Ever onward

Because I needed to visit various establishments in Alrewas, it was a relaxed start this morning. From half eight I did the rounds of the surgery (you don't want to know), the Co-op (no celery), newsagent (guess), Coates (mince, stewing steak, pig's liver, the last still slightly warm) and then had to wait five minutes for the pharmacy to open at nine.

What's the difference between first and second adolescence?

You spend the first time round waiting for the pub to open, and the second waiting for the pharmacy.

Then we set off, merrily, merrily, on the familiar route uphill to Fradley and on to King's Bromley. On the way, we got more info about the tragedy; Adam was quite right in his comment yesterday. The casualty was a 21 year old and it's still awful. Apparently, they drained the whole pound between Woodend and Shade House, which I've never heard of before for anything short of a breach.

There was no sign of all this today, bar a pile of stuff at the head of Woodend Lock, pulled out when they drained it, presumably.

To cheer us up, here are the photos I promised yesterday:

A crow in a tree watched us go by

Approaching Tatenhill Bridge

 It must be one of the tightest on the system, and is showing signs of wear all round, not to mention cracking up:

This wasn't us guv!

Once the CRT's in charge, I'm sure it will be fixed straight away…

/hmm

There's not a lot of room, but Sheila never touched the sides. Ten out of ten.

As you can see, it was a truly glorious day. Today was much cloudier, but Sheila managed both to saw up some wood and to give the starboard cabin side a wash this afternoon, finishing in the rain, so no need to rinse, then. I did some routine engine checks and stuff.

Tomorrow, on through Rugeley, so a visit to Morrisons and maybe Wilko.