Red Diesel and common sense

Waterways News Snippet

I have been browsing this evening and I see The Government have come up with some guidelines on the new hike in diesel prices later in the year.. I like them, I don’t think it will work though, but I like them.

Government proposals for the new scheme of charges in November 2008

If everyone would be honest then it WOULD work.. for me and the way I cruise then it could even be as close as 50/50 between cruising and heating…..

Mind you, Boatyards seem to be creeping the price of the red stuff up and up at the moment.. This week alone we have seen price ranges for a litre of diesel ranging from 68p to 78p a litre.  This might now come down in November. Ho Hum.. wishful thinking

And so to Hopwas before the weather closes in..

Thursday and today, Fradley to Hopwas, Coventry Canal 8 miles, 0 locks

We pulled the pins on Thursday morning after I joined Jeff of NB Seyella to walk the dogs through the woods to the west of Fradley.  I took Jeff to the little racing test circuit that I had found the day before, and there were a couple of cars testing over there which was of interest.

Jo and Keith had taken Hadar out of Fradley earlier on their way to Atherstone bottom lock.. keen is Keith, he wants to put in a good few hours a day on his new boat.. can’t blame the man, after all he has waited over 3 years for Hadar to be completed.. now they can both enjoy the waterways..

Just as we left Fradley I had a phone call from the Bed Centre in Tamworth to say that they had made the mattresses that I ordered a couple of weeks ago, and that it was ready to be delivered.. great stuff, we though we would have to wait a while at Hopwas for that call, now we can pick them up at the beginning of next week as we pass close to their base.

Handily, they have offered to take away our old mattress for £20, well worth that.  I was already having trouble getting the council to do that for me… I would have to pay them, plus I need to have a “proper address” as they could only give me a guidance on which day they could pick it up!.. A “proper address?”…. sheeeeesh!

Passing Huddlesford Junction yesterday…

I have never yet passed when there has been  a visitor mooring available to stop to visit this pub!  I wondered if the boats in that area ever move.. they looked quite permanent to me… but a bit further along, this dog was determined that his owner was not going to pull the pins and leave him behind!..

We moored at Whittington last night so I could visit the docs this morning and pick up some post.. hopefully now with some antibiotics I will soon be feeling a lot better than I am at the moment.

Pulled the pins from there late morning and cruised through to Hopwas and replaced them in the ground just as the rain started to fall.  We are fairly sheltered from the wind here with no large trees likely to fall.  Oh so much dog poo on the towpath beside No Problem though, perhaps one of the worst places I have every been to for the stuff, it’s the same everytime we come here.. we have cleared it all up now though.. why oh why do locals let their dogs do that on their own patch I will never know..

Bloggers meet at Fradley..

Moored Fradley, Coventry Canal

I phone for a docs appointment this morning and was told that there was nothing available ‘till Friday morning, so that will have to do.. anyway the weather is lovely at the moment and I do like Fradley Junction.

I got up lazily this morning trying hard to get myself better, but staying in bed is not my scene with thoughts of towpath and woodland walks around this area.  I waited until after lunch though before setting off along the offside edge of the canal through the delightful Fradley Woods.  There was a geocache in this area that I hadn’t got yet.

As I was walking, I heard the wonderful “donk donk” of an old narrowboat engine, so I stopped to wait for it to pass by.. I couldn’t see it as there were bushes between me and the canal, but peering through I got a right surprise.. It was Jo and Keith’s Hadar.. I shouted through the bushes to Jo.. I thought there would be no way she would recognise me poking out of the offside bushes.. but she just caught a glimpse.. enquiring as to their destination, I was pleased she confirmed that they would be stopping in Fradley.. Would see them later then.

I got the geocache and signed the log, then continued along the footpath a little bit further alongside the disused airfield which I believe was used during the war.. You know, you never know what you might see when out walking…

There is a small racing circuit or testing circuit over to the north of Fradley and these little cars were taking turns in whizzing around it.. Watched it for a while before heading back to No Problem..

Jo and Keith had moored Hadar next to NP, and Lucy was really interested in whatever was in the side hatch, maybe she was looking for Paddy or Marmite, Jo’s dog and cat.. Keith and Vic were talking engines and stuff!..

