Bartimaeus

The first time we used the Severn Valley Railway we were delayed due to a fire on the embankment and the fire hoses being across the line. The fire starter appeared to be a steam engine but not the one we were on. The next time, when we were admiring the morris dancers, there was a delay and I overheard someone suggest they were trying to take it easy on the line so as to reduce the chance of sparks coming out of the funnel. In this weather being the fireman on the steam engine must be exhausting, hot work, even at reduced speeds.

The news has been full of wildfires in many places, including Edinburgh, and Abernethy. Some campers were evacuated in Suffolk. Far larger fires in hotter temperatures were in France and Spain. Reluctantly we decided to cancel our trip to there, with trains on our route being cancelled and more heatwaves predicted, we didn't want to be miserably hot in disrupted travel and we didn't want to be liabilities for the authorities in the event of any evacuation, not speaking much French and very, very little Spanish. It seems some evacuees close to one of our destinations are being allowed back, but there are still plenty of fires on going. In this weather, being a firefighter, is exhausting, hot work, even when the fires are coming under control.

We don't have to plan around a train departure and leaving the boat, so we have continued the quiet slow life, watching a heron skulking in the reeds and a duck brambling. Beside the canal the plants are lush and green but on thee towpath the grass is dry and brown.

We cycled to Ortomarine to pick up a part for the oven. The (seldom used) oven works but when switched off it started displaying a fault code. Shane didn't like that. I was less bothered as long as it worked, but of course an electrical fault could be dangerous. He was itching to get stuck in.

He took a break from boat tinkering however to go on an outing for my birthday, to Hartlebury Castle. The castellations were a late addition but in early days (and this had been a bishop dwelling since the 9th century) bishops raised armies. 

From the outside it was evident that the chapel was a major feature of the house. We enjoyed a walk in the gardens first. There was a small mulberry bush in the lawns of the moat walk. 

As we continued round the walk we saw a few more mulberry trees, some over 300 years old. There were signs telling you not to climb on the old trees but none telling you not to pick the mulberries. There were some signs quoting a bishop's daughter in the 19th century. We spent some time trying to decipher the words above the sundial on the side of the building. It alludes to a poem in Latin and seems to translate as 'alas fleeing'.

We were told by the person who met us inside that there had been many bishops living here but were mainly going to hear about one family. We were to have virtual talks in various rooms from portraits of a family whose daughter had written a diary so various events had been recorded. We realised we had read some of her diary entries in the grounds. We were also told one of the bishops of Worcester had been burnt at the stake. His story was inside, with an artists drawing of the event, but he was not the main focus, being a couple of centuries earlier than the bishop's daughter's diary. The exhibits did include other eras too, such as this page of music, from 1230.

I don't know the connection, except that there are volunteers in the palace and museum, but a model gypsy caravan was in the entrance to the grounds. We recognised the Romany flag. 

The ticket is good for return visits so we will check out the other wing with the museum another day, rather than rush it near to closing time. 

The next day we pulled the oven out and the galley space is too narrow to get access to the back of it, so we lifted it on to one of the tables and Shane set about a wiring task. The wire goes from front to back so the back, top had to come off too.

When we put it back in, he tried the oven again it went on but once off and cooling, the F24 flashed again. He had been soldering in the saloon to wire up different speakers earlier in the week and afterwards there was a problem with the raspberry pi (not in the oven) so his electric endeavours were not entirely satisfactory. Still he had done okay with some wood working and was happy with his curtain fixing.

We moved on in the afternoon and had a walk in the new environment. The highlight was finding a field of foals and long maned mares in a variety of colours.

Our new location was quiet as not near a town or road but there was some noise from a rifle range. It didn't go on all day though. I did wonder if shooting was a fire risk - you have to hope they are aware and taking care about that, shooting is surely surrounded by safety rules. Then at night fireworks were going off. I didn't know what for and usually I like seeing them, but when the ground is dry and the news full of wildfires (not the case in November) I wondered if this might have bad repercussions. Happily I didn't see any smoke or fire. 

We set off for a different museum and another steam train ride on Sunday. During the journey  we saw scorched blacked strips of grass next to the line, and not in the same place as the previous fire. Was this controlled burning or accidental? 

As usual when we arrived at Bridgnorth we went straight for a cafe rather than the museum. We both ordered mushroom soup and a cheese scone but we're surprised at the colour of the soup. Mushrooms do vary in colour so a greyness is expected, but this was very dark.

I almost expected a burnt taste, but it wasn't like that at all. It did taste mushroomy but whether it was the colour or something else, I didn't warm to the soup. We both enjoyed our respective drinks and warm cheese scones. Then Shane finished my soup off and so all was well. There was an entertaining array of teapots too.

The Northgate museum had a varied mix of exhibits crammed into a small space, and friendly staff, from flint tools, Viking spears and Roman coins to early television that predated us and an early pocket calculator that didn't.  

Shane was particularly captivated by the operating clock mechanism, which brought the cheery chatty staff over for a cheery chat.

We both were impressed by the work involved in making the matchstick models. Thrown away used matchsticks are harder to come by these days.

Vocabulary changes meaning a bit too. An Elizabethan exhibit explained that "alienating" was to pass a tenancy into another's hands and required the outgoing tenant to request landowner's permission, and pay for it.

We wended our way slowly back to the station. The trains were again prevented from moving due to fire service equipment on the line. We went for a drink while we waited. The Railwaymans Arms (sic) depicted a fireman of another kind, shovelling coal.

We were kept informed of updates and could see it was about time to go when a signalman walked along with a token.

As we approached Bewdley we saw burnt grass on the embankment and smelt the smoke. Bewdley fire service are busy. I had noticed a fire station for sale in Kidderminster and hoped they still had a fire service as they might be needed.