Last day at Tixall

Like most of the rest of England, we saw some phenomenal thunder and lightning yesterday evening, but were not badly affected. Being in a boat in that sort of weather is much better than being ashore!

It's been a quiet day today. We cleaned the inside of the boat this morning, including putting the Squirrel into summer mode. I cleaned it out, including the door glass, and stowed the bags of kindling which we'd collected at Kinver in the coal box which is tucked away in the bow locker.

Then Sheila brushed all the mats whilst I dusted and swept indoors.

This afternoon, we made yet another trip to the Farm Shop to buy supplies for tomorrow and to get a parking ticket for Richard to use, since he'll be here before the shop opens. It's only two quid for the day which seems very reasonable.

Peter and Mel brought us some duck eggs so Sheila is presently engaged in converting them to duck egg mayonnaise for tomorrow's sandwiches, yum.

The weather is now very pleasant indeed, fresher than it's been for some days but still warm and sunny. The moorings here got very full over the weekend, as you'd expect, but boats are now moving off. There would have been rather more spaces if people showed more consideration when they tied, of course. I don't know what more can be done to persuade boaters (if that's the right word for the so-and-so's) to moor tidily.

Either leave a decent boat length between yourself and the boat in front or behind, or else moor with just a couple of feet between you. Even a thirty foot space may be handy for a smaller boat, so don't do what the boat in front of us has done and tie a forty-five foot boat in the middle of a ninety foot space...

Here endeth the lesson – I've obviously been sitting here too long. Ah well, off on our travels again tomorrow...

Delivery from Elanor

Just a very quick note because we're chatting to Elanor having not seen her for quite a while. We shuffled the boat forward this morning to get out from under the boat behind now that we're not so constrained in this space, then ran the engine and a wash load this morning.

This afternoon, Elanor arrived in the Farm Shop car park, we rendezvoused with her and took post and beer from her car to the boat. Then we've had a family conflab for the afternoon.

Tomorrow, a final day for loafing here before we set off again on Tuesday. We'll have a couple of days in Stone to restock and get a prescription made up before heading north, not to Alaska but Liverpool.

Beneficial friends

I've mentioned before the paradox that since we took to the life afloat, we probably have more friends and bowing acquaintances than when we lived "on the bank", which is reassuring in view of the evidence that longevity and health in us older people is directly related to the size of our friendship circle.

In addition to entertaining (and being entertained by) Peter and Mel last evening, two other couples have been about yesterday and today. These are Gina and Andrew on Braidbar 124, La Suvera, and Bill and Jo from Mercia on Lady Victoria.

Despite their domestic woes, Peter and Mel were on top form last night and a merry evening was had by all. This morning, we made contact with Gina and Andrew and invited them for morning coffee. This was a good opportunity to catch up with then as we hadn't seen them for a couple of years.

We've also had a couple of chats with Bill and Jo as we passed and repassed their boat going to and from the Farm Shop. We've got pasties to have with salad tonight from there and enough bread to see us through the weekend. We also bought a few other goodies like some apricots for dessert and a butternut squash to use in a veggie chilli sometime.

What a soggy day

My blogs will be quite brief over the weekend as we're not going anywhere. Today, in particular, has been one for lurking in the boat whilst the rain came down. It stopped for long enough after lunch for us to make an expedition to the Farm Shop for supplies.

We have guests coming tonight, Mel and Peter who were to have been our cruising companions to Liverpool and who now, through no fault of their own, cannot make it. Although by no means the cheapest emporium in the Midlands, the Canalside Farm Shop is an excellent source of supply for such an occasion, from the basic components like beef mince to focaccia bread as a starter and strawberries and suitable accompaniments for dessert.

The boat's been tidied up (a bit) and in a while I'll do the basic food prep so that we can get things washed up and out of the way.

We've seen other friends from Mercia, Bill and Jo, arrive and moor, but haven't yet had a chance to make contact with them. Although the precipitation has ceased for the time being, it's still not very enticing out there.