Later this afternoon a familiar face at the window.. it was Jeff from Seyella I had no idea that he and Margaret were in the area, having not read their blog over the last week or so.  The last time we saw them was along the Shropshire Union Canal, since then they have been along the Stratford Canal and managed the Hatton Flight!

This evening Jeff and Margaret are coming over for a coffee, and later we will meet Jo and Keith in the Star Swan here at Fradley for a couple of bevies..

Friends and memories at Fradley and Post Restante jobs worth..

Wood End Lock to Fradley, Trent & Mersey and Coventry Canals, 1.5 miles 3 locks

We got really buffeted last night above Wood End Lock, so I was pleased to move this morning to a slightly less blowy mooring above the next lock at Shade House.  There are some nice visitor moorings there, although there were two spots available where it is possible to get the dot in the sky for the satellite tv both were taken unfortunately.

But we would moor there for now because Paul and Christine Balmer were about to arrive for a quick visit.. in any case we had not long put the pins in when a knock at the door, and Alan and Sheila of NB Andante stopped by to say hi.. regular readers of this blog and many others, we had a good ‘ol chat about this and that as you do!.. Nice to have met you both

I made some soup the previous evening and after welcoming Paul and Christine aboard we consumed that while catching up on news before pulling the pins and dropping down the two locks to Fradley central..

Plenty of help after lunch then, and although the wind was wicked, No Problem behaved impeccably when I asked her to turn south into the Coventry Canal.. you have to smile because narrowboats and high winds do not go well together, and you never know quite what is going to happen!..

Lots of memories of Fradley Junction for me.. I suppose it is the one place that means Inland Waterways to me.. Fradley Junction IS the Inland Waterways.  I hired my first boat from here.. Swanline Cruisers from outside the pub back in 1975.. my first time on the tiller.. round the Leicester ring.. the Soar was in flood too on one day. The following day when the water went down I remember one narrowboat half way over a weir, and another astride a cattle trough about 50 yards away in a field!.. I remember trying to find the channel through the tree line.. 

I remember Fradley Junction as the last place I saw a treasured friend Pat.. a lovely man who died later in the year, and I remember Fradley Junction as a place I happen to be when the funeral of Kevin (Scraggy) took place.  He lived on NB Monarch once moored here.. Ah lots of memories of Fradley..

I shoved Paul and Christine off in the early afternoon as I knew Paul had to drive to North Wales.. so it was a quick photo shot for the blog then away..

It was lovely to see you both again, hopefully might meet up when we go down the flight to Northampton later..

I have some mail coming to a Post Office during this week, so thought I would give them a ring just to inform them, not that I have to as every post office in the UK MUST hold Poste Restante mail for 2 weeks waiting collection, but got met by a bit of a telling off! 

I won’t mention the name of the Post Office because that is not the point, but I did have phone Royal Mail to inform them that my post was not welcome.  “I don’t do Poste Restante, I don’t get paid for doing it, so I don’t do it.  I don’t have to do it, I won’t be doing it”.. I had to be a bit careful with what I said, because my mail had actually arrived and I didn’t want to upset him enough for him to send it all back it wasn’t worth it..

It got sorted in the end, but I was quizzed by Royal Mail as to whether I paid Council Tax or not, whether I had a houseboat or not, whether I lived on my boat and where I moored, did I have a licence etc etc..

The whole episode took over an hour to sort out what with phone calls to and fro, the final phone call to me from Royal Mail told me that Yes I was entitled to have Poste Restante mail at any post office in the UK!  Well Yes I knew that!!

It seemed to me that neither the Postmaster nor the guy at Royal Mail really knew the rules!  The guy from Royal Mail said “It’s not a service that is used very often, I am not familiar with it”.. “Well I am” says I “I have been using Post Restante for over 4 years”..

So here is the bottom line for those who do use this service. This is from the Royal Mail and Post Office web sites…

The Post Office CANNOT refuse to look after your mail.

Onward tomorrow, I need to visit the docs I have picked up a chest infection probably at the Birmingham Show.. But I can’t shake this off and seem to be getting worse so some antibiotics I guess is required.. I don’t have time for being ill, and it is stopping me from doing much walking!!

At Fradley and the last day or so on the Trent and Mersey..

