Day 3: Birmingham to Phepson Farm, 26.7 miles
From Tardebigge to Hanbury went by in a blur except for one incident as I approached the Hanbury moorings—a deer suddenly jumped in and swam west across the canal, clambering up the bank on the non-towpath side. It happened so fast I was still reaching for my camera when it was gone.
I arrived at the Eagle & Sun pub at Hanbury Wharf a little before 5 pm. I was told I was too early for the carvery—a buffet of roast turkey, lamb, beef and/or gammon (cured ham), Yorkshire pudding and fresh vegetables (I’m drooling as I write this)—but could order anything off the menu. I should have waited because I was hoping to eat at a carvery somewhere on the trip, but I was hungry and I also wanted to check in at the bed and breakfast before dark.
Instead I ordered a steak and ale pie with new potatoes and a half-pint of Guinness. I was also persuaded to try a taste of an ale, but I had no intention of finishing it. I’m actually allergic to alcohol. I blush immediately and if I drink more than a glass of beer, my fingers swell and my heart pounds. I can only drink beer, not wine or hard liquor.
To my surprise, however, apart from a mild blush the Guinness didn’t affect me. It helped that I’d had a full meal, of course, but my husband suggests that the fact I was essentially at sea level was a bigger factor. My meal was deeply satisfying and I even drank some of the ale, which was good. Live or real ales certainly are tasty.
Map: Stoke Prior to Hanbury Wharf
By 6 pm, with still plenty of daylight, I was on the road east to Phepson Farm. It was less than three miles, first on the busy two-lane B4090/Salt Way. Luckily there was a narrow sidewalk all the way to Goosehill Lane, where I turned south to the B&B. Goosehill Lane was two-lane (there was a lane divider) but with no sidewalk or shoulder. The ride was mostly flat except for a hill, which made me walk the bike, just before the B&B.
Phepson Farm appeared very much as the photos on the website promised and if anything even more charming. I passed by a corral with a grazing horse whose name I later learned is Freddy. A knock on the front door of the farmhouse quickly brought Tricia Havard to greet me. She immediately asked if I’d like a cup of coffee or tea. My recollection is that while saying this she was surrounded by a halo and accompanied by a choir of angels. In response to my grateful affirmative, she said she’d make me a cup of coffee while I took my bags to my room.
My room in the former stables was large, clean and cosy, made much cozier because I’d booked a room with a small bed, meaning I had much more room for my two panniers and myself. After locking up my bike, putting away my stuff and washing my face I went back to the sitting room of the house. Tricia brought me a small pot of coffee and some biscuits and I felt very civilized sitting on the sofa, surrounded by family photos, a piano and copies of Cotswold Life on the coffee table.
Worried about the need for frequent restroom stops, I hadn’t had coffee that morning. Even though I was worried about sleeping, I think that cup of coffee after a nice meal relaxed me. And, in fact, I had the best night’s sleep of my entire trip, passing out when my head hit the pillow and sleeping until the alarm duck on my iPad woke me the next morning.
<< Back 1. In the days of horse-drawn narrowboats, bargees would have to “leg” boats through tunnels with no towpaths. They’d extend planks over the sides of the boat, lie on their backs and use their feet to propel the boat through the tunnel.
<< Back 2. The towpath always seems of poor quality near tunnels, often embedded with bits of cast-off brick probably left over from the construction of the tunnel
<< Back 3. The dead arm on the canal came about when the path of the canal was moved during the construction of the M42. The entrance to the dead arm is blocked by buoys.
<< Back 4. I can’t really complain about the towpath on the Worcs & B’ham. Had it been raining or had recently rained, I’d be moaning about the mud, but of my 11 days in the Midlands, I only had one rainy day. The area was actually in a bit of a drought.
<< Back 5. The terrain and the straightness and alignment of the Shortwood Tunnel allows sunlight to shine from one end of the tunnel to the other one day a year.
