A game of two halves – and there was football, too

Naturally it was tipping with rain this morning but we (or to be truthful, I) wasn't too bothered as we were hanging around to watch the England v Wales football via BBC live streaming.
There was still time for a quick stroll through the rain down the towpath to town for some shopping first. Brewood is a handsome little town, bursting with the sort of solid houses and splendid architecture that speaks of a prosperous past. And a prosperous present, too, judging by the BMWs and Audis in the driveways and the smart bistro bustling with ladies who do coffee.
I've admired Brewood in past blog entries but I still managed to find something new this time. First a trivia tester – can there be many towns with a Lloyds Bank and a Lloyds pharmacy next to each other?
More interestingly, I spotted a wall plaque commemorated the birth here of the Victorian civil engineer, Thomas A Walker. Originally a railway engineer, he built the Severn Railway Tunnel and later was in charge of building the Manchester Ship Canal which no less than 14,000 men worked to dig out. Sadly he died before it was completed.
And so, back through the continuing rain, to warm up the internet for the footie. At which point, the sun came out and the internet hid behind a cloud and refused to play. Too many fans sneaking a watch on their phones at work, I guess. So it was over to faithful Radio 5 Live instead to listen to what was very definitely a game of two halves.
Footie over, we pulled pins to leave and – yes you guessed – the rains came down and we plodded up to Gnosall in the wet.

From Wigan Pier to Wolverhampton Boat Club

...And finally. I posted a snap of Wolverhampton Boat Club on Facebook for the benefit of my old fellow motoring hack, Howard Walker who boated there with his dad way back when. It brought back some memories.
"Just (by) that little bridge, is the crane from Wigan Pier that my dad (a former W-ton Boat Club commodore) bought for five quid from Wigan council and brought back on his lorry. We were members at the club from the day it opened in 1976. That little thing will lift the arse end of a narrow boat to change a prop." he replied.
BTW Howard now owns a posh motor cruiser that he swans around the Med in. You can take the boy out of Wolverhampton but you can't take Wolverhampton out of the boy, eh.