Weekend and today, Great Haywood to Wood End Lock Nr Fradley, 11 miles 2 locks

We moved to collect a Tesco order on Friday morning only to be phoned by them to say it had been cancelled due to a lack of drivers.. “We will deliver it tomorrow for you”.. Then it got complicated because we could not stay where we were.. “Hold the order I’ll phone customer services when I find another place to deliver tomorrow”..  So pulled the pins and on the move again to a suitable place..

Saturday came and so did another phone call “Sorry we can’t deliver today…” “Lack of drivers?” says I.. “How did you know that?” “Ah well I just had a feeling!”  “We can deliver it Monday”

Although Tesco offered to deliver it today I cancelled it at that point and we pulled the pins once again to cruise south.  I certainly didn’t want to keep the pins in where we had moored over the weekend..  Onward then…

And here a very quiet Colwich Lock.  Usually during the summer months there can be 8 or 9 narrowboats queued in both directions to use this lock.

It was nice to move away from the railway line, although there were no trains along it over the weekends probably due to the ongoing works at Rugby I guess.

We stopped at Rugeley only to visit Morrisons for some needed bread and milk after being let down by Mr Tesco, and also to visit Aldi at the other end of the street to collect some fruit.

I find the fruit at either Aldi or Lidle.. is it Lidle?  I think there is a ‘Y’ in it somewhere.. is of a very high quality and low price.  Anyway I was not disappointed and picked some lovely fresh fruit including pineapples at just 58p each.. I refuse to pay £1.50–80 for a pineapple!!!

Rugeley sure does need some brightening up around the canal area, as does the next village/town around Armitage.. both seem very drab and uninviting for an overnight mooring, but we found a very quiet and attractive mooring close to Tuppenhurst just to the south of Handsacre, so the pins were put in and I did a fresh order for Mr Tesco to deliver this morning.

I am now the proud owner of an ipod!.. Yeah!!!!!…. Modern me eh?

On it I have just put every number one UK single since the charts first started in 1958, all in ‘yearly’ folders… would you believe just over 1200 tracks.. that should give me something to listen to for a while!

Ummmmm wonder how long it will take me to listen to that lot!! Teehee!

Quieter day at Great Haywood

Moored Great Haywood, Trent and Mersey Canal

Just waiting for some post to arrive in the morning before moving off tomorrow.  It gave me a chance to catch up on some paperwork and a bit of a spring clean of some of the cupboard areas today.. You know I still haven’t fully sorted the boxes after our move from No Problem 1 a year ago, but I have always known where everything is.  Now though, things are in better order!

Look at this!!

At last No Problem has a licence on view in the window… Officially legal at last!

I forgot to mention last night about Staffordshire Fire Brigade giving a Fire Safety Awareness Event at the Marina here at Great Haywood on Saturday next.  I have heard on the grapevine towpath telegraph that they will be giving free smoke alarms to those that request a safety check.  The Marina told me that anybody can go in to the event.  Might be nice for some who are local to take advantage of a safety check and to have a look inside the new Marina too.

Boat and Caravan Show Day..

Moored Great Haywood, Trent and Mersey Canal

Early start then, and it wasn’t long till we were on the train to Birmingham International Airport.  Really handy by train the NEC is, and only a short walk undercover from the station to the first of the 5 halls that were used this year.  But before we were allowed in the halls the bags were checked out by a very keen little dog…

This seemed a very young dog, at the moment of the pic he is sniffing away at the pink bag tail wagging enjoying his work.  But soon we were into the first of the halls, the hall with the boats in of course!

Lots of narrowboats were on show and there were long lines of people waiting to go aboard to look at how we live in a hallway and float in the English Countryside.. I hope they enjoyed.. but I was more interested in other stuff.. well all stuff really. 

Having had a quick look round the boat hall, we then set off to have a look at what was in the other 4..

Now then, this is something else.. you probably can’t quite make out what it is, but you will recognise Vic on the far side looking in.. It is a jacuzzi/spa/whirlpool.. We simply loved it.. huge it was, and I was wondering what boat, caravan or tent this would actually fit in!.. For sure it was one of those things that you buy a shed for and have it out in the garden.. but it had a tele to watch while you enjoyed the bubbles, and over on the side by Vic was even a playstation docking system for the gameboy!!  Not only that, but also a docking station and speaker system for an ipod next door to that tele!!  WOW!!

