Market Drayton, Day 2.

Hi Folks.

Yes we are still in Market Drayton.

Last night we were in bed just after 9.30pm, due to being tired. No sooner my head hit the pillow, I lay there listening to the Owls calling in the trees next to the boat. One of these nights I am going to be outside to see them and hear them.

This morning the alarm went off at 5am, but we stayed under the duvet because it was lashing it down with rain outside. The decision was, do we move or not move and we decided not to move. We are in no hurry, so saw little point in getting soaked and with Twenty locks planned for the day, we thought better of it. So we lay in bed for a while, before I got up and made us a cuppa. The discussion then turned to what were we going to do for the day. I came up with a great brainwave. We would walk back into town to Wilkinson's and buy paint to decorate the galley and saloon. This will be done over the winter I expect, but the way I see it, is if we have the paint onboard we can do the job anytime we like. So after the usual morning bits and bobs, we made our way into the town, first stop was Argos where we returned our broken kettle. The assistant was happy to give us our money back, we then went into Wilkinson's and found some paint we liked, so bought that along with some brushes and some rubbing down paper. Sopping done a coffee was needed, so this time we found ourselves a cheap and cheerful cafe, come fish and chip shop, which was much more our scene. The smell of cooking was really making us both hungry, but we did manage to avoid buying fish and chips, especially as it was only 10.45am and way to early for fish and chips.

With there being no market today, we got to see more of the buildings in the town, without having to peer around stalls and people. At the centre of the town lies the Buttercross, a lovely stone portico that was built in 1824 to act as cover for the local market stalls. The old town fire bell still hangs from the Buttercross to act in memorial to the fire that started in a local bakers shop in 1651 and almost destroyed the town.

Market Drayton is very much known for its Gingerbread making and has been the home to Gingerbread for some 200 years. In a bygone era Market Drayton was famed for its Damson Fairs when the textile makers from the north would buy the damsons to make dye for their cloth.

I really enjoy looking at old buildings and finding out about their history, sadly some of the old buildings are in need of some TLC.

One of the newer buildings in the town is the Joules Brewery. It got our attention, because Joules Brewery used to many years ago be in Stone, Staffordshire, where Hadar was built. Joules moved to the town in 2001 and have the Red Lion pub along side the brewery. Unfortunately it was not open when we had a noise around outside. Oh well something to look forward to on another visit to the town.

What I love about the town is the fact that there are plaques on the important historic buildings telling you about their history.

The Corbet Arms is one such building which needs a lot of TLC, as it has been closed for at least two years now.

The Crown Inn is very much alive and thriving.

Having seen everything there was to see, we walked back to the boat, taking it in turns to carry the carrier bag with the paint tins in, which was a tad heavy.

Back onboard, it is now lunch time according to my stomach, so I am off to make something tasty for lunch, although fish and chips would go down very well right now.

Chat soon xx