The Search for Hopwas

Monday 23rd September, 2013 at Hopwas.
After a busy weekend, we decided to have a quiet day. R did some routine maintenance in the engine compartment, while M happily busied herself being domestic.
Later, we walked the half mile back to Hopwas, but didn't see many hops! There were a few trailing along the top of the hedges, but that was it. We did, however, see trees laden with fruit and berries.

We talked before about a special year, when all the trees and bushes seem to contrive with the weather system to produce bumper crops - and this year is certainly proving itself to be one of those years. We have seen so many trees almost overwhelmed with fruit or berries; sloes, damsons, crab-apples, acorns, hazelnuts. Truly a "season of mists and mellow fruitfulness" this year.
When we reached Hopwas, we saw the two pubs on either side of the canal that we passed yesterday; The Red Lion on one side and the Tame Otter on the other - the latter a bit of a pun as the River Tame runs by the village, so is it a Tame otter or a tame otter?

According to the guide books, the village has a post office and a store - but we walked the length of the village (and would have walked the breadth if it had had one) and found neither. We did find a very unusual church, built around 1880 and paid for by public subscription; they couldn't afford stone, so they built the bottom half of brick and the top half timber framed. It actually makes a very pleasant building, very "Arts and Crafts" in style.

Returning to MM, we found that a boat moored a hundred yards away had pulled out its mooring pins and was stuck broadside across the canal just as two boats were approaching to go past. R had to get a rope from MM and then walk along the boat's gunnel, while M grabbed the other end of the rope and pulled the boat to the bank so that the other boats could pass by. Then R re-set the pins. Later the owner appeared and was suitably grateful (in a very inebriated fashion!).
In the evening, we watched an episode of Inspector Morse called "The Wench is Dead". The story is based upon a real murder that happened on a canal barge in 1839 at Rugely. A few days ago, we passed the place where the body was found in the canal. Although the conclusion of the story was fiction (complete with typical Colin Dexter twists), the circumstances and basic chain of events was very close to what actually happened. Best of all, the re-creation of the nineteenth century barge traffic, people's lives and surroundings was brilliant. The historic scenes were not filmed in black and white, but they might as well have been as everything was grey, smoky and dirty - very evocative!
Today: No movement.