To Huddlesford for the Heritage Boat Rally This Weekend.

Thursday 19th September, 2013 at Huddlesford Junction.
We arrived back at MM just after lunchtime. The sun was shining and, after putting the kettle on, we introduced Captain Guy, Richard and Eeyorelet to their new travelling companions - Jim and Rosie.

We have been searching for Jim and Rosie for years, but they are almost impossible to obtain these days. They were a very generous gift for R's birthday from Peter Jillings and his P.A. Emma from TME, and we are absolutely thrilled with them.
We set off soon after, destination Huddlesford Junction, where there is a "gathering" of heritage boats this weekend in aid of the Lichfield & Hatherton Canals Restoration Trust and where we have also arranged to meet Terry Robertson and his good lady Pat. It was with Terry that we did our Helmsman's course five years ago.

On the way, we passed through Fradley Junction, one of the most picturesque and photographed junctions on the waterways. It has a pub called the "Swan" but known locally as the "Mucky Duck".

Here we said farewell to the Trent & Mersey Canal and started off down the Coventry Canal.
We have heard mixed reviews of the Coventry, but so far these upper reaches have been delightfully rural. As we approached Huddlesford Junction there was a long line of moored boats before the junction so we moored up and walked the last quarter mile to see what was going on.
At the junction there were already a number of classic boats moored up, including one which was,  to R's delight, a travelling chocolatier. Heaven on water! We chatted to the owner, who has been making and selling chocolate on his boat for 20 years.
Here at the junction, a mystery was resolved. In our frequent train journeys to the Midlands, we have often seen a canal junction from the train but have been unable to identify it. Was it Fradley or Fazeley? No - it was Huddlesford!

The junction used to be the start of the Lichfield Canal into Birmingham that closed in 1954, but there is a very active restoration group which is making excellent progress in trying to re-open it.
The Plough Inn at the junction came highly recommended, although with the reservation that it changed hands just two months ago. Anyway, we shall find out as we have booked in for dinner there tomorrow night.
A sign of the time of year, it gets dark so much earlier now. So we had an early night, after giving Rosie and Jim strict instructions not to get up to any mischief while we were sleeping. They are well known for getting into trouble when left alone!
Today: 6 miles, 3 locks and 4.0 hours.
Trip: 410 miles, 314 locks and 340.2 hours.