That was the welcoming committee when I arrived at Blists Hill Victorian Town, just south of Telford, Shropshire. Not a big crowd, but great that they made the effort, and with their old bikes too. Mind you, I'm very glad that I'm not doing my ride on a penny farthing, because as much as I like to look at them, they're awfully high and tricky to get on to, and I doubt the suspension is up to much.
I needed some good suspension on Friday's 74km ride from Worcester Cathedral to Blists Hill because it seems that I hadn't planned the most direct route and I went through Wyre Forest. Oh, it was wonderful with forest-canopied expanses of bluebells, lovely streams, and some great woodland walking paths...
...but most of the cycling was 'off-road'...
It was hard work on the legs and the bum, which meant that I found it hard to resist stopping off at the Go Ape tree top trail. In fact I failed at resisting and before I knew it I was giving it a go...
The thing I hadn't banked on, though, was this lot...
An angry mob of runners who had come out to spur me on, only to find me having fun in the tree tops instead. I am no runner so to see this lot chasing after me was more than disconcerting, but guaranteed to be something to get me running...running away, through the tree tops, desperately trying to find a way down and back to my bike. I wasn't to enamoured by the solution I found, but it was at least a solution...
It wasn't the most graceful exit, but it saw me out of a sticky situation and back to my bike where I made a quick getaway...
That'll teach me to stop to have unscheduled fun on my big sponsored bike ride. I'll just have to go back another time when I'm not meant to be raising funds for Pop-Up Gym.
So, back on the road and it took me two hours and thirty one minutes to do the 74km to Blists Hill, with 40 of those kilometres at increased resistance of four gears, though I think I was rather hard on myself with that as I don't think the proportion of uphill on this ride was that great. Maybe I can let myself off a bit of uphill on a subsequent stretch.
Blists Hill Victorian Town is a great place capturing the feel of a Victorian town well, with plenty of authentic shops and businesses to explore and all the townsfolk in Victorian costume.
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| Townsfolk Gentry |
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| Townsfolk Family |
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| Steam Roller (I presume) |
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| Outside the Chemist |
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| Inside the Chemist |
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| Townsfolk with Horse and Cart |
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| Foundry man |
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| Foundry men |
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| PC Plod |
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| Printers |
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| School House |
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| School Room |
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| Children who should've been in school *tsk* |
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| Children on their way to school |
See what effort I'd put in to creating the Victorian ambience of the tent! Alas, the outside of the tent still failed me. However, I was delighted when friendly PC Plod said that he had the perfect solution - I could stay in one of the houses on site for the weekend. I had visions of something grand and luxurious, or maybe something a little more modest like the house that had the butcher's shop in it...
I was a little miffed, then, to find that I was spending the weekend here...
Oh it's very quaint, isn't it, but it's called the 'Squatter's Cottage'. Nothing like that to put me in my place! My grand Victorian dining table was going to look very out of place in here too...
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| (This is not the inside of Squatter's Cottage at Blists Hill) |
...not that I had any chance of getting it inside anyway. Still, it was all going to be more comfortable, and drier, than my tent, so I was grateful and thanked PC Plod.
Once I'd unpacked my stuff I realised that I was a little short on supplies, and this being a less well off person's Victorian cottage there was no electricity. I was going to need some candles as well as more food, so it was time to head back into the town, with my first port of call being the chandler's so I could light my way if daylight began to fail...
No, hang on, that's Chandler Bing, not the chandler at Blists Hill. Wait a sec...
Yes, there he is, and he's even making me candles while I wait. I took a dozen because the likelihood is that I'll need more on the rest of my journey than just what I use over the weekend.
Candles in hand, it was time for some freshly baked bread from the bakery...
...and some fresh meat from the butcher...
Back to the cottage for a simple feast and then time for some snoozles in bed, though I do wish I could've squeezed in my four poster from the back of the bike because this one was a bit hard...
