Back at Alrewas

It's a very familiar route back to Alrewas but still one that passes through some very pleasant rural canal, especially the section from Kings Bromley to Woodend. It takes us around three and a half hours, give or take 15 minutes, so we set off a bit before half seven, the idea being to arrive between half ten and eleven.

As last time, we made very good time for much of it. There were comparatively few moored boats and the locks, when we got to them, were largely with us. Then everything slowed down after we got past the junction at Fradley – I guess the reason why it happens that way is that we follow the same logic from Handsacre every time and that means that we get halfway through Fradley before we start meeting and following those who started off a bit later.

Anyway, a single hander set off from the Fradley visitor moorings as we were working down Junction Lock. We waited above Keeper's for a boat to come up, then again above Hunts for the same reason. Sheila walked on to Common and, lo and behold, there was a boat waiting to work up after the single hander had gone down. The crew of this last told Sheila that there was plenty of room at Alrewas, so we weren't too bothered at the delays. It was another fine morning, albeit with a bit of a chilly breeze, just enough to keep life on the tiller interesting for me.

There were no boats tied above the bypass bridge at all, so we've stopped on the Fradley end of that stretch of piling, as far from the road noise as possible, getting here at a quarter to eleven. A couple of others have arrived since, though there's probably room for at least one more, certainly if the guy in front of us shuffles up a bit instead of tying in the middle of the available space. :(

After lunch and a rest, we walked down into the village, going the long way round to see who else was about. Fizzical Attraction is tied below; on the way back we gave a knock on the roof, but Yvonne and Roger must have been out.

All our shopping got done in the butchers, where we bumped into Chris off Eleventh Heaven, visiting by car.

Once I've posted this, Sheila is going to cut, or rather, mow my hair, after which I'll get a shower to get rid of all the little bits. We're planning to stay tomorrow, then carry on to Branston on Sunday.