The Last Day of our Summer Cruise.

Friday 4th October 2019 back at Aston Marina.
A family of feathered friends showed up for breakfast and were not disappointed. We had bought some "duck food" at Fradley, but it turned out to be just grain, which may be much better for ducks and swans than bread - but it sinks - so the swans had to be quick to dive under water to eat the grain as it sank!

Bridgett and Peter joined us for coffee on MM after breakfast.

Peter's braces were much admired. At least he would never be without a tape measure while he was wearing them!

We set off about midday on what is now the last leg of this summer's cruise.
Sandon Lock is nearly always the first lock as we start our summer cruises and then the last lock as we come back to Aston at the end of the summer, so we have a special affection for it.

It was nice to see that Sandon's little lime kiln has been cleared of the vegetation that was choking it. Sadly, it is not normally open to the public. We were very lucky some years ago when we just happened to pass by on the one day that it was open and were given a fascinating insight by a local historian. We are not aware that it has ever been open since.

Bridge 88 is purely an accomodation bridge and occasionally has sheep coming and going across it. We were lucky today!

And Bridge 89 is the last bridge before Aston, so the very last on our trip. By now, we had both lapsed into a pensive silence, knowing that our cruise was almost at an end.

Finally, we turned into Aston Marina.

As Friday is "share boat turnaround day", there was a queue for the services but we hovered patiently before Sharon helped us to fill up with diesel and to empty the waste tank ready for the winter ahead.

A lovely sight to see our home mooring, A22, waiting for us with "Chestnut" and "Lola" on either side. While it is sad to see the end of our cruise, this always feels like coming home.

The weather was dry and offered a good opportunity to give MM a thorough clean. R said that the roof was particularly bad as we have often recently moored under trees and near other boaters with coal stoves that leave black smuts on the roof. That means scrubbing every inch of the roof with cream bathroom cleaner and then washing it off with the hose.

So, we shall leave MM looking good before we set off on Sunday to drive home.
Washing MM down, particularly with the hose, means getting quite wet, so we both changed before we rewarded ourselves with dinner at the "Pasta di Piazza", the excellent Italian restaurant in Stone.

This year's summer cruise has been a great adventure but also very relaxed and relaxing. The highlight was probably Lincoln, which we loved, but as with every year it is full of wonderful memories and many special moments. Another highlight was the many friends (and relations) that we visited and who visited us on MM. As ever, it was people that made it special.
Next year we may start a bit earlier, possibly in April, so please watch this space and we hope that you have enjoyed sharing our summer adventure.
Today: 5 miles, 1 lock and 2.8 hours.
Trip: 442 miles, 174 locks and 222.2 hours.
Since MM was launched on 10th October 2011: 4,032 miles, 2,637 locks and 2,844.4 hours.

From Breakfast to Dinner.

Thursday 3rd October 2019 at Weston upon Trent, Staffordshire
This morning there was a beautiful sunrise over our mooring at Little Haywood.

Its "big brother", Great Haywood, was only one mile and one lock away, as was a very welcome breakfast at the Canalside Café.

A well known sight among boaters is the finger post at Great Haywood Junction, where the Staffs & Worcs Canal joins the Trent & Mersey Canal, with the much photographed junction bridge in the background.

The west coast main line from Euston to Scotland passes next to the junction. M always looks out for Great Haywood on her train trips to and from the Lakes.

Hoo Mill lock is just north of Great Haywood and was one of only three locks today.

We moored up for the day at Weston upon Trent, Staffordshire - not to be confused with Weston on Trent, Derbyshire, which we passed on 12th September! We moored outside the lovely house and beautiful garden of our friends Bridgett and Peter.

They spotted us arriving and joined us for tea and cake on board MM and then insisted that we join them for a simple dinner later. As ever, we had a marvellous evening with them with wonderful food and wine, and excellent company!
Today: 4 miles, 3 locks and 2.4 hours.
Trip: 437 miles, 173 locks and 219.4 hours

Cannock Chase.

Wednesday 2nd October 2019 at Little Haywood.
The forecast for today was for a clear sunny day, so M got up early to watch the sunrise.

