A Touch of Victorian

Sshhh, don't say it too loud, but I do believe summer has arrived in this neck of the woods.  Temperatures are soaring and the sandals are out!  I am sitting outside while I put this post together after putting all the summer garden furniture around and about.  Those who have been reading my little corner or blogland for a while will know that this is not my favourite season, but while the wasps and flies keep away, I will enjoy these warm breezes.  BUT, let's go back a bit and put you out of your misery with mine and Mumsy's trip to The Black Country Living Museum in Dudley, Birmingham.  It has been difficult to choose which images to put on my blog post to you, but I hope you'll all enjoy the look around this museum which showcases my favourite era, the Victorians.   So, in true style, grab yourself a chocolate Bourbon and a strong cup of breakfast tea and come along with me on a particularly heavy picture post of times gone by...

I think we may have come at the wrong time as the people who dress up and take us through the ages were particularly thin on the ground (and so our comparisons with the Beamish Museum began!).  Along the pathways were various bus stops that gave a very short bus ride to the next stop or up to the exit.  The buses were the bone rattling type and very solid but to see them trundling down the road was a joy to see, especially with the Victorian surroundings.

The slate in the primary school ready to be used by little hands experiencing their Great Grandparents' school days.

And the hard benches - no home comforts here!

Down one of the roads a skipping rope was tied to a lamp post with the invitation of stretching this across the road and reliving childhood memories.  Those days are long gone with the excess number of cars now, but it was surprising with the amount of different generations that were trying this, each one with huge smiles and laughter.

But let's just have a visual tour now of the Museum with less commentary...

Now let's go inside the buildings...

How about some decorating? ...

The hanging on the wall was right up my street... I do love my nuts and bolts!

Now, our other comparison with the Beamish Museum was that the houses here at the Black Country Museum seemed less inspiring.  There weren't stairs that led you up to bedrooms so that you could feel yourself going back in time however, the attention to detail as you would have seen above was very good.

Now, hungry?  We certainly were, and what could be better than fish and chips cooked in beef dripping!  Oh dear, the diet suffered here!!

Next came the canal boat ride into the cavern mines.  "It will only take five minutes" we were told before.  So, Mumsy showing her stiff upper lip, climbed onto the boat with me and on we went!  Five minutes was really 55 minutes, with deep dark caverns, spiders and a guide who took great pleasure in telling us about the amount of people who died while carving out the routes and those parts that had caved in.  Oh, not to mention the light show and loud music when you get into the depths (not one for migraine sufferers!!).  However, here are just a couple of shots for you to prove that we went in!!

Back in the day a couple of lads would walk the boat through.  Now, I was going to volunteer, really I was!  Just to see how my new feet would cope, but Mumsy by this time who has a fear of spiders, dark places, being underground and water, was just about to explode.

There was just one more thing to do... a toilet stop and then get home to calm her nerves!!

Of course, I am joking!  There are more modern and clean versions also available.

So, to sum up, I would say that if you have a day in this area it is really worth visiting.  If you have two or more days to spare, definitely the Beamish Museum (my posts are here and here).

Thanks so much for your comments again last week, I am truly sorry that I haven't got back to your blogs, I'll get back to normal soon (I hope!).

Oh, and Happy Mother's Day to all those who are celebrating today overseas.  Have a great day!!

And a special mention to my own Mumsy who has just celebrated her birthday, please wish her a good one!!