A history lesson and more painting.

Last night I wandered out to explore local pubs and found myself in the Three Horseshoes just round the corner from Tesco in Fazeley. A quiet little pub but well looked after, as was the beer.

I got chatting to the lady behind the bar about Tamworth, which she remembers from the 1950s onwards. She was lamenting the decisions of the planners in the 1960s knocking down many wonderful old buildings to put in 'modern' replacements. She showed me a book of old photos, and I have to say I fully agree with her. Most notable was the beautiful old Victorian railway station, now replaced by an anonymous brick lump. How sad. Gone is the large outdoor swimming pool, gone are the half timbered buildings. Such a shame. Tamworth it must be said is not a specially attractive place today, but it obviously was.

An old feller came into the bar and joined in the conversation. What a character. Now 75 years old and still training apprentice bricklayers AND still doing the odd bit of stand up comedy! He had been a soldier in the days of strife in Cyprus, and a fairly senior football referee. All in all a very entertaining hour and a nice pint of Bass.

I have not rested on my laurels today and now the front deck cants and gas locker have a fresh coat of paint, and I have started to put together a design for the bow flashes, too long plain white.

You can see phase one in the photo below. Panels of light and drag grey will eventually find their way fore and aft of the red diamond. Tomorrow we expect the rain to set in, so I don't expect to make any further progress.