M's Trip Home for the Weekend.

Saturday 4th to Monday 6th October, 2014 at Stafford.
We woke up to heavy rain, which continued most of the day. M was going home for two nights to be there for our friend Angi who is coming to stay while she is between houses. R's reconnaissance told us that there is a regular bus service to Stafford railway station along the A34 where it crosses the canal near our mooring. Good job that we did take the bus as it was nearly two miles and we would have had a very wet walk.
M's train, the Manchester to Southampton service via Reading, arrived on time and she managed to find a seat but ended up changing seats several times as the train was crowded and seats had been reserved for parts of the journey. She said that the journey was "interesting, a bit like playing Musical Chairs!"
R spent the rest of Saturday and Sunday exploring Stafford, which has a large pedestrian central area and is very pleasant with many lovely old buildings but generally lacks vibrancy.
On Monday morning, it was raining once more as R walked in to the railway station to meet M off the train. Again, she described her journey as "interesting"; there were no services from Paddington going west, so everyone was travelling via Reading. She had picked up a "few bits" from M&S at Reading, so we were able to catch the bus straight back to MM without fighting our way round the shops (M hates shopping).
By now, the weather had improved considerably so we decided to set off and get some miles under our belt before dusk. It was a lovely afternoon's cruising along the last stretch of the Staffs & Worcs canal, new to MM but familiar to us after out 2010 trip on nb "Emma". Soon after we started, we passed the place where a canal arm used to go into the centre of Stafford.

There is a plan to restore this arm with a canal basin in the centre of town. It could certainly do with something to bring more life into the centre of town.
We had one of the best sightings ever of a kingfisher. He was sitting on an overhanging branch just a few feet away but, as we passed, he took off and flew ahead of us, the sun bringing out the irridescent colours at their shimmering best. As ever, there was no time to get the camera out let alone time to switch it on and take a picture!
The Sow Aqueduct is one of Brindley's very early structures and is much admired - although you need to be off to one side to get its best view!

Tixall Wide is a section of canal that was built to resemble a lake, apparently to placate the local landowner. R couldn't resist the sudden schoolboy urge to do a classic loop-the-loop in one go. He's so naughty! Here he is, half way round:

Before we knew it we were at Great Haywood Junction where the Staffs & Worcs meets the Trent & Mersey;we moored up here to take on water.

The junction is straddled by a very slender and elegant bridge.

We managed to squeeze in to a mooring just past the bridge next to two C&RT working boats and opposite the new farm shop café. The cafe was still under construction when we went past in June but it is now open and we plan to have breakfast there tomorrow to try it out.
In the meantime we were treated to yet another spectacular sunset.

Today: 4 miles, 1 lock and 8.4 hours (for the three days).
Trip: 303 miles, 206 locks and 233.5hours.