Through Rugeley again

I'm pleased to say that we've survived our meal in The Swan last night; as expected, it has considerably cleaned up its act since getting a bad hygiene report last year. The food remains basic pub grub, but well cooked and tasty. Sheila was in veggie mood, so went for the vegetarian lasagne, as she wanted a break from chips as well. I went for the beef, leek and cheese pie.

As expected, I got a goodly portion of chips with mine, as well as some nicely cooked broccoli and peas. Sheila was also blessed with chips as it turned out; only a UK pub would serve chips with pasta.

This morning, the weather finally turned nasty for a bit. We made a seven o'clock start yet again, but I had to postpone breakfast whilst we locked up Middle and Shade House Locks. I managed to feed on the run to Woodend, then Sheila went below to get hers. As we chugged rapidly on (Bunnies Warren is a very fast boat, especially compared to Sanity Again), the rain gradually turned to sleet, and then to downright snow.

Sheila came out and relieved me; I went below, changed out of my damp trousers and hung things up to dry, and the precipitation ceased.

Well, it seems fair enough on Mother's Day, I suppose.

It was exactly three hours to Rugeley; we took an hour to do a bit of shopping, then decided to take a break for coffee, reading and lunch before doing the final run to Wolseley Bridge. Just as we were preparing to set off, we realised that the boat tied bow to bow with us was our old share boat, Streamline, now 13 years old but still looking very good. We had a good old natter with our former co-owners before getting away.

Arriving at Wolseley Bridge, we had no trouble finding a space on the moorings, and finished tying up just as the rain came on again. It's been on and off for the remainder of the day, but the forecast is much better for tomorrow.

We plan to investigate the Shimla Palace here tonight; I've not been able to get through on the phone to find out if they have a table despite it being Mother's Day, but if they don't, we'll get a take away from them and eat on the boat.