Regular readers may note an extra measure of floridity in my prose today – I've just been re-reading A Scandal in Bohemia and, as so often, the author's style has somewhat influenced my own.

It's Tixall again

It's about two and a half hours from Deptmore top to Tixall Wide, so we planned to leave at eight, thus arriving in time to shop for bread before lunch. In the event, we were ready a bit earlier than that, but had to wait just a little as an ex-Challenger boat came by just as we were getting ready to let go.

This was a judgement on me for saying airily to Sheila, when asked if she should go ahead and set the lock before I pushed off, "Oh, no, we'll hardly have to queue for the lock just now." As it turned out, her help wasn't optional anyway. I'd thought I was sorted and waved her off to the lock, then found I couldn't get Sanity Again unstuck from the towpath.

I should explain that the weather has been utterly different today, cool, cloudy and very gusty, with the gusts on the offside bow. Sheila had shoved the bow out and I the stern, as usual, but just as we started moving forward, the stern found a lump of silt off the towpath, the boat stopped and the bow blew back on. I had a couple of goes at reversing off, so that the prop wash blew down between the boat and the bank and shoved the stern into the middle, but, every time it happened as we turned to boat away (as the Tremoloes nearly sang), it was squidge onto the mud and swing back in.

So I called Sheila back and with her holding the bow out, finally managed to depart. By now the other boat was out of the lock and her lockwheeler kindly nipped back and lifted a top paddle for us.

After all that, things went pretty much to plan. Once past Stafford Boat Club, Sheila got the washing machine going again (there'll be a limit to how much washing she can do here at Tixall for four whole days, even starting with a full water tank) and we plodded our way round Stafford. It's much in need of dredging all along there. Any attempt to do more than about 3 mph just leads to a shaking tiller and churning mud.

It was jolly cold on the stern, too, but we made it in the expected time and by 10.15 we were looking for a mooring here. There are a lot more boats about now than when we came this way a few weeks ago. Radford Bank moorings were chock-a-block and although there were plenty of spaces here on the Wide, about half the towpath was occupied.

We're tied about halfway along, at a spot where the hedge isn't quite so high but is still sheltering us from the wind, so both the whirligig and the solar panel can do their stuff. It used to be that phone signals were poor to non-existent at this end of the Wide, but I've got good 4G here on both Vodafone and 3.

After a coffee, we walked to the junction and visited the Farm Shop to get the necessaries for lunch.

We've had a quiet afternoon watching the other boats go by and a friendly and polite fisherman trying to defend his stretch of towpath from marauding would-be moorers. He's managed so far, but I've warned him that the pressure on him will become quite intense tomorrow.

That's another fine day you've got me in

What with all this fine weather and drinking to match, we used the last of the Gold Hobgoblin I'd laid in last night, so a trip to the Farm Shop was indicated. We'd run out of bread and tomatoes too. Walking was a little painful at first until joints stiffened by yesterday's unaccustomed exercise eased up. We took along the collected recycling of the last few days and dumped it in the skips by Anglo-Welsh as we passed.

I always spend more than I mean to in that shop. We bought interesting Scotch eggs (mine based on a duck egg), some nice bread, still warm, and some meat to keep us going. The butcher there is nearly as good as Betty's Farm. We also acquired two bottles of Titanic Brewery's Iceberg, their American style beer, though I'm not sure the joke is in good taste.

Just hope the beer is.

We staggered back to the boat with this lot and have been taking it fairly easy since, doing pottering type jobs. It was very pleasant to sit out on the bow after lunch, though it's clouded over now with just a spatter of rain. Sheila's started work on replacement porthole doilies as a change from knitting Guernseys.

Question of the day: why is the bridge just before the Wide called Swivel Bridge? It doesn't look like it's ever been a swing bridge, so maybe it's the local farm name or something.

Tomorrow, on round Stafford and up Deptmore Lock.

Lovely Lapwings

One thing I forgot to mention yesterday is that another sign of spring here at Tixall is a bunch of lapwings performing all around us. We've seen five at a time tumbling about in the air, showing off and emitting their strange calls which sound like nothing so much as a handheld game console bleeping and chirping.

