Canal makers stream through

The makers of the Shropshire Union Canal believed in going the straight line - so they cut their way through hills, banks, water-courses and the like, rarely veering. 
They were of so fixed a mind to go headlong through natural features that 'Double Culvert Bridge' (number 40) near Norbury, as well as having the canal underneath it, even has to carry the original natural stream of the locality through and along it.

See also: High Bridge

Family serves beer for 100 years

Some old pubs just won't fade away...  The Anchor at High Offley has been in the same family for more than 100 years; and the old settle-style benches in the bar look as though they could even have been there at the beginning. It's a proper 'heritage pub'.
It mostly caters to narrow-boat visitors (this view has been photographed from the canal towpath), as it is a couple of miles from the village itself.

Even the bar has been made from the remains of a former narrow-boat...

The other William Morris

Poor William T Morris! Despite being a fine stained-glass designer - as witness these panels in High Offley Church - he is almost forgotten.

He had the misfortune to have the same name as the famous nineteenth century artist William Morris, (whose own stained glass products are admittedly wonderful), so he gets 'lost' in all the stuff about the more well-known man.
He also worked for Morris & Co, so, once again, his name gets swamped.  He doesn't even get a reference on Wikipedia.

The glass you see was put up in High Offley in the 1940s.

Celtic cross revival

You'd think the ancient Celtic Cross motif would have had an enduring appeal, as a symbol of Irish tradition at least.  But no: it pretty much disappears from graveyards, even in Ireland, between 1500 and 1850. 
It was only the Irish nationalist 'Celtic Revival' in the nineteenth century that led to its re-appearance. Those of Irish origin, wherever they were in the world, would choose it to mark their last resting-places.

Whether this grave - in High Offley Church - belongs to someone of the Irish diaspora, I can't tell you. However, she is called Eileen, which is an identifiably Irish name.

PS - yes, this gravestone is leaning!

This post is linked to the new Taphophile Tragics website. Taphophiles are cemetery enthusiasts.