Henry III granted the Market Charter in 1245, without a charter it was illegal to hold a market. A charter was much sought after, holding a regular market meant visitors to the town, and visitors generated wealth for the merchants.
If the King had visited yesterday, though, he may have considered rescinding the Charter. Just three temporary stalls. A bit of a let-down, really. When we were here in, I think, 2011, around Christmas, the stalls were all the way up the High Street.
Whoops, apologies to all Draytonians. I’ve just discovered via the tourist info website that the street market is Wednesday, not Saturday. Sorry…..
Today has been a mixture of sunshine and showers, and Meg and I set off for a decent walk this morning in one of the bright spells. We went up the canal then off around some fields planted with what appears to be bamboo. Woody stalks and around 8 feet high.
Looking back at the town, St. Mary’s right of centre
The oldest surviving part of the church is a Norman doorway, from around 1150.
Through the bamboo forest
Meg kept disappearing between the stems, chasing rabbits.
There used to be a castle up here, Tyrley Castle, built soon after the Norman Conquest. It’s site is now occupied by an 18thC farmhouse. I wonder where the building materials came from…
We rejoined the canal at the top of the Tyrley Locks, where new gates and beams are ready for the repair to Lock 1
We came back down the locks to town, dropping from bright sunshine into deep shade in the cutting at the bottom.
There’s a lot of water coming down….
Tree roots cling tenaciously to the rock in the cutting
I’ve just got to nip to Homebase tomorrow morning to get a new smoke alarm, then we’ll be off. Depending on the weather, we’ll either drop down Adderley Locks when we arrive, or wait for more clement conditions. No rush.
Locks 0, miles 0
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