Tuesday July 5 - dog fight, beer, guard duck, and tales of King Richard III

What an incredible day this was! When we arrived at our hotel, it appeared that we were in the country. This morning we were delighted to discover that behind the hotel is the village of Market Bosworth. (That may sound strange but remember the hotel is on 11 acres with lots of trees.) A two minute walk put us in the heart of the village where we sat in the sun and had toast and tea. There are flowers everywhere. )The town competes in a "most beautiful town" contest. The judging is next week.) Many buildings from the 1400s. The street signs are fastened on the walls of the buildings and have either a boar for King Richard III or a dragon for one of the King Henrys. It turns out the battlefield on which Richard was killed in just a mile or so out of town. Heading there tomorrow.  I've found my new favorite town of the trip.  :)

We stopped in a tiny clock shop. The two of us and two other customers "filled" the available floor space. I got a watchband and can now wear my watch rather than having it my pocket. Since I love clocks, this store was a wonderful find. Lots of ticking and gonging coming from clocks new and very old.

Our travels today took us about 25 miles from the hotel. The market in Lichfield is where we started - until we were sidetracked by the most beautiful church I've ever seen. The exterior, in my opinion, is more beautiful than Notre Dame. Red limestone that's black in places due to weather and age. The two spires are intricately carved. Absolutely stunning! The cathedral was Catholic until King Henry VIII wanted to divorce his wife - meaning the Pope wouldn't give him a divorce so he became Protestant. It then became an Anglican Church. In the switch, many of the glass windows had to be altered so that no "graven images" (religious imagery) where seen in them.  I was able to take pictures of paintings done on the walls in the 1300s. A special room was added to the cathedral in the 1200s for the sole purpose of foot washing that took place on Maundy Thursday. Royalty washed the feet of common folks. That was quite something to learn about!

Also in the church was the third oldest book in England (730) - part of the Bible written in Latin on vellum. In a nearby field, artifacts from the 600s have been discovered. This old stuff! There was a play area for kids in the church - located in the same room as a huge tomb with a lifesize sculpture of the man laying on top of a "bed".

The market was next. It was fairly small but I was able to get a couple of gifts. We strolled around the city center and ate lunch outside. That's twice in one day! We've not had rain since leaving Scotland and the temps are high 60s to low 70s. Sun comes and goes. We still need to wear our jackets but that's just fine.

In the market square was St. Mary's church (1150). The really interesting thing about this church was that the Common Book of Prayer, in the pews for people to use, was printed in 1869 (pages all brown at the corners from people turning them) as well as the pew bible printed in 1862.  We found it hard to believe these were still in use. (It's a worshipping church.)

Across from the church was a guard duck (my term). He was sitting in front of a door and would "hiss" when you came too close. :)

Our next stop was a brewery in Burton upon Trent. (They have the best town names here.) The flyer said they closed at 6 but it was actually 5 so we didn't have a lot of time. In 1860, there were over 30 breweries in town due to the mineral rich water, which made the beer taste so good, and the nearby canal. There was a lot to see but we only hit the highlights. There were two shire horses (like a Clydesdale) - Gandoff and Jed. Dave loved them. This breed is very gentle and obedient and was used a lot in wars. They were brought to England by William the Conquerer in the 1100s. Included in the price of the ticket were three half pint samples. I left Dave to this while I checked out the gift shop. His favorite was the really dark one - which surprised him.
   
Next stop was Merica Marina where we thought we might be able to catch a canal boat ride. Too late. The guy might have some tours tomorrow - if the weather is right, if he feels like it, etc. Not a sure thing. We wandered around the marina looking at the canal boats - something like houseboats. There was a really small shop there with everything from soup to nuts. I got some really great stocking stuffers there.  :)

After getting back to our room, we enjoyed some wine by this lovely window that I'm sitting at. We walked into town and had supper at De Olde Red Lion Hotel (1462). We got to chatting with a guy at the bar about King Richard III. He told us how the funeral procession came right through this little village in March 2015. Seven thousand people were here. I can't picture that many people fitting into this space.  This same guy used to work at the hotel where we're staying. He said that a big company booked the entire place for two full weeks at the cost of two million pounds! He also said the hotel was a hospital for older folks before in became a hotel in the 1980s. I had a really hard time understanding him but Dave got most of it.
     
We did some planning for our stay in London and then called it a day. A really great day!
 
One thing I learned today - okay, two: The work in the brewery was incredibly hard (right up there with coal mining) and often the workers were a bit drunk due to the "fermented dust" in the air. Littering is called "fly tipping" and it's REALLY frowned upon. (No, I wasn't caught littering. Just read a sign.)

 One new thing I experienced today: Almost falling down the cathedral stairs. Not good!

Most powerful moment of the day: A horrid dog fight in the market. Two pit bulls attacked another dog. There was a lot of yelling, growling, and barking. One pit bull wouldn't let go of the dog. People were trying to separate them. It was mahem. Once separated, the opener of the pit bulls took off with someone chasing him and others yelling, "get him!" He got away. I didn't see the fight, thankfully, but it was quite the scene with many people gathered round.
 
 One pleasurable experience: So many to choose from! There was a young guy (20s)  who had a stall at the market. I bought a purse there and had great fun chatting with him.