The final strait - the Black Prince base comes into view.
The final strait - the Black Prince base comes into view.
There then followed the obligatory half-hour in the shop and, for future reference, we took a quick look at a different style of boat while the enthusiasm for the week's adventures was still fresh.
We
decided to spend the remainder of the day at the Black
County Living Museum. Half an hour in the car got us there, where the
canal boat would have taken half a week! The museum had some excellent
aspects to it, including taking part in a Victorian school lesson, going
down a coalmine and taking a canal boat trip into the Dudley tunnel. Although
we'd already had our fair share of tunnels this week, this trip was still
well worth it as you could see the vast caverns left by limestone quarrying
in which the Earl of Dudley used to hold concert parties. We also got the
opportunity to try out the old-fashioned method of getting through tunnels
i.e. "legging it" (or "footing it" as Sue preferred to call it).
The girls practising Victorian-style writing on slates (left) and
Lauren sitting in the corner because she's been naughty (right).
Victorian-style merry-go-round (very bumpy!) and "legging it" through
the Dudley tunnel.
We made a brief return to the Merry Hill Maccy D's before hitting the M42 for the journey home. And so concluded our week. Whatever fears and anxieties some members of the crew may have had prior to our week, it's fair to say that we all thoroughly enjoyed the experience, both the furious activity of the locks and the relaxing stretches of countryside cruising, and would all be up for it again.