At one point I was convinced there must be a kid hanging around on the towpath playing one, but no, it was the lapwings going "peewit".

In another sign of the remarkable weather, we slept with the bedroom Houdini propped open last night. We slept well, whether for that reason or some other, so were woken for the first time at half five by the dawn chorus. This was mainly very musical, except for one sad pheasant going SQUAWK!, poor chap, no doubt the best he can manage.

After wrestling with a recalcitrant Killer Sudoku, we got up for a leisurely breakfast. Having decided to leave walking to the village until tomorrow, I started the engine so that Sheila could take advantage of the sun (once it had burnt off some serious mist) and run and dry a washload.

After coffee, we turned to and washed one side of the cratch cover which was looking very green after the damp winter and spring. We used Fabsil but I can't say it's come out very well. It's better than it was but there are still green stains on it and some other mucky patches. I suspect that we need to find somewhere where we can take it right off and lay it on a hard surface like a picnic bench to really scrub it.

After lunch we set out for a gentle amble to collect sticks to use as kindling, heading towards Tixall Lock. However, it was such a nice day, we decided to carry on and try the walk Steve and Denise had described to us yesterday. You carry on past the lock to the bridge beyond that superb house and garden.

Climb up onto the road and walk towards Milford village – there's a map on an interpretation board to make sure you go the right way. After crossing the River Sow and then the railway, you come to a junction with the A518, Milford village being down on your right. On the left, there's the back entrance to Shugborough estate and this is the way you should go. Mind you, there's the UK's first ever Wimpy still trading in the village, as far as I know.

There's no charge for walking through the park, though you'd need to buy tickets or show your National Trust card to get into the house. It's a bit of a trek through the park, but eventually you walk across the front of the mansion and on to cross the Trent by the Essex Bridge and so rejoin the towpath by Haywood Lock.

We were now pretty weary but somehow found the energy to stagger on to the Farm Shop to buy ice cream and sit and eat it in the sun. On the way back to the boat, we even picked up some sticks... Sheila's pedometer estimated the total distance including the Farm Shop diversion at just over five miles, so a solid bit of exercise.

We're going to sit tight here tomorrow again, then head off on Sunday because we want to rendezvous with Sue and Peter on Piper Reese at Coven on Wednesday. The plan is to get above Deptmore on Sunday, Penkridge Monday, Gailey Tuesday, Coven Wednesday.

Tixall for the weekend

First off, thanks to Martin on Ice Breaker for his suggestion about the ecohorn as an alternative to the ordinary gas horn. It sounds a good idea if I can track one down, as you don't have to buy gas cylinders to use it, it is pressurised with a bicycle pump.

We got going in good time again this morning and had a brilliant run past Taft Wharf and Wolverley Bridge to Colwich. Sheila managed to get another washload on before we got there, so that it was just nicely finished by the time we got to Tixall. The cut is generally very quiet this week, though I suspect it will get busier by the weekend with this scorching weather.

That'll be the sign for thunderstorms, then. Let's just hope this isn't the whole of the summer...

We found Riverside tied above Haywood Lock and had a brief exchange with Steve and Denise as we passed. They later walked past where we were tied on the Wide and we had a better discussion about the joys of owning a brand new boat. Just don't say the word "snagging".

Oops!

Further on, Sebeq was winding and reversing back from the junction, so we were able to say hi to Mike and Allyson as well.

We've been able to tie on our preferred spot just at the start of the Wide, where there's a gap in the trees to let the sun through onto the solar panel and the mobile signals are good. We're one of only four boats here at the moment – the soggy spring has clearly discouraged folk from getting going this year.

After lunch we turned to and washed the port side of the cabin. It was hard graft, though, the sun drying it off almost before I could get the synthetic chamois onto it, and I think it will need doing again before we can polish it, worse luck. We've managed to scrub the algae off the gunwale, but that too is still looking quite dirty.

