Marion Babysitting Grandchildren.

Saturday 28th June to Monday 30th June, 2014 at Lichfield.
Saturday morning early, we walked down to Rugeley train station and M went off to Oxted to babysit for Eva and Tilly. M was a little nervous to be looking after both of them, especially little Tilly who is only seven weeks old!  M was also staying overnight as Elle and Matt would not be back until very late.
R walked into Rugeley town centre for a "few bits" (for once, a very few, as he knew that he had to carry them!). Back on MM, he set off toward Fradley Junction.
There are moorings just above the two Fradley Locks, but the last space was taken by the boat in front of MM, so R took her down through the locks and turned on to the Coventry Canal where he moored up just south of the junction before walking back to the junction for tea.
Sunday morning, M was woken up by Tilly at 4:00am and so didn't get much sleep - but both Eva and Tilly were very good and (apart from a marked lack of sleep) M enjoyed herself.
R continued on down the Coventry Canal towards Lichfield and moored up just next to the new King's Orchard Marina. In the afternoon he walked in to Lichfield past the end of a private airstrip.

Lichfield was in festive mood with an Arts Festival in the pedestrianised centre of the town. The Industrial Revolution seems to have passed the town by and it is a beautiful example of a county town. R resolved to bring M in to see it when she was back.
On Monday, R cleaned MM's roof and then went into King's Orchard Marina to get a new gas bottle - the last one lasted one year less a day!
R walked in to Lichfield Station to meet M, whose train arrived on time - to the second! The walk back to MM was very pleasant, the last half from Streethay being along a narrow, overgrown footpath round the edge of a potato field. Staffordshire is well-known as a potato producing county; the reddish soil hereabouts obviously suits them.

MM was moored in a pretty, rural spot which was surprisingly quiet, given the proximity of the busy A38. We had a very welcome quiet afternoon reading, snoozing and then polishing brass.
In the early evening, we walked down to Huddlesford Junction, a picturesque spot where we had spent a happy weekend at their annual "Historic Boat Gathering" last September. The finger post points the way to Birmingham Ogley Junction - although it may take another decade before the restoration of that waterway is complete.

The towpath had just been mowed by the CRT men, leaving a most inviting grassy trail flanked by tall reeds. We could hear yellowhammers singing in the fields.

The Plough Inn stands beside the junction and we decided to treat ourselves to dinner there before walking back as the sun set. A very agreeable evening!
Three Days: 12 miles, 3 locks and 8.2 hours.
Trip: 25 miles, 8 locks and 15.4 hours.

Special Breakfast Memories of Hill Farm.

Friday 27th June, 2014 at Rugeley.
The forecast rain arrived overnight and it rained on and off until mid afternoon. But we can't complain, we have been lucky with the weather so far.
When R used to breed pigs, he always created huge bacon rashers that included the "back" bacon as well as the "streaky". Nick, the butcher at Aston Marina had specially cut some of this "whole" bacon for us and this morning R cooked bacon and eggs the way he used to at Hill Farm with the egg cooked, surrounded by the bacon.

The bacon was absolutely delicious and so we had an excellent breakfast to set us up for the day.

After a short wak over the bridge to the Great Haywood Farm Shop for a "few bits", we set off in gentle rain. At Haywood Lock we were second in a queue of four boats waiting to go through but everyone helped each other, grumbling in a good-natured way about the rain.
Shugborough Hall could just be glimpsed in the distance across the fields, but was soon out of sight.

Despite the rain, it was a lovely journey with mature beech and oak trees lining the waterway. Our only other lock today was at Colwich, one of our favourites. The last time that we came this way there was a curious herd of cows wandering slowly across the bridge and carefully watching our progress.

We moored up for the evening on the outskirts of Rugeley and shortly after, the sun came out.

