I’ve had a lump on the side of my neck since about the time we got on the boat.  When we were in Edinburgh in September I was lucky enough to get my GP to look at it.  He declared it to be a “sebaceous cyst” – not dangerous, and not serious enough to be removed.  It’s been bothering me a little in recent weeks, and bothering Clare more because she can see it!

So today we decided to see if we could work out how to get it looked at.  We walked in to the centre of Tamworth  via the castle.  The battlements were being poorly guarded by a cat.

We soon found a pharmacy.  The pharmacist said he couldn’t help but suggested the minor injuries clinic.  We went round the corner to a GP Surgery.  The receptionist gave me the same advice, so this time I asked where that was.

The clinic was at the Sir Robert Peel Hospital.  A number of things around here are named after him, and his statue was in the middle of town.

The hospital was less than a mile from the boat, but on the out of town side.  So we went back to the boat and I walked to the clinic.  The staff there were very friendly and gave me some antibiotics.  They’ve also referred me to a hospital in Burton-on-Trent, we’ll wait and see about that.  If I need to, I can go by train (11 mins) or by canal (11 hours).