Anyway, back to the real world, we entered the hall with those wagons come holiday homes.. I went in and took a look at one.. Jeeeeeeez.  The sides actually come out when they are stationary, and the bedroom is at the back,over the top of the garage!!.. Errrrr yes garage!  A small car will actually fit in the back of the wagon!.. I found it very hard not to have a giggle as I left the motorhome past those looking to try and sell it to me!

There was so much to see, so next was some caravan/camping/boating accessories and the best stand there was Towsure.  What a huge stand, we spent ages wandering around looking at all the bits and bobs.. I think they sell just about everything available by way of accessories, and if you are going to the show that stand is an absolute must..

Smev had a stand somewhere in one of the halls.. I say that because although I started out quite organised as to the order of the day.. we wandered around so much that we were going from hall to hall without even knowing.. but anyway they had a stand, and I have one of their cookers.. in fact I just love it except that I have one of the tiniest of rubber ‘holes’ missing that the grill bits that go over the gas jets fit into.. “Don’t suppose you have any of those” says I pointing to the bit I wanted.. He went over to the cupboard and produced a large bag full of the things and promptly gave me about 20 of them to put in my pocket.. Magico!!!   See if you don’t ask you don’t get!

OK.. so what did I buy I feel you are all asking….

A super brush that should wash No Problem with no problem.  Just a bucket needed and this bit of kit, and it sucks up nice clean water from the bucket through a hose, with a non return valve, which comes out at a brush.. scrub scrub.. one clean boat very little water!…..

2 cotton mats that soak up wet doggy feet as well as mine as we walk into No Problem….

A magic shammy that will soak up coca cola when I spill it on the floor or on the mats and will make them bone dry.. remains to be seen, but HE made it work!… Oh and got two as a show special.. yeah yeah yeah OK……

And my pièce de résistance……..

YUM!   This is our tea this evening being cooked on this fantastic grill thingy.. you just chuck all the food on, and the fat just runs off into a drip tray underneath which is half filled with water… errrrrr this is hard to explain.. so there is no spitting and no fatty food.. when the fat hits the water it causes steam which in turn helps to keep the food moist.  In fact you could use say apple juice instead of water to make pork chops taste even better.. ho hum, this meal was really good this evening..

And of course there was my wish list… top of which at this show was the fantastic satellite dish that folds down.. then when you moor up, you just press a button and up it goes.. not only that but round it goes too and locks onto the satellite!.. Just think, no more swinging the dish in the wind and rain..

2^nd on my wish list was a bbq I took a fancy to from Mailspeed.. The Cobb Stainless Steel one..

3^rd was a very lightweight gas cylinder.. hopefully one day they will replace the heavy ones we all have at the moment..

Well I can have a wish list!!!

All too soon it was time to go… what a great, great time we had, loved it.. but I will be back in May.. a poster reminded me…

Hooray, No Problem turns south at Great Haywood

Moored Great Haywood, Trent and Mersey Canal

The weather might be freezing but we have turned No Problem to the south at last, ready to make our way to the River Nene.  We are hoping to be there within the next three or four weeks, and as long as there are no floods, will enjoy that for a month or so before going across the Middle Levels to East Anglia for the summer.

But at the moment, like everybody else, we are going nowhere.. having said that, there are a few hire boats on the move now that it is half term, and both yesterday and today during the afternoon one has broken the ice followed by a few narrowboats on the move once the ‘ice breaker’ has gone through.

I had my last check up at the dentist today which completes my long drawn out treatment thank goodness, and as soon as we can we will be off on our way.  Tomorrow though, we are going to the NEC in Birmingham to visit the Boat Caravan and Outdoor Show.  I am looking forward to picking up some ideas, and to have a look at any new technology around.

Meg’s progress is really good, her training over the last 2 months has turned her into a really nice dog.  She is enjoying life to the full.. here, on the left, enjoying walking and playing next to the canal…

Oh and her favourite pastime, AMBUSH!!….

Spot her high on the right between the trees, but Lucy has her in sight.. she has been spotted!!

I will miss this area very much, having really enjoyed the dry, mud free towpaths of the Staff and Worcs Canal and the Shroppie, it has been a real pleasure being around here.  People that I have met too have been fantastic.  I have lots of fond memories to take with me to the East, but I will be back, that I do promise myself.

WOW Oh so spring like at Great Haywood..

Tixall Lock to Great Haywood, 1 mile 0 locks

But I wasn’t out in the glorious weather.. I was in giving No Problem a good going over with mop and cloth.  I don’t like doing housework.. I like walking and enjoying being outside, but I had decided yesterday that whatever the weather I would be a good girl and do a bit of that housework stuff!

Ah but it didn’t take too long

Lucy and Meg cause a lot of hairs and dust about the place, I am just so glad we have the wooden flooring it makes things so much easier.  A quick brush each day will do for ages, but in the end paw marks start showing which means housework time!

But before all that and over breakfast what more could anyone want than to sit by the window and watch the lambs playing in the field right by the boat….

Their mums were much further away enjoying a bit of peace and quiet while these friends played..  wonderful

We pulled the pins just after lunch and cruised the short distance to Great Haywood passing Swivel Bridge on the way…

I have always wondered why this was called Swivel Bridge.. I guess there must have been a reason when it was named…

Unfortunately I won’t be able to do another blog until next weekend, so look out for the next one in a weeks time or so..

Don’t forget to take a look at some of the links on the left of the blog..My satellite and Internet set ups.. an interview I did on Radio Shropshire.. How to get Mr Tesco to deliver etc.

I am not sure if those that read the blog through the various news readers actually see the left hand column of the blog pages, but there are lots of links there of interest that you might want to have a look at.. also the picture album links are there too as well as the archives of the blog going back to July 2004.

Have a good week you all..

Meeting people day.. oh and more logs at Tixall

Deptmore Lock to Tixall Lock, Staffs & Worcs Canal, 4.5 miles 1 lock

It was one of those days where I stopped and chatted to lots of people.. or they stopped and chatted to me.  Maybe I was glowing after losing a stone.. ha, but more like it was yet another sunny day and everyone was feeling good!

Fiona of NB Epiphany left a comment the other day about the old lock cottage at Deptmore Lock, and she asked me if it was boarded up.. well today I met the lady who lives there.  Vic had noticed her reading a book when he put his nose against the window thinking the place was abandoned when we came past the other day..

She was just off shopping! ..

Her only mode of transport.. there are no roads to this cottage.. and here she is with her bags and a stool for sitting on as she drives the launch to Radford Bank a mile or so along the Canal…

I had heard that this cottage was once for sale, and I thought she was a new owner, but says she “I have been here for over 40 years”.. She did look well, and to her travelling by this mode to the town was just her way of life.. now that is remote for you.  I suppose she has somewhere to pick up the post… I suppose there are lots of things to organise if you only have this mode of transport…. or is there?  Well we don’t have a car either do we and have to go everywhere by boat.. ho hum.. much the same!

Tim was working hard today onboard his boat fixing up a canopy…

No, it isn’t a new version of a sun roof opening with shade..  This is Tim Salt of Staffordshire Canopies, and here you have a sneak preview of a new design of canopy for trad narrowboats.  This is a prototype he was finalising as we passed.  As I write this I just phoned Tim to check that it was OK to put this pic on the blog. 

He told me on the phone that it comes in two colours, or a mix of the two.. mmm that is interesting.  One great thing about this canopy, I believe, is that Tim does not have to come out to a narrowboat to measure to be able to make one..

Tim and Lisa make the canopies on their boat Hundred Akers.  They have made all the canopies back and front for No Problem.  Nothing is ever too much trouble for Tim, and he will travel far to get things just right.. I’ll put his phone number here, not because I am on commission, but because they are really good at their job and because I fully recommend them to anyone wanting a canopy done.. 07761 432 092..

We stopped just past Tim’s at Milford Wharf to fill up with water and while that was doing we had lunch before pulling the pins and moving down to where we cut some fantastic logs last time we passed.. I expected all the wood to have gone, but hey hey, nobody had taken any.. so we got a bit more!…

It’s that man again with logs!!..

Good lot there eh?

I like them like that, huge great rounds, one chopped up will last a whole day in the woodburner..

