Friday 29th March
2019
Taking the dog out first thing, we had an attempted stowaway. I walked
the dog around Hopwas village before we left. It is a very small place but full
of character with a lot of charming old cottages.
Our attempted Stowaway
We had woken early and so were on the move just after 8am. It was a lovely,
sunny day if still a little chilly. Just after leaving Hopwas a mast comes into
view. This mast is supported by about 8 cables at different levels, and is an
enormous height. I would love to know how they construct these things.
We only moved 2 miles initially, with Brenda walking the dog to tire
him out, and moored beside Sutton Road Bridge. There is a retail park within a
few hundred yards of the canal that we wanted to visit. Ventura Park turned out
to be one of the largest retail parks we have seen. We visited Curry’s first
off to buy Brenda a new laptop, her old one, at 12 years old, having thrown its
hand in. We then called into M&S for some more clothes before having a rare
treat in KFC.
On the way back to the boat we called into B&Q’s for new padlocks
and a bird feeding station. The padlocks used to secure the roof top tools,
although bought as stainless steel, have rusted and the bird feeder to attract
the small birds to outside the boat windows.
We have had an infestation of ants these last few days and we were
told they would most likely be coming from the logs we have stacked on the
roof. These were removed and, right enough, a couple of them were full of ants.
These were disposed of and the rest checked and put into a rubble bag. Hopefully
that will see the end of them.
We then moved on a further mile to Fazelely Junction were we moored
up. We were here about 13 years ago and, of course, there are many changes. We
walked around the junction and into Fazeley village itself. Although a town in
its own right, Fazeley is now considered a part of Tamworth. There is a town
square of sorts, with a number of small shops.
Fazeley once had several cotton mills and a bleaching works although
only a few mills survive. Tolson’s Mill is the most dominant and there are
plans to convert it into apartments. This was a later mill built in 1886 and
was powered by steam. There is also a lovely terrace of mill workers houses
along the main street behind the mill.
Tolsons Mill
Another surviving mill is Sir Robert Peel’s Mill opened in 1790 for
cotton spinning and calico printing. This Robert Peel, 1st Baronet,
was the father of the more famous Robert Peel, 2nd Baronet, the
statesman and Tory politician who was twice Prime Minister and one of the founders
of the modern Conservative Party. He is also regarded as the father of modern
British policing, having founded the Metropolitan Police Service.
The 1st Baronet acquired property as part of his Tamworth
parliamentary package after being elected MP in 1790 after Thomas Guy was
defeated. Fazeley formed part of his estate and he is credited with building
the town. The Peel family purchased the nearby estate of Drayton Manor which
became their family home. Both the 1st and 2nd Baronet
are interred in Drayton Bassett church.
A later member of the family, another Sir Robert Peel, the 6th
Baronet, is recorded on the War Memorial in Fazeley. He was serving as an
Ordinary Seaman aboard HMS Tenedos when she was attacked by Japanese aircraft on
5th April 1942 in Colombo harbour, Sri Lanka, and sunk with the loss
of 33 officers and men. Including Sir Robert, they are buried in the Kenatte
Cemetery in Colombo.
We called into the Three Horseshoes pub on the way back to the boat.
This is a little changed local, full of character and chat. As Brenda said, if
you closed your eyes, you could have been in any era.
Weather: a lovely warm day
Day Total: 0 locks; 3 miles; 0 Tunnels; 0 Swing Bridges; 0 Boat Lift;
engine running hours 1.7
Overall Total: 352 locks; 776 miles; 32 tunnels; 11 Swing Bridges; 2
Boat Lifts; engine running hours 499.9
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