To there and back again.

We only stayed the one night in Willington, I had written a note to my mother so as I walked down into the village to post it I took my life in my hands crossing several roads, it's on a route into Derby and the cars zip about in three directions.  However letter posted and milk brought from Co-Op back I trotted to WaL and away we went.  

I was walking this morning, I'm keeping up with my walking although I have happily dropped the work outs that I adopted a year ago associated with a regime when I did lose my target weight, I like the walking bit and do that at home on the seafront most mornings when David is away hitting small white balls with sticks, I am a keen follower of current affairs but frankly World Events are heartbreaking, complex and rather suffocating so this morning I had rock music playing in my headphones.  

In places it was a most attractive walk, here is a large reminder of this area's industrial heritage.  I thought these were gradually being demolished.

Wild Garlic?  I have lost part of my sense of smell from Covid.

Both the Primroses and the Cowslips are a real reminder of home for me, both growing on the farm, I thought they were only found on chalk Downlands but here they are.

Although David had thought we would make it to Swarkestone and turn there to retrace our steps, today we had decided to turn above Stenson lock about 4 or 5 miles short of Swarkestone.  I got there first on foot and phone David to say that there was a widebeam moored up and I thought we could happily moor in front of him.  But as I got alongside him the helm appeared and began to cast off.  I told him that WaL was coming along and that it was my estimation that they would meet on that first bend....

Alright duck (or douk) he said.  He was quite small in stature, I feared he may not see fully, I called David back quickly and told him that the widebeam was under way and headed for him.

Well true to my expectations the widebeam headed straight for him only pulling over at the last moment, he called to David that it was too shallow for him over there, but that's big fat bullies for you, they will plough through. 

Words fail me.  

When the widebeam had gone and David had calmed down again I said to him that he ( the WB) had been moored on a stretch with a bold No Mooring sign as it was right opposite the wee marina here, so that's alright then.

So while David turned around, or winded, I hopped onboard to use the loo, handy having a loo half way into a walk.

Looks tight but no boats or walls were damaged during the filming of this manoeuvre 

This is where the widebeam was moored.

We would have aimed back for Willington had David not have noticed coming along a single mooring on concrete with a long unbroken rubber protection half way back, I hadn't seen it as much of my walking is looking at the ground in front of me to prevent my customary tripping over a matchstick.

It was still free so we hopped on it.  It was pretty chilly and windy by now so the heating went on, coffee was served and later supper was sausages, chips and peas.

Much later the small gale had ceased and this happened. 

A swan, a wolf and an expresso martini.

In the morning, not early, we are on holiday after all, off we set towards Willington, but immediately having Burton-on-Trent to get through.  I remember when we came through for only the second time in 14 years a year or two back how very pleasant Burton is.  The canal largely is though a residential area where the residents keep their gardens looking pretty, neat and tidy and nearly every one has mowed the wee bit of verge on the outside of their property to the towpath.

Then of course is the nasty section of the canal right next to the oh so busy A38, I don't like driving on it let alone boating next to it. 

We pay the ridiculously overpriced M6 Toll road at £10.50 now  and that is not even for the whole length, but enough of that world of driving when we are on holiday.

Ghastly A38 on top of the canal

But look the other way and its so attractive, but remember you can't hear the traffic.

See these prints?  This is the gunwales shore side of WaL this morning, I reckon they are either a Fox or a Lynx possibly a wolf.

Got to be a wolf 

What say you?

This building is actually called Branston Locks.  Its parallel to Branston Lock, I wonder what it is.

Horrid swan breeding.

Below, this was the only shot I could get of a hint of Burton-on-Trent's history of brewing ..... Its of empty beer barrels.  I wonder just how many microbreweries have opened in England in the last ten years?

Well I have put that question into Mr Google and it seems that by 2021 a record number to reach 2,400 start ups had opened then many got clobbered by COVID.  By January 2026 there were or even are 1,578, evidently a net loss of 137.  

Gosh aren't figures boring. 

Empty beer barrels for your delight.

Now this was my view of the rather wonderful Monks Bridge.  Been here since the early 1200's, although much of what you can see here only dates from the 1400's so pretty modern.

 

Now this view is from the other side and I wish to thank Mr Wikipedia for the kind loan.

Well Reader I have to say that the rest of the run into Willington was rather Deadly Dull.

As we came into the town it seemed full, but as we passed the service point and associated men from CART on ladders who looked to be fixing the gutters of the Elsan Point, the overflowing bins were a bit of a horrifying sight.  But just over the way was a WaL sized slot on the two day moorings.

Brilliant.

There was a bit of lolling about, I brought three books with me and I have read 1.5 of them, luxury.  The weather turned cold, cold for me that is.

We walked down to the Dragon, a large pub with several areas to eat in plus a covered but open to the elements area, that was busy as was the pub!

