Saturday 21st
March 2020
The morning was spent quietly with Brenda reading and myself computering.
In the afternoon we walked into Stoak, just a few hundred yards from the canal.
It is a tiny village, a church, pub a few farms and a couple of dozen houses, mostly
ex-council. It took no more than 3 minutes to walk from one end of the village
to the other.
All pubs and restaurants have been closed by the Government as a
measure to overcome the Corona Virus. A shame as the Bunbury Arms looked a nice
place. This closing of pubs could well see an end to a part of British culture
as many may not be able to survive an indefinite closure period. Also sad as
the last pint we may have for a long time would then be a pint of John Smiths
in the Horse and Jockey in Ellesmere Port which was a right dive.
Bunbury Arms, Stoak
St. Lawrence’s Church was worth the visit. The church was almost entirely
rebuilt in 1827, replacing an earlier church which may have dated from the 13th
century. There is very little stained glass within the church as a German land mine
cracked the windows necessitating their removal. They were replaced with clear glass
to improve lighting in the building. In the church is an oak parish chest
dating from 1686 and many memorial tablets of the Bunbury family, Baronets of
the local Stanney Hall.
The church has the oldest bells in the Wirral which are dated 1615,
1631 and 1642 and the oldest one-fingered clock dated 1687 mounted on the bell tower.
St. Lawrence’s Church, Stoak and the One-Handed Clock
The family connection with Stoak is actually from our daughter-in-laws
family line, the Parry’s, who lived in and around Stoakin the 1700’s. While there
was no evidence of them, there was an interesting gravestone in the churchyard.
This marked the grave of a Nelson Burt, aged 9 years-old, who drowned during
the River Mersey hurricane of 1822.
Back on the boat we had a quiet afternoon and watched TV. While
cooking dinner we discovered a marvellous way of exercising during a period of
Corona Virus ‘self-isolation’ – loudly playing and dancing to Cosy Powell’s 1973 song ‘Dance
with the Devil’. We hadn’t laughed so much in ages.
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