Since then, we've been lurking inside, it being too hot to sit out comfortably. With any luck, it will be just right at six beer o'clock to have a drink in the well deck. I got some Gold Hobgoblin at Tesco yesterday and I've just popped a can of it in the fridge...

We'll sit tight here for the weekend, I think, then amble on to Deptmore on Monday.

Colwich to Haywood to Tixall

We were very pleased with last night’s mooring, far enough out of Rugeley to be very peaceful, despite the occasional train on the West Coast Mainline, and just short of Bridge 69, so not within range of the agricultural smells of the pig farm. After a good night’s kip, we made the planned early start at half seven and had a good run through to Wolseley Bridge and so on to Colwich. Sheila steered and I did lookout – there wasn't a lot of traffic.

Colwich lock was with us and on we went to Great Haywood without incident, getting there just after nine. Here, the lock was against us but with no boat in sight I started to turn it. No sooner had I drawn a bottom paddle than a boat appeared coming round the corner, so I dropped the paddle I’d just raised and refilled the lock. They were ever so grateful, though I’d given Sheila quite a bit of hassle as she’d got Sanity Again lined up on the lock and now had to back off onto the lock landing.

Once we were up, I set off to walk to the junction to see her through, but got waylaid by Ivor Bachelor who was standing by their boat Lepus, displaying Mel’s decorated canal ware, and who wanted a good old natter. (No change there, then.) I managed to get away just in time to check for boats approaching along the Staffs and Worcs as Sheila started the turn.

Plenty of room here on our favourite moorings, Tixall Wide, I’m pleased to say. After we’d tied and had coffee we set off to do some shopping. Dave on Anon was tied just before the water point, having his fuel polished, so after a fruitless hunt for Chinese leaf in the Farm Shop, we stopped to buy Sheila a new belt. He really is very good value. A belt with her choice of buckle and chosen from a selection of decorative styles, made to measure by fitting the buckle after she’d chosen the belt, cost just £16.

We wanted to continue the search for moleskin in the pharmacy at the other end of the village, so stopped on the way for a further and better natter with Ivor. He warned us that the little general store next to the pharmacy has closed, but we carried on in that direction anyway. No moleskin, perhaps not surprising as that pharmacy is managed by the same people as the Alrewas one.

On we went up the village to the other store where we got a few bits and pieces and headed back to the boat. All this had taken long enough that it was now lunchtime, since when we’ve been taking it pretty easy in the warm sun.

It’s been a bit of a birdy day. I heard a yaffle (green woodpecker) yakking at me as we passed the woods by Wolseley Bridge and then spotted a buzzard sitting hunched on a power line pole. Shortly after that, the electric blue flash of a kingfisher was seen flying across the cut towards the river.

Tomorrow, a lazier start heading for Deptmore Lock.

Location:Tixall Wide

Sunny cruise to Deptmore

Tixall Wide must be one of the most pleasant places to moor on the system, especially on a sunny day. It's very quiet, the locals make good use of the towpath and are friendly and there's always something to watch.

Nonetheless, we wanted to get on, so set off at around half eight along the first stretch of the Staffs and Worcs. There's just time to make and drink a cup of decent coffee with the AeroPress before the lock hoves into view. Fruit of the Vine was just on her way up it as we got there but initially there was no sign of anything coming the other way, good news I passed on to Sheila hovering below the lock.

However, just as I was about to close up and turn the lock a boat appeared coming round the corner. I warned Sheila, who now had a bit of a problem as the lock landing is out of action at the moment being repiled, at last, and the cut is very shallow on the offside. The bow promptly became enamoured of the offside, naturally, and it took her some determined reversing to get it unstuck. The steerer of the boat coming down was a bit bemused to see Sanity Again disappearing backwards down the cut.

"I think she's left you!" was his observation to me.

After that, things were pretty much plain sailing on a splendid day. I pottered about doing chores down below – there's just nice time to run a wash load between Tixall Lock and Deptmore – and sitting out on the bow being a lookout. There was a bit of traffic without it being in any way a problem. For my money, this is not the best bit of the S&W but it's still very pleasant on a fine Spring morning.

We've tied in our favourite spot above Deptmore. There's just a bit of noise from the M6 but nothing to compare with the traffic noise in Mercia. The whirligig was deployed though the fresh breeze meant that only light items could be left out. We did try putting up some shirts and a pair of trousers but one of my shirts, in particular, decided it was a spinnaker and filled with wind (like its owner some might say – as long as they don't expect me to buy them a pint). In order to enjoy our lunch in peace we took the larger stuff in.

The afternoon has ambled past in relaxed fashion. We've seen the first ducklings of the year, just a pair of them and a proud mum. The farmer across the way did start spreading muck on the huge field there, but hasn't come too close to the water's edge and is now busy ploughing it in. He's using a five share plough and one of those massive tractors, a major contrast to the way it was done when this canal was built and indeed up until after the Second World War.

Tomorrow, Penkridge.

Location:Deptmore

It Tixall sorts

First off, something I forgot to mention yesterday about Tesco. In the entrance to the store, they had a display of apples and bananas with a sign inviting parents to take one, free, for their child as part of their five a day:




They even provided bags to take the cores and peels afterwards. Well done them.

It has indeed been a better day today, still with a rather cold wind but much sunnier and what wind there was was much gentler. Off we ambled at the usual time, yours truly steering and Sheila set up to do all two locks. It's one of the nicest stretches of the T&M, I reckon, the run from Rugeley to Great Haywood. There are just a few moored boats and there's the interest of the pig farm as you go by, followed by The Taft.

Maid of Oak is still there, though last time we passed she was for sale. You'd need to be either very well off or very dedicated to buy a modern wooden hull, we reckon, it being much harder to get adequately seasoned oak these days.

Arriving at Colwich just after nine, we had the place to ourselves initially, apart from the odd dog walker, but just as we left and Sheila closed up, who should appear in the distance but Ivor and Mel on Lepus. They'd been on the Macc and were not impressed by the depth. "What a ditch!" was Ivor's comment.. Right enough, in a deep draughted working boat like Lepus it must have been hard work.

There aren't many boats tied below Haywood but two of them were Mercia moorers Tootling by Gently and Ay Up Mi Duck. We'd already seen Crafty Foxes earlier, so that's three Mercia boats seen in one day.

I managed the turn onto the Staffs and Worcs in one smooth curve, even missing the bows of the Anglo-Welsh boats immediately through the bridge hole. It is nice when it comes together like that. Lots of room here on Tixall, still, though I'm sure it will fill up later with such a fine weekend in prospect.

We walked back to the Farm Shop for some nice veg and some Pork and Black Pudding sausages for tonight. They aren't selling bedding plants yet, to Sheila's disappointment as we had some very good surfinias from them last year, some of the best we've ever had. Trouble is, there's still a risk of frost so it's really too soon to be planting them out.

Since lunch we've not been totally idle, washing the side of the boat and I did some cleaning and tidying in the engine 'ole and the storage space alongside. After that, feeling full of virtue, we've been sitting out on the bow, Sheila knitting my guernsey and me catching up with my loafing.

Tomorrow, on to Deptmore.

Location:Tixall

A day off

The weather this morning wasn't perhaps as bad as we'd expected, but it did rain on and off and the wind certainly came up this afternoon. We've enjoyed a lazy day here at Tixall Wide, reading, surfing the net and doing puzzles. I put another litre of Easy-yo yoghurt on, but that was about the height of the domesticity. It's been very good for us after the exertions of the last few days.

We did walk back to the junction this afternoon to dump some rubbish and recycling and to buy some bread at the Farm Shop. The sun has come out, so the solar panel is doing its stuff. I ran the Webasto for an hour just now to get a tank of hot water and to warm the back of the boat and it didn't use any battery at all.

We'll make an early-ish start tomorrow, not because we have a long way to go but so as to get down Haywood and Colwich locks before the traffic builds up. The target is the Brindley Bank visitor moorings, to be followed by the run through Rugeley, stopping at Tesco, on Sunday.

