A Weekend Looking at Kinver.

Saturday 27th and Sunday 28th September, 2014 in Kinver.
We had originally decided to explore Kinver's renowned rock cave dwellings today but yesterday's chance encounter with the "For Sale" sign at Hyde Lock House led us to investigate a rather different kind of house.
Fortified by one of R's "smiley face" big breakfast (with the local butcher's excellent middle-cut bacon!), we went off to the Estate Agency in the High Street. A viewing was arranged for 1:30 this afternoon.
At 1:00pm we set off to walk along the towpath to the cottage; it actually took us about 15 minutes so we had some time to take a closer look at the exterior, front garden and mooring. The house is alongside Hyde Lock and has its own mooring just below the lock.

The Agent's representative arrived and we took a look around inside and round the back garden. If you would like to take a look at the particulars, follow this link:
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-46125082.html
The house is quite small with two bedrooms and a bathroom upstairs and a living room, conservatory, kitchen and third bedroom/dining room downstairs. But there is a single storey extension on the right that could be made into a third bedroom ensuite so the smaller bedroom upstairs could be used as an office. There is also a 9ft square store in the garden and the old piggery. The garden is a delight and M was in raptures over it. And, of course, the location is brilliant. It is at the end of an unadopted road, so there is virtually no traffic. M says we could have as many cats as we wanted!
And all at a price that we could easily afford.
We walked back to the village with a head full of thoughts. Canalside properties with their own moorings and as charming as this one rarely come on the market and, when they do, they are generally way outside our price range. It is beautiful but it is also quite small and 2.5 hours' drive from London. Does reality match the dream? So... watch this space!
Sunday morning dawned bright and clear, a very gentle day with soft sunshine and no breeze.

Today was given over to exploring the village, which suddenly had taken on a whole new perspective with the possibility that we might become "locals". We were surprised and delighted by the friendliness that we encountered everywhere. People talked to each other and by the end of the day we had been greeted a number of times by locals who remembered us from yesterday.
We set off in search of the renowned "Holy Austin Rock Houses". These are dwellings carved out of the sandstone high up on the ridge overlooking the town. They were occupied for hundreds of years until they were deemed as unfit for habitation in the 1930s. They then fell into decay but in the 1990s the National Trust started restoring them. There were originally three "levels". The lower level has been restored to its original state and very comfortable they looked, too!

Inside, the wood burning stove would have been working all year round so that the rock became like a storage heater and kept the house at a constant temperature winter and summer.

The middle level is still out of bounds as the caves are unsafe - although the first cave mouth has been fitted with a "Hobbit" door; we felt right at home!

The upper level originally had stone-built fronts added on to the cave room behind. The original fronts were demolished as unsafe in the 1960s, but have been recreated in exactly the same style and are now used as a tea-room.

In the 1930s, the inhabitants also used to provide a proper afternoon tea for the many visitors that they received. The cost was an old half-crown and you got sixpence back if you returned the tea things before you left!
After a brief stop at the tea room, we wandered up through the woods to the top of Kinver Edge, where there was an old iron-age fort and fabulous views.

There are many footpaths round here and the walking is excellent. Another box that Kinver ticks.

The route back to town took us past St Peter's Church, which sits high on the ridge above the village. They were setting up an area inside the church for the Harvest Supper that evening and, again, we were made to feel very welcome. M was tempted to ask if we could join them!

M discovered that there is a church choir with good altos (but light on tenors) and there is also a choir in the village that does two concerts a year of mixed music. 
We finally arrived back at MM, after a break for tea in the village at yet another tea shop, tired but happy after a very enjoyable day.
Today: We just turned MM around. Just 6.4 hours battery charging over two days.