Not such a good mooring after all

But let's start with the positives: the weather has not been as bad as I'd expected, the forecast having improved quite a bit over the last 24 hours, and the pub last night was very pleasant. The Hartley Arms has a bit of a mixed rep on the websites like Beer in the Evening, with some reviewers complaining that the staff were rude to them, but we had no trouble.

Going at six on a Friday meant that there was no problem finding a table, though it did have the downside that there were a lot of kids about, even in the bar area. The beer was fine; it's a Banks's house, but I had a pint of Brakspear's Ninety-nine, the guest beer at the start of the evening, which was rather different, golden and very hoppy, a true summer ale, I guess.

If you're a lager drinker, things aren't so good, with all the pumped lagers super chilled, that is, completely tasteless, and only a limited range of bottles on the shelf. The food was well cooked; it's a longish menu, so must be dependent on the microwave and the deep boiler to a degree, but there were several home cooked dishes, and the portion sizes were very generous. Having had a starter, we didn't have room for desserts.

Today, we had a serious lie-in until eight, then pottered into the village after breakfast. There are two general stores, a Lifestyle on the main drag and a Spar tucked away behind the church. The Spar actually has more stock; its narrow frontage is deceptive, and they had a reasonable range of stuff including fresh fruit and veg. We got the last Independent in the store, a rather sad and battered thing, but still readable.

We've been loafing on the boat for the afternoon, sometimes in the well deck when the sun comes out, and retreating into the cabin when the showers pass by.

The guy running a genny opposite had stopped it by the time we got back from the pub last night, but had started his main engine instead, which he ran until 8.45, the wretch. Since we were cream crackered after our late night the night before and wanted a very early night, this wasn't very popular. He's not about today, but the chap on the very down-at-heel boat in front of him has been working hard on his restoration project.

Full marks for that, of course, but the work has largely consisted of burning off paint from the control pillar, so we've had the squeal of a scraper on a steel surface from time to time, and now he's running a genny, presumably to watch the Olympics since he's disappeared from view.

It wouldn't be reasonable to complain about any of this; he's on his mooring and well within his rights to do what he's doing, but it rather spoils the peace and quiet of the waterways for the rest of us. So, tomorrow we'll move on, I think, and make a shortish run to Gnosall for the night, carrying on to Norbury Junction the next day.

One positive to finish: there's a local kingfisher hanging about. Kingfishers have been having a rough time of it lately with the hard winters and grotty springs, so it's good to see one thriving here. It's not very good, but I managed to get a shot of him sitting on the canopy of a boat on the offside moorings before he shot away: