At last I hear you cry... they move.

So today we moved on, the forecast said rain later.   Leaving the lovely Tixall Wide, but as we were putting on our shoes a boat came past us going the same way.  Well its August and that's what happens on a lovely and popular route for private and hire boats alike, we took a few minutes tying laces and locating the tiller then after folding up the tonneau cover and pushing off we were smiling and enjoying this "Holiday".

Five minutes later there was the first lock of the day and we had already caught up that boat in front....

I jumped off to do this lock and was met instantly by rain.  I do think the weather forecasters should be made to stand out in the rain when they persistantly get it wrong, that might improve things.

I went inside the boat and did my yoga workout.  My back has been a bit of a pain this summer, I know why, I just need to get back into the groove and do my homework.

As we progressed along the way we traded places and I drove WaL into the locks.  David has been encouraging me to drive for ages plus David Lewis has given me endless lessons, this works as Mr Lewis and I are not related. 

But my David really enjoys doing Lock Wheeling as he gets to meet nice ladies, lets face it hardly any men do the locks, but as a new convert I am a strident supporter of men reversing roles, making the coffee, fetching jackets and apples.  I even met a lady who said her husband "Won't allow" her to drive!!!!!!!   My views on this are not printable.  Even if a scape or two occurs, black paint is easily applicable at the end of the season, even David and I have managed that and usually hardly anyone dies.

This was the last lock before Penkridge, a stinker, even he struggled.

We sat in the sun in a very sheltered spot in Penkridge, it was in the shelter of a garden fence that the owners had mown nicely on the towpath side...  Then later we went biking.  Its a bit uphill he said, but only four miles.  Well I did struggle, he went well ahead and each time stopped for a drink, by the time I caught him up, I didn't dare stop gasp gasp!

We came to here. 
To Cannock Chase Commonwealth and German Cemetery.  A very touching a beautiful place surrounded by trees.

These are German graves from the First and Second World Wars.

Sorry I have clipped this frame, but to the men of four Zeppelins.

Heartbreaking simply to read the ages of the fallen, oh so young.  The German dead were brought to England some as wounded and some as prisioners.  Treated and then many died after the end of the First World War of Spanish Influenza.  
In the Commonwealth section very many New Zealanders.  There had been a training camp nearby in the First World War and when injured they came back from the front.  
So very very far from home.  Even a family member from my Son-in-laws family was buried at Guildford, his grave never to be seen by his family back home.

Heather in full bloom all over Cannock Chase

A sexless statue at rest.

It was down hill literally all the way home, in my ears all I could hear was David behind me yelling FASTER FASTER...  When we got back down to Penkridge and the flat, we passed over the M6, poor souls on there.

M6, I always feel smug when boating and come across a motorway.

Showers, aperitifs and a short walk brought us to HERE  Flames Indian Restaurant, as recommended by two Bloggers, NB Waka Huia and NB Willow.  It was delicious.  

Now another reason to stop at Penkridge each time.