Another home exchange in England before setting out for London on our way to Europe. This time a lovely home in the West Midlands, England's Black Country, with its interesting history as the heart of the Industrial Revolution in the 18th C, but now surprisingly beautiful.

Positioned close to Staffordshire, Shropshire, Worcestershire and Wales it gave us ample scope for exploration and we set out eagerly almost every day to visit destinations new to us, although we have been to the UK many times now.

Many of the places we explored were on the River Severn, itself an important part of the Industrial Revolution, but the canals and old pony tow-paths are now enjoyed by walkers, cyclists and canal boats owned by enthusiasts or rented by holidaymakers. See my blog post.

Staffordshire is the traditional area for potteries and porcelain and there is still fine china being produced at the Royal Worcester factories in Worcestershire.

We discovered that most of these counties also played major roles in the Civil War.