Culture day

We were still frozen in on Friday so thought we should have a day of culture. I did a bit of research and found we could get a bus to Lichfield.  This was going to be Buddy’s first bus ride and knowing how he hates new things and still hates going in a car we were well prepared for any mishaps.  He wasn’t a problem at all and when we came back he dragged me onto the bus!

We had seen on the local news the other day that up to 1 in 3 shops are vacant in Midlands' towns so we were expecting the worst.  As it turned out, Lichfield was a lovely place, lots of quaint lanes and alleys and we only saw one shop boarded up.  It is a relatively small place considering it is a city – we both felt it was a mini Canterbury but that’s probably because it has a cathedral.  We popped our heads into the cathedral as dogs are not allowed.  It was surprisingly warm and we saw tables set out for 80 people who were having dinner there in the evening.  This was a proper dinner for fiscal supporters of the place not dinner for the homeless.

We did our culture bit by getting details of the Lichfield heritage trail and following it round the city.  This is the walled herb garden in the grounds of Charles Dickens’ grandfather’s house.

Buddy wasn’t over keen on walking round the streets so we took him to a local park for a while before coming home again.   

The Lichfield canal is derelict but is currently being restored.  It used to link the northern end of the Coventry canal to the northern end of the Birmingham mainline, i.e. north of Birmingham.  When you drive on the M6 toll road you may have noticed an aqueduct crossing the road.  It is hard to miss as it looks strange as it is not connected to anything at either end.  This aqueduct is part of the Lichfield canal so one day boats will be seen going over the motorway. 

When we got home we took Buddy for a walk round the local fields and then settled in for the evening to watch the rugby.