Jasper's in Penkridge.

 Saturday 30th September 2023 at Acton Trussell.

The last day of September and a beautiful sunrise.

Quite a few locks to do today but this is one of our favourites. Rodbaston Lock, in the foreground, is a pretty lock but is right next to the M6, just yards away. The truck in the background is doing 60mph down the motorway. We always look out for this lock when we are driving north on the M6 as you can see it clearly as you whizz past; M always says she just can't get her head round the two different lifestyles - the gentle narrowboating one at 3mph and the "rush and tear" one of the motorways.

At the lock, we came to the aid of an American couple who were having problems opening the bottom gates. They were so pleased to see us, as they said they had been waiting twenty minutes for a helping hand to come along!  The lady hadn't understood how the paddles worked and so hadn't been able to open the bottom gates! They were part of a flotilla of four boats doing the Four Counties Ring. All four couples had done boating together in America, mainly on big rivers like the Mississippi, and decided to come to England to try our "slightly smaller" canals (bit of a difference!). They loved the fact that they could do the locks themselves without needing staff to do it for them. As we continued, we met the other three boats in the flotilla and they all seemed to be enjoying the experience.

This was a very upmarket tree house complete with spiral staircase. A child's dream and possibly a parent's nightmare?

At Penkridge, we moored up so that M could walk in to town for a "few bits". This is Jasper's, an incredibly popular bakery. It s a real experience to shop there!  The queue outside snaked down the pavement; M was number sixteen.  Then when she finally gained entrance, she found there were at least ten customers packed inside the tiny shop. Business is so brisk that the counter, which was only about eight feet long, was staffed by six servers, all working flat out. M bought lemon cake, flapjacks, muffins and a pastie. When she went to pay she was alarmed to find that they don't take cards! She just managed to scrape up enough cash, including her precious "trolley pound coin" to pay. Afterwards, at the Co-op, she had to ask for "cash back", as did the lady in front of her, who had also been to Jasper's and had been cleaned out of cash too!

As we left Penkridge, we were greeted by this very enthusiastic character who waved to us chreerfully  as we passed.

Just past Acton Trussell, we moored up for the night.

Today:6 miles, 9 locks and 3.8 hours.

Trip: 303 miles, 132 locks and 161.7 hours.