Put the pins in a bit further along and took Lucy and Meg for a stroll along the towpath towards Tixall Wide.. “Ah you must be Sue and these must be ‘the girls’”.. Blog reader Paul?  I didn’t ask a name, but his narrowboat Esta Mona is really nice.  We had a short chat and I walked on. 

But not far, when I came across the Challenger shareboat Vulcan, and stopped to chat to the couple who were currently aboard about the situation with the management of these shareboats having gone into liquidation.. “With this particular boat we have all been in contact with one another and although it gave us an awful shock when we first heard about the receiver being called in, we are now discussing whether to manage the boat between the twelve of us that share her or to find another company to do the management”

I was pleased that the situation is sorting itself or seemingly so with all the owners..  Lucy demanded I went a bit further after keeping her waiting on her walk by chatting, and I arrived back at No Problem with the light fading fast…

Penkridge Market is great, so is the weather..

Teddesley to Deptmore Lock, Staff and Worcs Canal, 2.5 miles 2 locks

Up and about fairly early this morning to get chores done and the dogs walked before catching the bus from the road just by the lock at Teddesley Boat Centre.. We both hailed the bus down, crossing fingers that he would stop.. it’s not a regular bus stop you see, but I have stopped a bus from there before and it worked last time!

It must have been a desperate wave, because the car in front of the bus indicated to come into the side of the road, and stopped to see what the matter was.. I pointed to the bus behind, and she was somewhat annoyed.. I wonder.. did she not look in the mirror when indicating to stop??  But a good samaritan surely this lady was.. I think it was great that she was not in such a hurry to check out that we were OK on the side of the road waving like mad!  Well done that lady..

The market was great.. we spend a couple of hours wandering around.  There was an auction on.. well a couple actually.  One was in a building and had all sorts of house clearance stuff, furniture and tools.. lots of men around the tools.. there was some old fashioned stuff too.. I would have liked to have bid on a couple of bits, but living on a narrowboat means I can’t hoard like I used to!

The other auction was for some chickens, oh and 4 Muscovy ducks would you believe.. also on the auction was eggs!.. Duck eggs, goose eggs, bantams, chickens white and brown big and small.. amazing stuff!

However, we did not come home empty handed.. some nice fresh veg of course, some other handy bits and bobs and a catch for one of the cupboard doors that we have been looking for since last March!  We got three of the catches when we saw them back then, because the shop only had three but we had four doors to do.. now they are all done!

Back on the bus and once again asked the driver to stop by the bridge which he duly did, then after homemade soup we pulled the pins to cruise for a couple of hours in the glorious sunshine..

Look at that sky.. and hey look at Vic in his shirt sleeves as he nearly does the splits kicking the gates open..

But it saves him walking round by pushing the far gate open and walking back to open the other gate by hand..

I really enjoyed the short cruise today, for once I was really warm, and now I can’t wait for the summer, and hope that it won’t be like last year, when we only had 2 bbq’s because of the weather, and even then as I finished doing one of them it started to rain!

A lovely mooring to put the pins in.. We hadn’t decided where to moor this evening, deciding to stop when we saw somewhere nice so we could enjoy the rest of the sunshine across the countryside..

Bit more effort to cut up some logs for drying under the front cratch cover, then Vic dived into the engine bay to bale out some water in the bottom of the bilge.. a leaking drip basin the cause.. new one picked up today though.

So a very full and enjoyable day today, and now I am going to watch the footy.. England had better win!!

New Vents and a walk in the Park..

Moored Teddesley, Staffs and Worcs Canal

Vic put some new vents into the bottom of three cupboard doors, and we hoped this would stop the dampness at the bottom of each of them, but this morning, disappointingly, we still found damp in those places.

I don’t know if it is because the insulation of No Problem is polystyrene and not foam or whether that wouldn’t make any difference.. obviously there is no ‘through’ flow of air to those areas.  I was thinking of getting a very low voltage fan, something similar to a fan that cools a tower computer.. for sure I have some dc wiring in the places where they would need to be.. time for me to think..

It rained for most of today which gave me time to catch up on a couple of mapping projects I am doing, and I enjoyed that, but later this afternoon the rain moved away and the sun appeared, and so did the collies from their beds… “Woof!..Hey come on, its not raining now”.. Those two almost talk to me they do!

