On The Buses

We are now several days and many, many locks further along since I last updated this. Winter has definitely arrived and with it more cold and rainy days.

Rather than staying inside the boat when the weather is wet, on a couple of days we have caught a local bus to another town that we would not otherwise visit on the boat. The first town we visited was Shrewsbury,  filled with lots of Tudor style houses and several ancient churches, most  particularly the Shrewsbury Abbey that dates back to 1083. We enjoyed walking through the streets, exploring the wonderful medieval buildings.

The River Severn runs through town and because of recent rains, the water was lapping the footpath along the riverside. 

We have been moored in the canal near the aqueduct in Nantwich for the past couple of days.

Since the rain was falling steadily yesterday,  we decided to catch the bus to Chester, which is an historic cathedral city in Cheshire on the River Dee, close to the border with Wales. Chester is known for its well preserved city walls and Roman heritage,  as well as it's many medieval buildings. The city dates back nearly 2000 years. 

We had coffee and cake in a tiny café perched almost on the city walls, then walked the galleries,  which are unique double storey medieval shops known as The Rows.

Then, because it was still raining and cold,  Peter and I went to a museum dedicated to disease and medicine, called Sick to Death that tells the gory story of medicine through time. It was a really interesting way to fill in a couple of hours.

Unfortunately our bus back to Nantwich was delayed and we arrived home after dark: not surprising because sunset is now before 4:00pm and it’s completely dark by 4:30. We were very glad to get back to the boat, put the heater on and settle in for the evening.