Back to Alrewas with the offspring

29th & 30th December

We'd arranged with Graeme and Cathy that they'd park in Alrewas and walk up to Fradley to rejoin us on Sanity after their night in the Travelodge. The plan was to boat back to Alrewas with them, arriving at lunchtime or thereabouts. We got up in good time and pushed across to the water point before having breakfast, in case there was a queue for it later in the day.

This proved to have been a wise decision, as after we'd finished (a quicker fill for once with better pressure than usual) both the Cheese Boat and Sanity? followed our example before setting off up Junction Lock. By nine o'clock we'd moved back onto our original spot, and settled down to wait for the walking party to arrive. Graeme texted us at around half nine to say that they were on their way. By twenty past ten they weren't yet in sight, so we started preparing the boat for cruising and moved into Keeper's Lock.

As I went down to fill Hunts, they appeared in the distance, and had come up to join us by the time Sanity was moving out of the one lock and into the other. At first Cathy and Daniel stayed on the boat whilst Graeme and I walked the towpath to Common Lock, but this proved hugely unpopular with Daniel, who seemed to think that his father had deserted him in this strange moving room, and expressed his disapproval loudly.

When we got the boat into the lock, therefore, Graeme took over staying with Daniel, and Cathy volunteered to help with the locks, her first experience of narrow lock working. On arrival at Alrewas there was some room by the road behind Twelfth of Never, which boat has been tied here continuously since we first came through at the end of September. I just hope that they've paid for a winter mooring.

I got a game pie from Coates the Butchers, and we had lunch on board. After more family chat, the visitors needed to set off on the trip back to Lincolnshire, so we sadly waved them goodbye. Back on the boat it may be imagined that we had a quiet afternoon and evening, slightly guiltily enjoying the peace and quiet after an eventful couple of days.

Our only worry now is that the weather forecast would imply a high risk of ice on the cut in the next few days, and after the New Year we really will have to drop down into Burton to get the toilet tank pumped out. It didn't freeze last night, but it feels markedly cooler this evening as I type this.

Today we had a lazy start before joining the Village Walkers at the George and Dragon. To avoid a repeat of my problems last week, when I failed to keep my blood sugar under adequate control, I took along a supply of plain nuts and a banana, as well as buying a fruit drink in the paper shop when I got my copy of the Independent.

This worked well – I nibbled my nuts as I went round, swigging juice from time to time, and finishing with the banana. We went to the Crown for lunch, as the George was not serving food today, and had a very good time. Of the various pubs on this stretch, I can confidently recommend the Crown and the George and Dragon in Alrewas, and the Swan at Fradley Junction.

Hopefully these recommendations will hold good into the summer of 2009, but of course you can't be sure that any such place will stay unchanged for longer than that these days.

The Crown certainly had a very pleasant atmosphere, and both the quality of the food and the speed of service was exemplary.

We got back to the boat mid afternoon, and have been relaxing since. Tomorrow, Elanor joins us for New Year's Eve, then on New Year's Day, ice permitting, we'll set off into Burton to deal with the toilet tank.