Monday 19 September 2016

Damp day to Alrewas and many meetings

It was wet all morning, not a heavy rain, but a fine drizzle which could have been quite penetrating. We put our waterproof overalls on and just got on with it. It wasn't cold nor very breezy most of the time, so conditions were by no means impossible. It did mean that the cut was much quieter than yesterday, making Sheila's task of steering easier.

We got to Woodend in an hour or so and found a boat just leaving. I worked us down and we plodded on to Shade House. Most of the Fradley Locks were against us, but we found a steady procession of boats coming up for the second half of the flight, which helped a lot. They were a complete mixture of hire boats and privateers, part of the September traffic of those not tied to the school holidays.

It was just on eleven when we got to the top of Bagnall, where there was just one 70' space, nicely above the road bridge. As we tied, we realised that the boat already there behind us was Black Pearl. Geoff used to moor alongside us when we were on Grebe pontoon in Mercia and he popped out as we were getting sorted and had a natter with us.

Just after lunch, we saw some more old friends when Adam and Adrian came past on Briar Rose – we knew from Adam's blog that they were on their way. They stopped alongside for a bit to catch up on Braidbar gossip.

Later in the afternoon, we took a walk into the village, going along the towpath to the Wharf Bridge to see who was about. Sure enough, there was Rubyjack with "Dangerous" Dave and his dog Ruby. We had a bit of a rabbit with them too. Dave's an on and off moorer in Mercia as he likes to prowl round the system, presently heading for Llangollen, he said.

We stocked up with meat from Coates the Butcher and were pleased to get back to the boat.The rain has stopped, mostly, but we are glad to have the Squirrel on again, keeping us warm and dry in this distinctly autumnal weather.



3 comments:

Roger from Crown said...

Hi folks, I just have to ask, why do you find steering your boat a task?
We always find it a pleasure, all year round. Mind you we did have an excellent builder, yep could be that :-)

Roger

Unknown said...

Hi, we are out with Voyager at the moment. Sounds as though you are really enjoying your cruise. We are due to come in on Saturday, will you be back or do we need to practise aiming for a narrow gap?

Bruce in Sanity said...

Hi

Roger: tasks can be enjoyable, sorry if yours aren't ;))) At times steering is sheer delight, but standing on the back in the rain waiting for your lockwheeler to get on with it, not so much!

Mel: have a good trip with Voyager, look forward to hearing about it when we see you. We should be back in tomorrow, so yes, skilful steering will be needed on Saturday ;)

All the best to you all

Bruce