Table for two please....?

Have you booked? Gawd, we looked around at the packed pub, yes here we are.

I text my son-in-law Leon who is from the Midlands well south of here, asking him if I am officially in the Great North, I knew I must be as women were dressed in tee shirts and off the shoulder tops.  

No Lisa that's the Midlands!

Astonishing, I had on a coat, a vest, a top, a sleeveless jacket and a wool wrap on.

Supper was lamb shoulder steak, with mash, braised red cabbage and and  red wine gravy followed by sticky toffee pudding.

Then these;

But in case you think I overindulged, relax, mine was a decaf.

A short walk back to WaL and strangely I had warmed up. 

 

I've not been called too posh before.... have you?

 I set off walking the next morning.  I'd left David to untie the ropes alone meaning to be ahead of him to set the lock.

This first lock into Alrewas is an absolute brute, when I arrived one bottom gate was open, it's a swinger, I closed it using every ounce of my strength and ran to open the top paddle thus getting water into the lock, holding the gate shut before the gate had a chance to swing open again.

A brutal start to the day.

I'd passed a moored up boat immediately before the lock with a man sat in the cratch, usually boaters routinely greet each other but he avoided eye contact, fair enough, free country.

When David came into the lock laughing and told me that when he passed the man, he said down his phone to his caller 

"Hold on I'll call you back"

He then called to David "That boat is too posh to be a narrowboat"  Now David didn't know if he was serious, being sarcastic or saying it in jest, but he wasn't smiling.

David just laughed.

The prettiest cottage I saw from the tow path.

We filled up at the water point.

I wish these historic mile markers could be restored.

 

Look at that brickwork and chimneys.

So from the end of Alrewas is a small section of river, when we got to the lock onto the river the warning board was yellow, there are three categories Reader in Alaska, light traffic lights, Green is go with gay abandon, yellow; Proceed with caution  and red; Absolutely no go, plus your boat is not insured on Red Boards.

I was going to walk anyway, David was perfectly happy so off he went.

And off he went onto the river section.

My first sightings of Red Robin, Ragged Robin, Robin of the Hedge, that was from my children's book of wild flowers, otherwise, its  known as Campion.

I had a bit of trouble keeping up but even then he said the current wasn't strong.

I did walk on for a chunk but got back onboard after doing my steps for the day, I have to say the bit I walked was deadly dull, in part away from the A38 but mostly a green tunnel.

We finally moored up at Branston Water Park.

Supper was fish and chips and a good long read.

 

Short cruise and a leisurely afternoon

I'm going to gather a few days together as we have done ridiculously little.

We left the mooring a bit late in the morning, but the volunteers had arrived at about 9am.  Three on duty, so those locks were a doddle and without wishing to sound like an American talking to soldiers, I thanked all three for their service.

The volunteer here was insistent that I walk around the corner down the Coventry canal which is immediately on the left and get a photo of the pub and the spring blossom, he didn't understand that I have only taken that shot previously and I wanted a different view.

The last lock outside Fradley.

In fact this was the morning, on our own so very peaceful.

There was rain forecast for the afternoon, I was delighted as I'd brought three books with me.

We were aiming for Alrewas.  David had been out cycling this morning and part of his 20 miles he'd come along the towpath between Fradley junction and the village of Alrewas and seen several boats moored up on a long straight section, staked but in lovely sunny country positions.  

"Shall we look and see if there is space?"

Oh yes says I.

So that is where we ended up, as we came to the last lock in Fradley and the skies turned darker and darker, I suggested that we just take that last available mooring here but he said nooooo its not going to rain until 2pm.

Well Reader I have to tell you that I find him very irritating when he does this, flies in the face of evidence right in front of his eyes and dismisses it.

I walked along, all the boats had gone and we did moor up.

It poured at 2pm.  Very irritating.

Supper was an invention of leeks, spinach and chickpeas all in a baked kind of risotto loaded with cheese at the end. 

  

To Rugeley and beyond!

We'd rather squashed ourselves in last night in a big space but right next to a winding hole and on a bend.  We both paced it out for size for a 70' boat to turn and after a bit of chin stroking and head scratching we decided it would be fine, also that we were going to be onboard if there were any difficulties we would be on hand to shift.

 We were rather surrounded by trading boats selling all sorts, but there had been a floating market at Great Haywood over the Easter weekend, I knew this as I had almost fallen over one of the signs on the towpath as I had walked through Great Haywood down to the first lock at Colwich.  We think some of them are likely making their way towards Crick in a month's time.

David coming through Plum Pudding cutting.  For the benefit of my new Reader in Alaska, in years gone by this was a wee tunnel, but either subsidence or it fell in so now its a tight cutting.  Crew members are supposed to go through on foot to check nothing is coming and some do!

First clutch of mallard ducklings of the spring for me.

