Retracing steps.

 We had a surprise opportunity to go out on the town last night and made the most of it. We walked up to the Royal Exchange and had a pint of Titanic Plum Porter and that set the tone for the night.

We walked past the none canal side of the Joule's beer store with the finial with a red cross within,  a brick red cross and wonderful cast iron sign.

The Royal Exchange is a nice pub with Titanic beers. I don't think I have had a bad one yet. They are all very tasty. I had the pom porter which is a long time favorite, but we didn't linger to test all the others on hand pull, but decided to walk into town.

We had noticed a little pub had opened  in the little market place but it had never been open before. As it was Friday evening it was bound to be open, and so it proved. It is a lovely little place with the right level of music and the right music too. The music wasn't the sort you would have 20 somethings flocking to and the clientele was noticeable older. The layout is strange as the level you enter is the high point as you have to go quite steeply down to the small bar, and in the other direction is a comfy snug full of settees and comfy chairs. They serve Lymestone  beers which is a local brewery in Stone. I continued the fruit theme of the evening and had a Cherry Stone ale, and yes it tasted of cherries, but a little too much like medicine for me. We had one and then moved on to another new place just on the corner of the Market Place. It is called 'Bod', but I don't know why! It is obviously paired with the Royal Exchange as they were advertising it. They serve Titanic beers and is a cafe during the day. The decor is younger and modern but was great. I had a pint of Titanic's Raspberry Pale.you could taste the fruit but again  I would rather have had a pint of Steerage.

I must congratulate the local Councillors in Stone as a year or two ago the shops were all closing and it was a pretty dreary walk up the main street. Now there are new independent cafes, bar and shops and there were plenty of people out and about, and not just the young either.

A few boats came down, and even a couple heading up the locks so we decided to head off back down before the pounds run dry!  Before we left however, with the sun shining down and the towpath with busy with dog walkers and others I happened to notice a tandem heading towards us. I must be getting very old as at the distance it was I just noted that it was quite unusual to see a tandem at the best of times. It wasn't until they were nearly level with me that I clocked that they were stark naked. A Mr. at the front and a Mrs. at the back. They were young and I just had time to wish them a good morning, but received no reply. It wasn't my eyesight as it was the talk of the tow path! Made my day. It is not illegal to be naked in public so long as it was done intentionally to cause harassment, alarm or distress (Sexual Offences Act 2003), there is even an annual World Naked Bike Ride Day! There outside the Joules wharf was a boat we last saw at Woodend Lock when the man was very sick. It turns out that he had had an heart attack as we suspected but was being stubborn. After that they went on their way, had COVID really badly, fell and broke a shoulder and had another heart attack, but was still upright. We had a natter at Star Lock.

As I was waiting for Newcastle Road Lock, there was a boat coming up, I had a good look at this wall. The bricks are large so obviously quite old. There were openings in it, partially or totally filled in and a curved indent in the wall. When we stopped I had a look on the maps etc and it seems that the wall is at the rear of Stonefield House.

Stonefield House was built just after the canal was completed in 1780 and also had a large warehouse to the rear as well as a wharf. This map is from 1899. It is interesting that it is connected to the house by a range of buildings. It seems that they may have been two lime kilns among the buildings and obvious the coal and limestone would come via the canal.It seems that you can see the curved indent in the towpath wall too, but I can find no reason it is curved. The 1920's map shows that the warehouse has been demolished, so maybe around the time of WWI.

We moored up at one of our favourite spots between Burston and Sandon and after a bite to eat I set too in the engine hole. I am a bit over due with the oil change in engine and gear box so that job was accomplished without too much mess. I haven't perfected the art of removing the filter without its contents spilling out on the deck. I have tried having it in a plastic bag and having a puppy pad under it, but I still seem to miss or something. When I had done that I got my latest toy out, a random orbital sander, as my fingers don't seem to enjoy rubbing down the rusty bits on the hull. It is cordless so I gave it a test run, and it seemed to do the job and I can still bend my figures!