Bartimaeus

Shane had spotted another themed piece of weekend entertainment. This time we left the tandem behind and walked to the station at Kidderminster. Through the day we were able to hop on and off the trains and did some walking and exploring of some of the other towns on the line but we didn't do as much hopping as the morris dancing troops that were this day's main attraction.

At the station there were already lots of morris dancers around in a variety of costumes. Some had elaborate face paint and some had feathered hats. Two musicians were wearing black kilts. They began to play for a group of women doing a clog dance.

A toddler nearby was copying the actions of the clog dancers and they were happy to have such an enthusiastic audience. It emerged that one of the clog dancers knew him, maybe his grandmother. The musicians then played for a mixed morris "side" for some six people dances. They didn't have clogs but there was plenty of clacking with sticks.

They were a little quieter with handkerchiefs but they did still have bells on, so they were never quiet unless they were completely still. 

They borrowed dancers from another group to do a dance requiring a larger set, two of the more flamboyantly dressed Moonlight Morris dancers in dark blue and silver outfits. Nearby another group were similarly dressed and painted but in green or autumnal shades and leafy adornments. 

When they had finished they boarded the train and so did we, and in the end, we both got off where I was looking for lunch. I didn't envy them setting themselves up for a display at midday in full sun. It looked energetic stuff. When we reached the building with a restaurant we found other groups performing. 

There were two groups in the same main colour scheme, red and black but very different costumes. The ladies were in skirts and clogs, but had ribbons coming from their belts, strings of beads and beribboned batons to twirl. After their dance one woman tried to recruit us to their groups, in Ironbridge. 

To reach the cafe we found ourselves in a steam museum. There was plenty to see there too, the sorting office in a mail van and several shiny engines.

I had been surprised by the additional exhibition by a woman who studied geology and now she was retired she made textiles with geology themes. She gave me a leaflet for a local attraction Abbeeley and Malvern Hills Geopark. She had made a textile map of the geopark. The trilobite is the symbol marking the walk in the park.

The stations along the line were very varied. One had an exhibition of life in the second world war, not quite as long ago as fossil formation. I didn't know people were encouraged to keep a pig, as well as turning any spare ground into a vegetable plot.

Having explored the exhibits at Arley, we sat on the station platform to wait for the train to come steaming, tooting and clacking in. The train going the other way was waiting too.

We stepped further back in history in Bridgnorth where we rode the funicular which is over 130 years old. The carriages were originally wooden, but were modernised to aluminium in 1955. It is a steep drop indeed and one of the people already in had made the mistake of looking down and was now having a bit of a panic attack and sitting with her eyes closed. The ride was remarkably smooth. The cars pass midway.

I was intrigued by an unusual claim to fame on the side of a building at the end of the bridge. Fair to say it is quite an achievement, being older than the market.

We returned to the high town. A hen night was in full swing with all the party wearing blue and sailor hats. A notable feature was the  arched building that served as a covered market at times, with an upper room above was licensed for weddings and we read some of the town history from boards under the arches.

There had been some delays through the day and the timetable wasn't reliable but we felt we should turn up to the station in time. We had a good spell of entertainment while we waited. The red and black groups had arrived and were still energetic and no doubt relieved to be dancing in a much cooled afternoon, compared to the midday heat earlier.

We saw a much longer display with some very intricate dances from both groups, culminating in one with women and men, dancing around the men's elaborate hats, weaving in and out of each other, and the women stripping the men of their jackets, when they dancing round them! I have definitely not seen that dance before.