Roses, Leaf Cutter Bees and a School Prom.

Wednesday 27th June 2018 at Acton Trussell.
At Weston Lock, the first lock of the day, we passed nb "Daphne", a truly beautiful former working boat built in the 1930s at Braunston and registered in Daventry.

M admired these lovely old fashioned roses beside the lock.

A brief stop at Great Haywood to take on water while M went to shop for fresh produce in the farm shop. Great Haywood is the junction of the Trent & Mersey Canal with the Staffs & Worcs Canal and we turned off the Trent & Mersey on to the Staffs & Worcs under one of the most photographed bridges on the system.

The first lock on the Staffs & Worcs is Tixall Lock and it appears that a family of leaf cutter bees had taken up residence in the lock beam. Note the new C&RT circular logo (bottom left of the notice), which has come in for a huge amount of criticism (justifiably in our opinion). "A new brand of nonsense" is how it was described by one leading authority. R was so incensed by the waste of money that he wrote a pithy letter to Canal Boat Magazine.

A classic "turnover" bridge, where the towpath changes sides and the shape of the bridge allowed the horses to change sides without the towrope having to be detatched. M was exasperated by this because we need to wash down the "port" side of the boat and now the towpath will be back on the "starboard" side when we moor up. "Bother" said M!

We always admire this imaginative garden complete with tree house and train. R's grandson Lucas would love this!

The wheat and barley in many fields look almost ready for harvest. It almost looks like August or September rather than June!

We moored up at Acton Trussell for the evening opposite a very smart hotel/restaurant in the cool shade of some tall trees.

The hotel was hosting what turned out to be a school "Proms" evening. All of the students were very smartly dressed and some of the girls' dresses were quite spectacular - much to R's delight!

Today: 11 miles, 4 locks and 4.7 hours.
Trip: 32 miles, 11 locks and 14.6 hours.