Two days in one.

We started off in thick mist this morning. It was supposed to clear by eight but hung around for a long time. Sheila even had the tunnel light on for the first half hour or so. We'd planned, as you know, to stop at Burston today and carry on to Tixall tomorrow, but a look at the forecast for Friday suggested that a day off cruising was indicated. Tixall being better than Burston for hanging around, we tightened our locking belts and went for it. I worked us down the Stone flight and Aston lock, then took over the helm when we got to the Burston mooring.

This gave Sheila Sandon, Weston and Hoo Mill to do. It was just after twelve when we'd got down Weston, so I went below and ate lunch whilst Sheila steered. Sheila was able to get hers in instalments before and after Hoo Mill and I think supervised the turn onto the Staffs and Worcs still munching.

That turn means that we've finished the Four Counties Ring, of course, just six weeks after starting it. Well, that's a lot more pleasant than doing it in six days, which is what the hirers actually have to achieve when they do the "Four Counties in a week" bit.

Talking of sixes, today's boating took nearly six hours, a serious stretch for us.

This afternoon, we've visited the Farm Shop to get the ingredients for one last salad tonight before this amazingly warm weather breaks and we're back to the normal September stuff. We'll stay here on Tixall tomorrow and then plod on to Brindley Bank on Saturday.

Another good day's boating but no news of the missing boat

It's a long enough run from Brindley Bank to Colwich Lock for Sheila to play her favourite game. We both woke a bit early and had a cup of tea in bed, then Sheila got up and started boating a bit after six. I made a more leisurely start, ate breakfast and took over for the rest of the distance to the lock. It was half against us but we were soon rising in the chamber.

By now, the alternator had done the bulk charging of the batteries (they are not getting very low at this time of year) and the water was good and hot, so I started a washload then made a cup of coffee with the Aeropress. (Have I told you about the Aeropress? Maybe not, remind me tomorrow.)

Sheila waited with the boat below Haywood whilst I nipped off to the shop for a loaf of bread. Once up the lock, I took over again so that she could rest her foot. As I was almost stopped and about to start the turn for the junction, there came a blast on a boat horn. Hard astern and wait...

Nothing...

Sheila peers through the bridge, no sign of a boat, so round we go. Just the other side of the bridge and hidden by the abutment, one of the AngloWelsh guys was doing the show through of the day boat for an excited hen party. No doubt he had been showing them how to work the horn ;)

Oy, settle down at the back you lot!

There was plenty of room to tie on Tixall. I printed off 20 copies of the flyer after a brief wrestle with the printer which ran out of coloured ink and then printed the alignment page squiffy. After hanging out the washing on the whirligig, Sheila walked along the Wide towpath talking to boaters whilst I went back to Haywood.

I dumped rubbish and recycling (no specific recycling bin here, boo) and left a flyer at the AngloWelsh office. Then I walked to Great Haywood Marina and gave one to the guy in charge there. Back I went to the Farm Shop for some supplies before handing out flyers to boats on the water point and tied between the junction and the lock.

Full of virtue, we had a good long loaf and some lunch. I've since walked the Wide towpath again, handing out flyers to boats that have arrived since the morning. I'd had to do a reprint, so we've dished out nearly thirty of the things. There's still a lot of discussion on the CWDF thread, but no confirmed sitings. Fingers crossed that the boat is spotted soon.

I think we'll sit tight tomorrow after today's efforts, then carry on towards Acton Trussell on Monday.

Oh look, it's Tixall again

I must try not to keep starting these posts with what a good day it's been, but it's hard not to when it has. We'd estimated two and a half hours or a bit less to Tixall, which gives a bit of a dilemma. At a busy time of year, you don't want to get there too soon, so as to have a decent chance of finding a mooring. On the other hand, you want to arrive at Colwich before the fleets do. In the end, we set off at half seven, and that turned out just right.

