Bartimaeus

After exploring the interior of the halls, we went to get lunch. A modern glass fronted serving area was attached to an older part of the building. It appeared the extended seating areas beyond had been kitchen or servant areas. Some were decorated with kitchenware, such as basins and moulds for desserts.

In an adjoining corridor there were original sets of bells for servants. What a lot of rooms!

When we stepped outside we found a building which was being used as a Halloween trail spot. Shane wanted to find the orangery, but this did not seem to be it. A boy and his mother were in there and had just completed a craft activity with a toilet roll tube that made a wall shadow with a tube. The boy was delighted and thanked his mum loudly for it. Shortly after he appeared shouting that he had flown. He went back to the dressing up box and tried out some other wings and again proclaimed that he had flown. He was having a joyous wildly imaginative day out. 

So there was something orange there but not fruit. There were jars of witch ingredients at a table at the end. Not a tasty jam or chutney among them.

We had sat having lunch where we had a good view over the gardens, but couldn't see the orangery from there either. The manicured hedges gardens that could be viewed here were amazing and based on continental gardens, such as Versailles.

The desire to tame and sculpt nature was, it said, a reaction to the increasing lack of social control in the political times. Nature's beauty was visible just beyond in the surrounding fields.

We continued looking for the orangery that Shane had glimpsed from a distance. The yew hedge round the formal gardens was full of red berries. Not a fruit for eating though.

We located the orangery and it was indeed impressive. Unfortunately it was closed so we couldn't see the fruit close up but if was certainly producing plenty.

Before it was a sundial and being a bright day we could see it was telling us the time, but not in BST, Shane commented, but observed that at the weekend it would be correct again.

We found more fruit bushes and vegetables growing outside - a mix of familiar and less common plants, presumably historically accurate species from the hall's heydey. Artichokes and asparagus  I have had, but good king Henry, salsify and chuckle berry I knew by name only. The good king Henry looked very like Spinach. I wonder if I have had it in the organic veg box we used to get, that had unlabelled contents that were random seasonal items - I began to think something like good king Henry was there. Unfortunately I couldn't see any of the chuckle berries and the salsify was underground.

We made our way home through farm fields of sheep, which, for me, completed a very enjoyable day. It was topped off with a lovely sky at our rural mooring, when Shane called me out to watch a bat over the water.

The next morning we headed to Droitwich Spa marina. This would be our last day on the water for some time. I went out to do the last locks of the season. Shane had done them in the other direction. I could see volunteers and one came over to speak to me. He asked if I knew these locks. I said I had done them and I knew about the side ponds but it had been years since I had done them so would rely on their instructions for the sequence. I could recall that you have to guess when it is half full. He said if I stayed on the towpath side, he would deal with the side ponds. Another man was approaching with a windlass. I learned from the volunteers that he was in training and was eighty years old. He obviously didn't let his age put him off learning something new, but the volunteers felt he needed monitoring. Nonetheless he seemed to be enjoying being involved and took over closing a gate from me saying I might pull my shoulder out. I have shifted many much harder gates, but he clearly wanted to do it so I let him and went to be ready to wind the paddles at the other end whenever the volunteers had done with the side pond. Another volunteer went ahead to get the next lock ready. With four volunteers to help, I had an easy passage through the Hanbury flight and they told me to get on at the last one. I didn't fancy trying to jump on at the steps when the ground was wet so was happy to get on. 

On the Women On Barges group this year some people have done a video of 'the last lock of the season dance'. I don't mind a lock and didn't feel jubilant about ending the season's locks. We were straight into the marina where we tied on the slip way and after we had visited the office and got the water and waste tanks topped up and emptied respectively, Nick came over to get Bartimaeus out of the water, using a tractor and a very long trailer. We put slidable breakable things to a safe place and went to watch.

As farmers are, he was gung ho about jumping on the trailer wheel to adjust the alignment by hand and eye. He made the whole thing look easy.

He chatted about whether we should get reblacked and remarked on the plastic on the propeller which explained why both of us thought the steering had been slightly sluggish. I had thought it might be autumn leaves, but they blast off easily and that didn't help. Nick let us sit in a warm lounge where I  got a coffee, while it was jet washed. Much of the blacking seemed to come off, so that answered that question.

Nick brought a step ladder and placed it by the stern. The top step was about level with the gunwale. We were told we could use the toilet block and lounge whenever we wanted but I just wanted to spend the last of our time there on the boat. I was minimising my time on a scary step ladder!