It didn't seem to matter much because I crashed out soon enough and slept fairly well. I hung around town yesterday morning, but was up for a bit of exploring in the afternoon, and decided that I really out to seek out Ironbridge Gorge - the real site of the birth of the Industrial Revolution where the world's first Iron bridge (over the River Severn) was erected in 1779.
Only I could arrive at the iron bridge and in a fit of foolhardy exuberance take part in the activity underway at the middle of it. Most folk up there were just watching, and the rest of them had built themselves up for this for weeks, if not months. There I was having happened up the event, no planning, no preparation, no sense whatsoever. I climbed the barrier, let the bloke apparently in charge tie the huge elastic band to my ankles, and leapt off the edge in the first bungee jump of my life, also the last bungee jump of my life.
I really ought to have known that anything I did wouldn't go smoothly, and sure enough there was a problem...
Oops!
I hadn't bargained on going for a swim, or indeed a dive, and it was a huge shock to find myself suddenly plunged into the freezing water of the River Severn. It was dark down there, and I seemed to have an eternity in the depths to think about how to respond with something other than, '****!' For a second I contemplated resigning myself to the river, but that was never really an option because I'm all about making the most of life. So the other option was to get to the surface and make an experience out of this experience. The cold was a bit of a bugger, making me gasp for breath when I eventually popped up into fresh air, and meant that I couldn't shout out to the folk still on the bridge that I was okay. I gave them a wave instead, but they still looked rather frantic. I couldn't do anything more about that, and I couldn't easily beat the current and get to the river's edge, so I went for a swim instead, letting the river take me downstream, literally going with the flow.
Perhaps if it'd been warmer I'd have kept on swimming for the rest of the day, but it turns out that the Severn doesn't have tropical temperatures in late April, and before long I was a little too chilly for comfort. I got fairly close to the edge when it occurred to me that I might as well try my hand at fish tickling and see if I could catch something for my dinner. I don't think I actually tickled it into a trance, and I wouldn't recommend fishing by hand as an easy way of life, but look, I did it! ...
I was utterly exhausted after that so I sat with my big fish on the river bank contemplating how to get back to Blists Hill. I must have fallen asleep because the next thing I knew I was confronted by this...
Yes, my predicament was being scoffed at by a Blists Hill horse! PC Plod had heard about my unfortunate accident, and thinking that I probably wouldn't have made it too far down the river came on a hunt with some of the other townsfolk to find me. Only cheeky chap Horatio the Horse thought it was hilarious and didn't mind showing me. Thankfully, PC Plod and his merry gang were much more helpful and got me and my big fish into Horatio's cart, and for his penance Horatio had to lug us back to the Victorian town.
Yeah, he wasn't laughing then!
By way of thanking all the folk who'd been involved in my embarrassing rescue I shared the big fish with them all. PC Plod suggested we take it to the town's chippy where it would be cooked to perfection, so that's what we did, and we had a fine chippy banquet, although PC Plod's side-kick, PC Bill, couldn't wait to get started and was munching chips before we'd even got outside...
It might not surprise you to learn that after such unexpected adventures yesterday I wanted a quiet day today. There was still plenty for me to see and do in the town, and I wanted nothing more exciting that a fun day at the gentle Victorian fairground. I am so pleased that they didn't have anything as exhilarating as The Wall of Death or Waltzers. No, today was all about the carousel, the coconut shy, throwing balls at targets, and munching sweets from the confectioners.
It's been quite an adventure here at Blists Hill, but then I shouldn't expect anything less from myself given my inability to keep out of trouble. Here's hoping I can stay safe until morning when I'll be getting the bike out again and heading towards Congleton, a little south of Manchester.
I'll see you again in 85kms time. Meanwhile, do please sponsor me if you can for my epic cycle from Land's End to John O'Groats (and the writing of this blog). It's all to raise money for Pop-Up Gym, and you can donate at my Just Giving Page. Every penny of sponsorship helps and every penny is hugely appreciated.
**All photographs, except of the MotoMed bike, are taken from Google Images or the Blists Hill Victorian Town website.