M has to go home tomorrow to babysit Eva and Tilly, so we did a reconnaissance walk to the nearby station to see how long it will take in the morning. Twenty minutes! R will stay on MM and move her down to Lichfield to pick up M again on Monday.
Today: 5 miles, 2 locks and 3.1 hours.
Trip: 13 miles, 5 locks and 7.2 hours.

Shugborough Hall and the Admirable Admiral Anson.

Thursday 26th June, 2014 still at Great Haywood.
For once, we are going to spend a day being posh, instead of scruffy narrowboaters! Nearby Shugborough Hall came highly recommended, both by the canal guide books and by our narrowboating friends. We have passed it several times but never visited, either due to weather (rain!) or time constraints. However, today we have all day to enjoy it at our leisure.
We set off on foot down the towpath, pausing at the finger post at Haywood Junction. "Which way shall we go tomorrow?" thought R. We love canal junctions as they can take one anywhere (well, almost!).

A brief detour was required into the village itself to find a Post Office. It seemed fitting for two Hobbits to make a little pilgrimage to Great Haywood as it was here that J.R.R. Tolkien convalesced after catching trench fever during the Battle of the Somme.
We had the most marvellous day at Shugborough. The estate is huge and includes a "model" farm as well as a habitat for many endangered species such as otters and lapwings.
A guided tour of the main house was just starting and we quickly tagged on. M was convinced that our guide was really Lord Lichfield reincarnated - but he was certainly enthusiastic and very knowledgeable.  We learned that the central part of the house had been built by the Anson family in 1693 in quite a modest style.

Then Admiral Anson, in 1740, set out with eight ships and 1,800 men to attack the Spanish bullion ships in the Pacific. Storms round Cape Horn decimated his ships and scurvy decimated the crews, so much so that by the time they were in the Pacific only three ships and 335 men remained. Despite this, he managed to re-fit his ships and capture a series of prizes including the Spanish merchantship "Acapulco" carrying 1,313,843 pieces of eight and 35,682 ounces of silver. No small hoard!
He returned to England in 1744, having circulated the globe, a very rich man and extensively extended the house in a very elaborate style.

He was later Lord of the Admiralty and was largely responsible for turning the Admiralty from a rather ineffective mens' club into a very much more efficient body. As such he became one of the founding fathers of the Royal Navy.

The Anson family were later raised to the peerage as the Earls Lichfield.
Our real interest, however, lay elsewhere in the Servants' Quarters, the coachhouse, the kitchens, the farm, the working watermill and the walled garden (including a very happy looking sow).

Several of these were occupied by costumed staff doing their actual jobs.

We had a pancake made on the coal fired stove from buttermilk - delicious!

Not sure that M fancied doing the ironing with their elaborate iron-heating stove.

Finally, just before the tearoom closed, we sat down to tea and cakes.

M was curious about what job R might have liked to do, had he been in the Hall's employ in the heyday of the house. As M half expected, he said that he would like to have been a coachman - after all, they were among the few servants who got to travel outside the estate. R also guessed correctly that M would have liked to work in the large walled garden. Certainly not as one of the housemaids - they were forbidden to speak while on duty!
Today: Stayed moored up - just 2.4 hours to recharge the batteries.

A Visit to Two Spectacular Gardens.

Wednesday 25th June, 2014 at Great Haywood.
Awoke to a glorious morning, still and with a clear blue sky. Our friend Audrey on nb "Livein-G" had told us that the dawn chorus at Weston-upon-Trent is spectacular. She was right.

We had moored under a row of beautiful trees, including a magnificent beech, and the birdies serenaded us with their version of "Reveille" from 3:45am onwards. Magic! The local rooster on the other side of the canal joined in, and R kept thinking it was M's mobile phone!

Beside MM, on the towpath side, was the loveliest house with an absolutely beautiful garden. The owners happened to be in their garden and M complimented them on such a lovely sight. Bridget and Peter then very kindly invited us to look around. We spent a couple of very enjoyable hours with them admiring the spectacular flowerbeds that they had created from scratch in a mere two and a half years. We sat and had coffee with them on the lawn and then invited them to look round MM. We parted about lunchtime, promising to keep in touch. They are a delightful couple and were preparing the garden for an "Open Garden" weekend and we wished them luck.