Sheila was steering on a superb day. I pottered about, doing lookout when needed, setting up the various charging items and generally admiring the scenery in the sun. The calorifier was just about hot enough to start the washing machine as we got through Wolverley Bridge, so I scuttered to and fro filling the machine with jugs full from the bathroom. I got it done in nice time to work Colwich.

We were the first boat there, probably, but had two behind us as we arrived and another turned up above as Sanity Again rose in the lock. The washing machine had just started rinsing as we got near the carriage bridge where I hopped off to work Haywood Lock. I had to work a single hander up first, a guy we know from Mercia where he winter moors, then I saw our own boat up. Staying on the towpath, I checked that all was clear at the junction and gave the good word to Sheila, who judged the turn exactly, making it round in one without any reverse or tiller pumping.

OK, it was a flat calm, but it still looked pretty impressive. There was no one to see, naturally. We had a good choice of mooring positions on the Wide, so took our favourite just at the Haywood end. We've tied behind Pondasher, formerly Beech No.3, Braidbar number 72 – just six boats before the first Sanity. We had a quiet time up to lunch, then walked to the Farm Shop for a lettuce and some duck eggs, two of which are boiling at the moment to go with prawns and salad for dinner. Sheila also bought a cyclamen plant to replace one of the geraniums which has died on us.

An email from Susan and a phone call from Martin on Ice Breaker told us that the Deeps are very busy at Poynton just now, partly because the Cheshire Ring is blocked on the Bridgewater whilst they demolish a dangerous warehouse at Hulme Road; people are going to Marple and turning back. The stoppage should be over by the end of this month, as will the school holidays, so hopefully the log jam will have cleared a bit before we need a lot of mooring space for the boats visiting the Owners' Weekend.

Hope so, anyway.

Tomorrow, a longish run by our standards to Burston, just beyond Sandon. Today's washing has dried nicely on the whirligig, so we'll run another load on the way.

A dull day

The rump steak last night was everything we hoped it would be, though a bit oversized, working out at a 16oz steak each. We managed them, though, and sat around for the rest of the evening rather quietly.

Today, as planned, we've stayed put. It's not poured down, but rather has drizzled damply on for much of the day, a grey, cool, frankly dull state of affairs. We did a bit of boat cleaning and caught up with some email and the like, but otherwise it's been a case of reading, doing puzzles and generally letting time go by.

Still, it means that we shall be more than ready for some boating again tomorrow. We have a small cause for celebration again tonight – today is the 10th birthday of the Braidbar Owners' Group, which started as a handful of us in a Yahoo email group and now numbers a total of 160 people with a website of its own and a couple of social events every year. The Owners' Weekend will be bigger than ever, by the looks of things, with 16 boats and over 30 people.

Tomorrow, on to Taft Farm, aka the pig farm at bridge 69 on the way to Rugeley. We did think of going on to Brindley Bank again, but it will be a Saturday night so we'll settle for the country mooring.

 

From the Penk to the Sow to the Trent

We've been working our way downhill ever since Gailey, first following the Penk from Penkridge until it joined the Sow near Stafford and now on to the confluence of the Sow with the Trent. Strangely, although the Trent is one of the major rivers of England, it never finds the sea, as it flows into the Humber before it gets there. We won't go that far of course – some do take a narrowboat through Trent Falls, but our view is that boats have evolved for particular conditions and it's not wise to push them too far out of that zone. So the odd bit of tidal work, fine, but we don't go in for the seriously heavy stuff that needs exactly the right conditions to get away with it.

However, enough of the lecture already. We had a good cruise today, just the two locks, Deptmore at the start and Tixall at the end, and a steady plod round the southside of Stafford in between. We got to Tixall just before ten and had a good choice of mooring spaces. We've come through to the western end so as to be handy for walking to the Farm Shop. As I approached the chosen spot, Sheila pointed out that the boat in front was that of a couple of friends from our IWA National days, Di and Reece on Wandering Whimbrel.

They've got a new spaniel since we saw them last, but she's just as scatty as the old one...

