Shoemaking in the Midlands

Cheese!

In between the various stages of my pilgrimage, parkruns are still on the menu for us; the latest also serving as a get together in Daventry of some of the athletic members of Vicky's family. This photo is of us, three of Vicky's sisters, a sister in law, four nieces plus one husband and a small boy, plus Skip, all of whom completed the course! Having just had a 'significant' birthday at the end of January I gave it hell for leather and managed to break the over 70 record with a time of 21:48. It was a cold damp day but there was singing all the way as the rest of the gang followed round the attractive route through a country park circling the Daventry Reservoir. This fairly large body of water was built in 1805 to feed the Grand Union Canal. At the north end of the reservoir we ran over the dam below which are the Balancing Ponds - no time to find out how they work but we did manage breakfast in the Reservoir Cafe, an old building that was presumably something to do with the management of the reservoir. The girls then got on with the real business of the day - a hen party down in Buckingham. I found alternative amusement and walked some dogs.

Who said anything about a dog?

The night before the run we stayed just up the road in Southam, Warwickshire. I'd never heard of Southam but it's a pleasant little town with a bit of history. First off we thought we'd try to find a dog-friendly pub so - here's the Black Dog, a down to earth local with lovely beer but, shame, no dogs please. So Skip had to be content with a snooze back at the AirBnb for an hour or so. We sat in the darts room enjoying our Butty Bach not realising that ten-times world champion darts player Trina Gulliver must have played here many a time. Not that I'm particularly a darts fan but I did spot a bench round the corner the following morning dedicated to the lovely Trina who was brought up in the town. 

Slips off the tongue doesn't it!

The pleasant town itself was originally just one main highway running north to south with odd little alleyways running off to the side - here's one called Chickabiddy Lane! The town's north side was also bisected by an old drover's road called Welsh Road, this was one of the long distance routes along which livestock were driven from North Wales to the markets of London. In years gone by Southam was home to an Eye and Ear Infirmary founded by the 'mad doctor of Southam' Henry Lillee-Smith in 1818, apparently the patients were successfully treated using water from a nearby holy well. What is particularly notable about this establishment was that treatment was free! A forerunner of the NHS perhaps!

The Crown - a cosy pub with interesting ales!

A second evening in Southam found us in the 400 year old Crown Inn which was comfortable and welcoming. We headed straight for the bar stools opposite the front door and were gently sipping our first ales when a burst of mellifluous Italian caused me to turn around to see a young man chatting to his small children - I responded with some suitable Italian phrases which prompted him to chat to us also. He was giving his wife a break from the children in a most sensible manner which involved a visit to the pub and he was delighted to have a conversation with us. He left and, after saying our ciaos and arrivedercis, we finished our drinks and ordered another. To our surprise the barmaid said we didn't owe anything as our new friend had bought us the round. What a nice man!

Final morning in the Midlands - Skip needed a good walk so I set about trying to find the Holy Well. We tramped through some muddy fields and there it was a very nicely laid out well with a nicely carved bench and handy steps down to the healing spring to assist those seeking a cure for their opthalmic problems. Skip took a look and decided to slug back some of the ice cold water - hopefully this will improve his sight as nowadays he seems to want to chase after any tall runner that he sees assuming it's me. On our return for breakfast I thought I'd try that shortcut that I'd spotted a couple of days previously - yes it's that very handy thoroughfare Chickabiddy Lane home to the town cobblers!

Cobblers!