So, it was lunchtime before we set off - but we are not in a hurry - narrowboaters never are!
We came down through Weston Lock and the delightfully named Hoo Mill Lock. As we passed Great Haywood Marina, the CRT chaps were doing dredging work and we caught a glimpse of what you might find at the bottom of the canal. Yeuk!!!

We moored up opposite the farm shop at Great Haywood. Like the shop at Aston, the farm shop here is excellent, but it also grows most of the produce that it sells, including home grown strawberries and asparagus. After visiting the shop (and buying a "few bits"), we walked down the towpath towards Shugborough Hall, the local stately home lately occupied by Lord Lichfield.
We walked across the exceptionally beautiful "Essex" Bridge which spans the confluence of the River Trent and the River Sow.

It is only a narrow pedestrian bridge but the stonework is lovely and very unusual. It had a very nostalgic feeling to it.

By the time we arrived at the Hall, it was closed for the day, but the gardens were still open (and free!), so we wandered around in the late afternoon sunshine.
In front of the house was a formal Victorian garden with the most magnificent beds of marigolds.

Hidden amongst the marigolds was a scattering of beautiful blue Nigella ("Love in the Mist") - a truly lovely colour combination.

The formal gardens run down to the River Sow and the house looks very imposing from the riverside.

The Anson family had a penchant for Greek and Roman antiquities and the estate is peppered with follies and classical "ruins". In one corner of the garden was a famous bas relief sculpture "Et in Arcadia Ego", a phrase used by Evelyn Waugh in "Brideshead Revisited" (M's favourite television production of all time) and an intriguing piece of artwork that features in "Holy Grail" conspiracy theories due to its enigmatic and (as yet) undeciphered mneumonic inscription.

Tomorrow, we will return and spend the whole day at the Hall and the estate, so we had an early night.
Today: 3 miles, 2 locks and 2.2 hours.
Trip: 8 miles, 3 locks and 4.1 hours.

We're Off - Farewell to Aston Marina until the Autumn.

Tuesday 24th June, 2014 at Weston.
Yesterday, we came back up to Stone by train and had a late lunch in the Bistro with our friends Ray and Audrey who moor their narrowboat "Livein-G" here at the marina. Audrey is a superb cook; she makes, and sells for charity, her own lemon curd - a jar of which she gave to M - delicious!
This morning started bright but soon clouded over. The Bistro doesn't serve breakfast on Tuesday (boo!) so we had boiled eggs on board and then walked up to the Bistro for a proper coffee.
We washed down MM's roof and the pontoon side, then took her out to the service bay and filled her with diesel. When we brought her back to her mooring we put her in the other way round so we could wash the other side and fill her with water. Her tubs and troughs of red geraniums are looking splendid!

Finally, we treated ourselves to a last lunch in the Bistro, M bought a "few bits" in the farm shop and we said cheerio to all our friends there. We stopped to watch a swallow's nest in the eaves with five hopeful little heads peeking out.

We have booked MM into Aston Marina again for next winter so in theory, it will be October before we are there again - but it's more than likely that we may drop in by car before then as it is exactly half way to the Lake District, and what better place to stop for lunch?
We could delay no longer. It was an exciting, sad, bittersweet moment - we were off. We pulled away from bay A22, which had been MM's home for the last eight months, and headed for the marina exit.

At the exit, we turned south down the Trent and Mersey Canal.

The first bridge was not only very low but also sagging alarmingly in the middle.

Soon after, R spotted a flock of lapwings in a field; it's quite rare to see them nowadays as they are sadly in decline due, they say, to modern farming practices. At Sandon Lock we passed the little lime kiln that we had visited last autumn when it was open for just one day and we happened to be passing by. It was now covered in dense undergrowth and, if we hadn't known it was there, we would have missed it.

