On Friday we went to the Black Country Living Museum in Dudley. Was a good day out but you have to be prepared to queue. Had to queue to get in but that didnt take too long. Went through the entrance to the path down to the village. First thing that caught my eye was the helter skelter so we made straight for that and found and old fashioned fair ground! Had swing boats, a cake walk, one armed bandits, coconut shy, helter skelter and some side shows. Made sim go on the Helter Skelter with me first was brilliant! Then we went on the wing boats havent been on these since i was a kid really enjoyed it! They had a fortune telling machine like the one from Big so had a go on that too apparently everyone only had eyes for me that day!!
We then went on to the village part of the museum and stood in the queue for the fish and chip shop. Apparently the fish and chips are ''the best fish and chips in the West Midlands'' so we werent going to miss out on that! Overheard someone say you have to queue all day - they werent far wrong - we were about 30 people away from the entrance and it took 50 mins to get to the front. The shop was tiny only one in one out hence the queue. Was it worth the wait? It was! Maybe they tasted sooo good because we had waited so long but they were delicious! The batter round the fish was crispy the fish was lovely and the chips even better! The sign on the door said they were fried in the traditional way in beef dripping - perhaps this was the secret?
Whilst in the queue i went to the bakery to buy a couple of cakes to go with the fish n chips - well might as well go for it! The cakes in the window all looked lovely and home made i was going to have a cup cake but the person in front asked for one and the lady pulled out a cellophane wrapped cake from under the counter so i changed mine to an iced fancy (basically a french fancy) sim had a belgian bun both of which were ''home made'' tasted pretty good wherever they were made!
After the fish and chips we wandered about,watched a man making chain links, saw the canal boats, looked in the back to back houses. All the staff in costume were good but was a shame they didnt stay in character the woman outside one of the houses was talking about the cost of a taxi to sainsbury which spoilt the moment a bit :-)
Then it was time for our trip on the canal to the Dudley canal tunnel. This was brilliant and a highlight of the day. You had to wear a hard hart and sat along the sides of the boat. The boatman gave an interesting running comentary as we went off. Straight away into a tunnel the boat has lights on so you arent in pitch black but was still creepy and very very cold. The tunnels werent that big so you felt enclosed. The first tunnel was 200m long and then you came to what was a cavern but the roof had been blasted off for light and air. Then through another tunnel to the Singing Cavern which was a large man made cavern in the rock. The tunnels and boats were basically used to ship limestone from the mines and the tunnels go through Dudely hill to the lime stone deposits. The boat stopped and there was a short documentary projected onto the wall to explain all about the tunnels and the lime stone. Then there was a commentary in the cavern and a light and sound show apparently the victorians held concerts and firework displays in the caverns. Then some how we did a loop and made our way back and you could have a go at ''legging'' - lying on your back on a plank of wood with your feet touching the walls of the tunnels and push to boat along this is how it was done in the old days! Then back to the dock took about half hour/ 45 mins in total. Apparently Most Haunted wanted to to a show from the cavern but they radioed to be picked after half and hour it was so scary!?!
After that we went back to the fairground and had a go on the cake walk i was dismal and couldnt walk on it and got my camera strap caught on the handle and nearly chocked myself. Had a wander about some more. There was a trip down the mines but we missed this. Brought some liquorice from the fair as felt hadnt really eaten enough and some sweets from the sweet shop (bit disappointing all the sweets in the jars not for sale just bags on the counter). Decided to call it a day after about 6 hours of fun fun fun!!! Got a free return ticket would be well worth it for the fish and chips alone :-P