Before lunch, I went down the weedhatch to clear a bit of stuff from round the propshaft. I'm pleased to say that the deployment of a couple of pieces of wood between the crossbar and its location stubs sorted the tightening problem by moving the captive nut onto a new part of the threaded rod. I had to do a bit of work to clean that thread up, but it seems fine now. Many thanks to John of Destiny for the tip.

After lunch, we walked to aforesaid Farm Shop and splashed out on a piece of rump steak for tonight, part two of our anniversary celebration. It wasn't going cheap, but then it's beef, not chicken. ;)

Sorry.

We plan to stay put tomorrow. We're about due a lazy day after boating the length of the Staffs and Worcs again and the forecast is a bit grim. We'll move on on Saturday, I expect.

Hot

"The temperatures rising, it isn't surprising, she certainly can can-can". Or, "It's too darn hot, it's too darn hot, it's too-oo da-arn HOT!" (Identification of composers and lyricists is left as an exercise for the reader.)

I'm tempted to leave it at that for today, but will struggle on a bit longer, stopping occasionally to dry the drips of sweat from the keyboard. It's now 32ºC (90ºF) in the cabin and there's no wind outside. Occasionally, a few drops of warm rain fall down. It feels like I'm in a remake of the old Tales from the Raj BBC series in which Joss Ackland was frequently seen at the typewriter with big sweat stains in his armpits.

We made it to Tixall before it got this ridiculous and managed to get to the Farm Shop for Scotch Eggs and some bread, it being too hot to think of baking. There are a number of working boats about – we followed Towcester and Bideford all the way to the foot of Haywood. Apparently they are all on their way from the Braunston Historic Boat Show to a similar event in Wolverhampton.

Braidbars seen: Bessie Surtees tied in the shade at Wolseley Bridge and Shield Maiden going the other way at the same location.

That's enough, I'm off to trim my beard and have a very cool shower.

 

Hooray, it's Tixall!

We did a solid morning's boating today, over four hours, which is a lot for us. Having stopped half an hour short of our planned destination at Burston yesterday, we needed to add that to today's run. So, having woken a bit early, we had tea in bed then Sheila started boating before seven whilst I got breakfast.

We swapped over and Sheila had eaten by the time we got to Phoenix Sandon. The bottom gates there were leaking something horrific; it looks as if the cill is getting ready to give up the ghost, so don't be surprised if there's an emergency stoppage before long. As soon as Sheila shut the top gate Sanity Again started her descent without any paddles being drawn.

Apart from that, it was a classically good bit of Autumn boating. It was rather misty murky but not unpleasant and we toddled along, the washing machine chugging away and familiar landmarks appearing then being left behind. We'd been going over two hours before we saw another boat moving.

Weston lock was against us, but a boat was just leaving Hoo Mill as we came in sight. By the time we'd locked down, another boat was approaching, making up for the hard work Sheila had put in at the previous two locks.

We knew we needed to water either here or else at Spode House the day after tomorrow. There was a boat on the water point as we arrived, but they promptly let go and boated off, leaving us in possession. Filling the tank now means that we won't need to do so again until we get back to Mercia. Similarly, Sheila has now done enough washing to last until then.

A handy mooring at the Haywood end of Tixall was free, the sun was out and a gentle wind blowing. We rigged the whirligig to get the washing dry and settled to a half hour's constructive loafing (Sheila: crochet, me: surfing Canal World; it's a hard life).

After lunch we walked back to the Farm Shop to buy a cauliflower for this week's veggie meal.

Since then, more crochet, catching up with stuff to do with the Owners' Group, reading the paper.

Tomorrow, on to the Pig Farm Taft Wharf.

Great reason to miss posting

I was just getting set to do today's blog when there was a knocking on the roof. It turned out to be Dave and Sue, the folk who have bought Sanity from Ian.

Naturally, we had a good old chat with them about both boats and spent quite a bit of time admiring Sanity's new paint job.

This was an excellent end to a very good day, but it does mean that I now need to get on with sorting the dinner.

So I'll do a big blog tomorrow to catch up ;)