To Stone

It's a shame that this weather's not going to last, with rain and wind forecast for the weekend, but at least we've had the benefit of it today. It's been another glorious day's boating, setting off at eight from Weston and arriving at Stone at ten to eleven. Sheila and I had a mild disagreement last night about how long we'd take, with Sheila going for two and a half to three hours and your correspondent estimating two to two and a half.

It would have been two and a half exactly, were it not for a very pleasant chat with the Webbs at Aston Lock. They moor their boat Klara in Aston Marina, and it's the second time they've caught us at the lock, as well as once at Alrewas when unfortunately Sheila was down with flu. One of these days, we'll manage to get together when we can sit in the boat in comfort. Anyway, it was good to meet again and to catch up.

There was a lot of room here at Stone, which just shows that the season hasn't really got going yet. We've done a bit of shopping this afternoon, and Sheila was able to finish drying yesterday's washing. Tomorrow, we'll put in some more retail therapy, as we're stopping an extra day to get back on track for going through Harecastle on Monday.

I took a few photos as we went along, and here's a selection:

They go in for long horns around here

A lot of the towpath looks really well groomed just now

The only word I can think of is wrecked!

It's a classic Brindley canal, with some tricky bridge approaches

And this is Sheila's least favourite...

We're treating ourselves to a meal at the Star tonight, since it's such a classic day.