, though he was concerned about the lack of yeast progress. That seemed to start to prove eventually and  so I used the time to tackle my pattern afresh and get to grips with it properly, and it seems to be progressing well. 

It was dull overhead but we had changing scenery, as we moved away from the deep cutting, in stead we were high up with steep embankments down the sides and neatly trimmed towpath. Shane remarked it was so neat it looked like an avenue.

We also had fantastic views of a kingfisher to brighten up the day. There are no more locks but Shane remembered that there had been an old chocolate factory  and identified this building as the one. It is still a going popular purple brand but this particular operation is closed.

As we approached there was an unpleasant stink bomb type smell, even less appetising. We couldn’t work out what it was, then as we passed we could see a sewerage treatment plant deep down the embankment. Any desire one might have had for chocolate had definitely evaporated. Amazingly there were several people moored up there. I guess it depends how the wind blows whether the odour reached them or not. We didn’t linger.

We have been on this stretch of canal before, but I don’t remember the old building or that smell. But suddenly I did recognise a distinctive bridge arch with telegraph wires in it. I also remember seeing it in The Canal Diaries, which we watched just before coming to collect Bartimaeus.

We have reached Norbury Junction. This is not a metropolis but we had a look around and, as usual, saw some unusual things. There was a “millennium boulder trail” mapped out. We didn’t really fancy a six mile walk at the end of the day but you can see all 5 glacial deposit boulders, if you do. Well we’ve seen one anyway. There were also two horses standing at the wharf, hitched to small gigs. 

There was also a pub, so we went along for an evening meal and enjoyed a beer I’ve not tried before (Banks’s mild) from Wolverhampton, which we should reach in a few days at this rate. I ordered “filo wrapped figs” as a starter and then “a trio of faggots” for main. I am sure I’ve never seen either of those on a menu.