Great Museum

2 Locks 5 Miles. Mow moored at Appleton Road, Beeston.

This morning we all had different plans and went our own separate ways. Dot stayed on the boat setting up her new portable hard drive, Tracey went off to the Walkabout pub to watch the rugby on the wide screen TV. Sadly she had to wait until this afternoon for a delayed broadcast which was a disappointment as the South African's won in the final minutes.

As for me I was off to the toy and history museums next door to the castle. Due to staff shortages the toy museum was closed but I was told that it has been transformed with the ground floor now being a re-created Victorian classroom for school educational visit's. The toys have been moved upstairs with a small display now placed in the main museum.

The main museum which is in the old Brewers Yard tenement houses was probably the best local area museum I have seen. The displays of how people used to live, old shops including a grocer, complete with a list of allowable rations during the war, chemist, boot maker, barber, hardware and electrical shop with brilliant displays and explanations of what you were looking at. There is also a 9 minute video where the child actress is actually the great, great granddaughter of a woman that used to live in one of the houses. Once again the houses, like the Trip to Jerusalem Inn next door, are also built into the sandstone cliffs below the castle which surprised me. I will let the pictures tell the stories otherwise I will fill a book. Anybody planning to visit this museum should plan on spending a good couple of hours there to be able to take it all in. A good idea for a rainy day.

Victorian parlour.

Yes madam, that's all you are allowed.

The old chemist where potions were made on the premises.

Another piece of interesting history is that the Lace shop, see below, which was actually built elsewhere but painstakingly dismantled in 1976 and re-built and restored on its present sight. It is 1 of only 3 remaining buildings of its style in the Midlands whereas further south they are more common.

1303 locks, 1880½ miles, 43 Tunnels, 42 swing bridges and 19 lift bridges since Nov 2006