Grabbed my walking stick, and grabbed Vic and we had an extremely enjoyable late afternoon stroll…

Here the sun is low in the sky, and the colours looking across Teddesley Park were absolutely stunning.. There really are some lovely walks in this area.. And this at Teddesley Park Bridge…

Off to Penkridge market tomorrow on the bus.. well that is the reason we are here, it’s a super market, I went when we came by this way before.. need a new long handled brush and a bucket, that will be fun without a car to transport it!

Through the snow to Teddesley

Today – Moored Teddesley, Staff & Worcs
Weekend – Radford Bank to Teddesley, Staff & Worcs Canal, 4 miles 3 locks

We are not going much further along the Staff & Worcs Canal, and over the weekend we moved south to Acton Trussell and moored by the lock there.  It’s a nice mooring.  We put the pins in the same place before when granddaughters Kiera and Jessica came to visit last year.  I went walking on Saturday, but soon returned.. the wind was just too strong and cold, it was cutting into me.. “Tomorrow” I told the collies much to their annoyance!

But before that on Saturday morning we had a lovely cruise from Radford Road to Acton Trussell, here approaching Deptmore Lock, the only lock to work through on Saturday.  There was some snow on the ground, but the day was lovely and sunny..

Lucy and Meg loved the snow, and had fun running up and down and rolling in the cold stuff…. brrrrrr, still I suppose they have heavy coats on and probably don’t feel the cold!..

On Sunday we decided to move again.. it was rather windy, but we need to be back at Great Haywood by next weekend and wanted to moor at Midland Swindlers Chandlers, which is next door to the Teddesley Boat Centre.  I wasn’t sure if we would be able to turn there, it would depend on how many hire boats were in the basin.. so bearing in mind that we might have to go through another couple of locks to Penkridge to wind (turn) we pulled the pins at Acton Trussell, through the lock by the mooring and along the straight canal by Teddesley Park to the lock by the Boat Centre. 

Handily there we only a few boats in the basin, so I would be able to wind No Problem there.. well try to, as the wind (blowy type!) was high.  I left NP in the lock and walked a little further on to see what I would have to do to turn.. a boat on the far bank I had to consider too.. but with Vic on the towpath once we were almost past the point of half way round, he took the stern rope and pulled the boat the rest of the way round.. much easier than trying to power round yesterday in all that wind..

Because we didn’t have to go all the way to Penkridge and back I decided to take the dogs for a good walk to the west.. going under the M6 and over the railway to hunt for a geocache which I found…

Sat down to breakfast this morning and was well entertained by this narrowboat being craned off a lorry and into the canal.

Here you can see through the window.. the old fashioned crane is just about to put the narrowboat into the boatyard’s basin..

Today was nice as you can see in the pic, although there was a period of rain around lunch time it didn’t stop me walking through Teddesley Park shortly after the rain gave way to sunshine… I love walking through these great old Parks and across the parkland.  I nearly always see deer.. but was totally surprised by seeing this huge herd of deer in the middle of a field of winter wheat…

Bit far away, but I didn’t have my good camera with me today, so took this with the mobile phone.  There are no fences to keep them in this field, it is totally open, but I guess the herd does belong to the Park itself, but it is really nice to see a huge group of them roam virtually free..

Lucy and Meg were tired when we got back.. 6 miles plus this afternoon, loved it I did.. Mind, I was a bit tired too!

Quick visit south for me..

Moored Radford Bank, Staff & Worc Canal

Had to nip ‘dan saff’ yesterday morning for a meeting and only just got back.. sheeeeeeesh the train was so full on the way back, I am surprised it is allowed.  If ever there was an accident nobody would be able to get out.. madness…

I was sorry to miss Paul Balmer who visited yesterday.. I have done that to Paul before, gone off just as he arrives!!  Sorry Paul ..

I am not sure what we are doing tomorrow, depends on the weather, although Vic said the weather is going to be good, I want to watch the rugby in the afternoon, mind you the England game isn’t on till 4.30ish I don’t think.. which reminds me I must get out the St George flags and get them flying..

Walking is certainly on the agenda tomorrow sometime.. for sure the two collies were pleased to see me back!