Sandon Lock was the first lock of our Summer Cruise this year - it won't be the last! This was MM's (and M's) 895th lock.  "Cor!" said M!

We moored up for the evening at Weston-on-Trent. In April 2010, on our first ever hire boat "Emma", we moored here and Annie and Paddy had travelled over from Gnosall and joined us for the day, bringing breakfast with them. They arrived that morning bearing not just breakfast but a veritable banquet, and we looked out to be greeted by what looked like two large crates on legs walking towards us down the towpath!
Sadly they have since moved down to the Forest of Dean so there were no "crates on legs" to greet us today.  Boo!
Today: 5 miles, 1 lock and 1.9 hours.

A Very Special Day Trip to MM.

Friday 20th June, 2014 at Aston Marina.
We went back home to Reigate for a week in order to see David and Justina, who were over from America for a short visit. Justina had a tough schedule of business appointments but David had the opportunity to spend time with the family.
Today was the final day of their visit and David had a free day. R was naturally keen to make the most of these last precious hours with him and, since David had never seen MM, R had a brainwave and suggested that we take David up to MM for the day. Theresa, David's mother, was also anxious to spend time with David on his last day, so it was natural that we also included her, especially since she too had never seen MM.
What an utterly wonderful, memorable day it turned out to be!
Theresa arrived at our house at 7:00am, in time for one of R's special latte coffees. M's sister, Janice, very kindly picked us up and dropped us off at Redhill station on her way to work as there are no buses at that time of the morning.
David joined us at Euston; he'd overslept! Consequently, he'd missed breakfast so he was jolly pleased when M produced a huge picnic on the train! We had a super journey up to Stone, all chatting happily away. Stone railway station is a lovely old building and we enjoyed the sunshine as we waited for the taxi.

Soon the taxi arrived and drove us the short distance to the marina where we gave David and Theresa what R calls the "ten cent tour" of MM. David appeared to have been under the impression that MM was tiny and cramped, so it was good to enlighten him! It was especially great for him to see the name panel at last because he had designed it and drawn the two hobbit characters which are the emblem of MM - and much admired by all.

We had time for a short trip out and fortunately, the weather was perfect. We turned north out of the marina and up to Aston Lock. The lock is a milestone point as it is exactly halfway on the Trent and Mersey Canal. The milestone itself shows 46 miles to Shardlow at one end and 46 miles to Preston Brook at the other. David was keen to operate the lock and did so very competently with only a little help from M.

Theresa, meanwhile, "took the rays". At one point she and David did a "Titanic" together on the front of MM's roof.

It was a lovely, relaxed journey towards Stone. David took the tiller and managed to keep MM nicely in the centre of the canal but he was surprised at how much you had to concentrate to stop her drifting one way or the other.

Just below Stone bottom lock we turned round and made our way back towards the marina. At Aston lock a large floating island of vegetation had got stuck in front of the lock, so the only option was to push it through and out the bottom end of the lock using MM.  David used the pole to stop it getting jammed in the paddles as the lock emptied.

He also had to keep it away from the lock gates as we opened them and then make sure that it came out of the lock with MM.

We also fished out two large logs that had floated into the lock.

Back at the marina, R moored MM up and we all went to the Bistro for lunch. The staff were amused to hear that R had brought not only his youngest son but also his "two wives"! David is a vegan and the Bistro had laid on a special two-course meal for him of roasted figs, asparagus and salad. Theresa and M had the Bistro's celebrated fish and chips that M always says is the best that she has ever had anywhere.
We decided to take an extra hour over lunch and go back on a later train. The taxi collected us at 5:00pm for the train back to Euston. We were all a bit sleepy after such a super day!
We said our farewells at Victoria Station, David went back to his hotel to pack for their flight back to the US tomorrow morning. It was hard to say cheerio as we don't know when we will see David next. Theresa, M and R took the train back to Redhill
It was the most marvellous day and we hope that both Theresa and David will retain the happiest memories of their day trip to MM. Their presence certainly made it very special for both of us.
Today: 3 miles, 2 locks and 2.0 hours.

