The Joy of Autumn Boating

18th & 19th October

Thursday was a cold, bright, misty morning. I had a great time steering the lock free pound to Rugeley, where we stopped on the water point between Hawkesyard Priory and the Ash Tree pub. This is a useful stop, with a good pressure on the water.

We started a wash load whilst there, including my latest pair of zip off trousers/ shorts I’d bought at St Ives. I’d been wearing these when locking out of Alrewas, and had discovered too late that a balance beam painted the day before was still tacky, as a result, no doubt, of the severe dew fall overnight, not to mention rain. Mid Autumn is not a good time for outdoor painting, BW. We’d soaked the trousers, and Sheila then gave them a going over with an old toothbrush before we put them through the machine. This got rid of the white paint, but even a second treatment has left some black marks, curses, curses.

We did our usual shop/lunch/shop routine at Rugeley before going on to moor just before Bridge 70 at Wolseley.

Today we made a relaxed start at 9. It was quiet, very misty and cold. Autumn boating really pays off on days like these. We had no competition for Colwich and Haywood locks, although some say there’s no time of day or year you can avoid queues here. Unusually, there was a lot of room above Haywood. Whilst we were sorting ourselves out after mooring, Tony and Jane Smith came past on the latest Braidbar, number 104, Kate Mogg.

They were still grinning and very pleased with her. We had a good old natter on the towpath, merrily waving other boats through. Then on they went – they are mooring her at Ventnor Farm Marina near Calcutt on the northern GU, and want to be there by Tuesday, so they’ve got a bit of boating to do.

After lunch we went for a stroll to see how the marina here at Great Haywood is getting on – in fact it’s open, and selling diesel at 52 p per litre, which is worth knowing. On the way back, we called at the Canalside Farm Shop, and started buying some Christmas food stuffs.

Back at the boat, I took some pictures of the classic autumnal scene of a squirrel sitting in an oak tree scoffing acorns as hard as it could go. If I get a fast internet connection sometime soon, I’ll add one of the pics, together with my scary passport photo. Meantime it’s been GPRS connections ever since we left Burton.