Slow down says I when I caught this glimpse of the first Bluebells, yes aren't they lovely says David, but we do have them in our garden!  

Who knew?  So the first Bluebells I've seen outside of my garden.

Worth another mention, we saw this a couple of years ago way down on the Grand Union canal, it so made me laugh, as I have often said this.

Slightly sad sight of Woodend Cottage.  Still fenced off and unlived in due to the works surrounding it here of HS2.  For those readers overseas, HS2 is a highly controversial high speed railway line costing money this country can now ill afford, due to Covid and high numbers of people now working from home and conducting their business via Zoom, I think it will never be appreciated.  This cottage was isolated by the works and out of range of emergency services but when the works are finished it is supposed to be lived in again.  It is the most lovely setting..... apart form the new railway going nearby.

I walked down to the next lock from here and beat David to the lock, we did want to stop in Fradley to check out The Swan pub, I couldn't discover from my source today, that is to say the volunteer Lockie as he'd only been here a short while, if the pub had indeed change hands again, we both had really enjoyed fish 'n chips in the sun last visit and I was keen to repeat the pleasure.

Always pretties along this stretch, the yellow flag Irisis are also just poking through the grasses along the banks to flower next month.

When I got to the lock, ten minutes before David, there was a WaL sized space, I can only think that someone had just departed as it was only about 11am...  So for the second time we rubbed our chins and  thought about the sin of it and then decided it would be alright, just.

We were overlapping the lock landing a smidge but using the first bollard to tie up on. 

This was the lovely view, open fields, no tall hedges and solar.

It looks more sinful from this angle than it actually was.

Now on the off chance we did google the pub, and found out that they stop serving food several days a week at 4pm.  We are old and lie to eat about 5pm to 6pm so that was lucky.  We ambled down to The Mucky Duck and did have a nice late-ish lunch. 

Now you might remember that the last time we came past this fabulous property literally on the junction of the Coventry canal was for sale.  

I begged David to buy it for me.  He said no Lisa we have small grandchildren but just look what the new owners have achieved, clearing away the brambles and installing a childproof fence and some new windows.

So that's us today, about a 90 minute cruise, coffee, read my book, blogged and well, went out for lunch in true holiday  and restful fashion.

I had lasagna, homemade is a word often banded about on menus' but in this case it was. 
  

Late Late Late

 Apologies and all that for my tardiness, but there is a good reason.  My poor mother.

Easter was planned, we'd even been shopping!  Then at about 8pm one evening before Easter a phone call because my mother had pressed her personal alarm.

Off we went, David already in his JimJams, to rescue my mum who we both expected to have fallen, but no, with chest pain, blue fingers, white as a sheet myself and the ambulance crew thought heart, a scan or two and a night or three in A&E it proved to be gall stones, two of them.

Nine nights in all and my mother is now the self appointed ambassador for our new hospital, the food, all the staff and the NHS in general.  When I was visiting all staff be them doctors nurses or porters waved to her and she back to them.

She came to ours for a couple of nights and then back to hers, she lives alone and she's 95.

I'm pretty proud.

So as I have hinted in a previous post we were to have met up with NB Caxton and NB Hogarth for a jaunt right the way down to Gloucester but this has had to be abandoned for this year.  

David and I are now shorter on time, I didn't really want to be on the river as keeping the car handy is far more problematic in case I have to be home again for my mum.

So as the other two boats decided to wait for us, Caxton's crew have delayed their return from France and Hogarth's crew are enjoying spring at home in their garden, David and I have a quick fortnight now to go, well wherever we wanted, then home to check on my mum (golf will be in that mix), then fingers crossed for a rendezvous with the two boats.

The Staffs and Worcester canal to Stourport, the Caldon canal, the Coventry canal and the Trent and Mersey canal were all in the discussions and the Trent and Mersey won.

It's a nice case of a week out, see how far we get and a week back.  That is the limit of the deadline, just how I like it.

Looking fabulous but overall I prefer the white blossom.

Glorious morning when we left our mooring.

Approaching the entrance to the left.

A swan who usually nests thereabouts giving two poxy Canadian Geese what for, but they came back for more.

David coming into Great Haywood lock.

And here he is leaving.  I walked down to Colwich lock.

Is this a wee violet growing on the lock gates?  Too pretty to be pulled out.

Yellow pretties

Purple pretties.

and pink pretties

Gorgeous cottages almost at Colwich lock.

The beginnings of Cannock Chase, a signal to me of leaving properly.

Going over the River Trent at Rugeley

Best name for a long time I've seen.

So that was our first day out, 4 or 5 hours to get past Rugeley.

Supper was that salmon pasta dish at 500 calories that has become a firm favourite.  Actually left overs we brought up with us but I forgot to bring the Christmas turkey curry that's still in the freezer...... from 2024.