There and Back Again through Three Counties.

Thursday 12th June, 2014 back at Aston Marina.
Another early(ish) start on a glorious day, which was in truth a tad too warm for the nine locks that we had to do. At Meaford top lock, we were confronted by a swarm of Environment Agency chaps and a sad array of dead fish. It appears that the canal water had been contaminated, possibly by a local sewage plant, and the surface of the water was peppered with dead fish. The EA people had removed some of the fish and we were surprised by the size of some of them. We didn't realise that there were fish that big in the waters below MM.

The EA chaps were busily aerating the water with water jets and injecting a special detergent. Hosts of small fry were gathered around the jets "breathing" the unpolluted water in obvious relief.

The detergent was making the water in the lock foam as the lock filled and coating the waterline of the boats coming up through the lock; they looked exactly as if they were taking a bubble bath!

A small queue of boats had built up while this was all going on but we still got through the flight of four locks in fairly good time.
At Stone top lock, we met a pleasant couple on their rather unusual boat, built in China. M asked how it had been transported to the UK. Apparently, at 40ft, it will fit into a standard shipping container. They had made an extension on the back to carry their motorbike!

A hundred yards below the lock we were held up by a boat, nb "Odessa", broadside across the canal. One of its mooring pins had come out and it was completely blocking the canal with its bow wedged on the non-towpath side. In front of a gathering crowd on the towpath, R gently manoeuvered MM until the two bows were touching and then walked along MM's gunwale to tie a line from MM's bow to Odessa's bow thinking that he could then pull the bow back across to the towpath side.

It wasn't that easy, however, as Odessa's bow was firmly wedged in some tree roots and wouldn't budge. The only answer was to put MM hard into reverse and yank Odessa's bow free. It still took three attempts before the bow came free and we were able to get Odessa's bow back to the towpath side, reset her (rather flimsy) mooring pins and get past!

Once in the middle of Stone, we moored up to go into town for a "few bits" and, of course, to visit the local Costa for a well earned coffee.

Stone is a very charming "canal" town and we love walking around its historic streets. It was apparently founded in 650AD and for many years it was the administrative centre of the Trent & Mersey Canal Company.
Only two more locks to do before we arrived back at Aston. Stone is naturally a very popular town with boaters and just south of the town there were dozens of boats moored up, so we had been very lucky to find a free space right in the centre.
Finally Aston lock beckoned and there was Aston Marina. We were home. Hooray!

It was the loveliest feeling to moor up in "our" space, A22, and wander up to the Bistro for tea and scones (they were out of tea-cakes!). As always, the staff greeted us like old friends.
M did a few jobs on board while R went in to Stoke-on-Trent with the car to acquire a new printer as our old printer had stopped working. By the time he got back, the afternoon had begun to cool off a bit and he was able to wash MM's roof down. Amazing how much dust and dirt accumulates on one's travels.
Then it was time for dinner - in the Bistro, of course. Where else?
As we walked back to MM after dinner, our way was illuminated by the full moon rising over the marina.

Our trip to the Peak District took us "There and Back Again" through three counties: Staffordshire, Cheshire and Derbyshire. What an absolutely delightful journey it has been.
Tomorrow we are going home to spend time with David and Justina, who are coming over from America for a visit. Our travels will resume in 10 days, when we will set out on our main summer cruise towards the south, aiming for Gloucester and Sharpness via Stratford-on-Avon and returning on the west side of Birmingham back to Aston in October.
Today: 5 miles, 9 locks and 3.5 hours
Trip: 100 miles, 56 locks and 62.0 hours.