A strange wavering light approached along the towpath. It turned out to be a lady, wearing a head torch, out walking her dog in the dark. She and M chatted for a while -  yet quite unable to see each other in the dark!

The sunrise, when it came, was lovely and the colours in the sky changed from pink to gold as the sun made its appearance.

Before Rugeley, we passed the Armitage works, famous as makers of toilets and clearly still working (the factory and the toilets!).

The Armitage tunnel was cut through sandstone rock but eventually, the roof had to be removed because the tunnel subsided due to mining works beneath it. Since then, part of it has become a tunnel again when a wide road was built across it at an angle. It remains very narrow, just wide enough for one boat to pass at a time.

This always makes us chuckle! It looks as if the massive power station cooling towers are actually the chimneys of the houses.

The flooding caused by the recent heavy rain was evident as we crossed over the expanded River Trent on Brindley's aqueduct.

Colwich Lock is another of our favourites. The nearby railway bridge over the canal is having serious work done and we had to squeeze through the narrow channel.

Shortly afterwards, we moored up for the day in a lovely open space with views of Cannock Chase.
Guy thought wistfully that if he had longer legs he could have come walking with us. In the last eight years, we have often passed Cannock Chase but never made time to walk there. Today we decided to take advantage of the good weather and walk up on to the Chase while the washing dried on the line.

It was one of the first "Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty" and covers a vast area. From "Seven Springs", we climbed gradually up a path through a mainly coniferous forest. It was very quiet with virtually no birdsong or signs of wildlife.

As we got higher, the trees thinned out and we could see the Rugeley power station cooling towers in the distance.

In all, we walked about five miles before returning to our starting point. It was a beautiful walk but we clearly only saw a tiny fraction of the Chase.
As we walked back towards MM, we crossed the Trent again and it was difficult to see where the original river bank was, as it had spread itself across all the neighbouring fields.

We returned to MM to find that the washing was almost dry.

At sunset, we saw a lovely crescent moon over the Chase.

Today: 8 miles, 1 lock and 3.9 hours.
Trip: 433 miles, 170 locks and 217.0 hours.

October Already?

Tuesday 1st October 2019 near Handsacre
October already? How did that happen?
A change in the weather today; as forecast, it was grey and damp, so breakfast in the Laughing Duck was inside, but as good as yesterday.
This laughing (?) duck was clearly ready for the rain.

We set off mid morning and R went ahead while M helped another boat through Junction Lock.

Good job that we went through Alrewas when we did - following all the rain, the river section through Alrewas is now closed, as is the main river Trent between Nottingham and Torksey.

M's sister-in-law's brother lives near Gainsborough next to the River Trent and he sent us these pictures. Before...

...And after...

He said that it was the highest that he has ever seen the Trent there, but luckily still well below the flood wall.
Just beyond Fradley is Shadehouse Lock. The lockside house was on the market for a long time. Apparently, the reason no one wanted to buy it was that it had no road access - a definite plus in M's book!

This lovely quiet stretch of canal, just a couple of hundred yards from Shadehouse Lock, is the place where HS2 is scheduled to cross the canal on an embankment, cutting through the woods on either side - if indeed it does go ahead. Madness!

Woodend Lock, with its very heavy lock gates (as demonstrated by R) is still one of our favourites. Sadly, if HS2 happens it will be sandwiched between two lines, one to the east and one to the west.

M walked the towpath for the next few miles and was very surprised to see harebells still in bloom in October. Normally you see them in May!

Twenty eight miles to go to get back to Aston and our winter mooring.

Tonight's mooring near Handsacre. A beautifully quiet spot, and one of our favourite moorings, despite the proximity to the conurbation of Rugeley.

Today: 3 miles, 4 locks and 3.0 hours.
Trip: 425 miles, 169 locks and 213.1 hours.

Second Breakfast at the Laughing Duck.

Monday 30th September 2019 at Fradley Junction.
The dawn sky was beautiful. Mist lingering over the water, partly shrouding a lady walking her dog on the towpath.

To make the most of the fine weather, we had an early beakfast and set off before 8:00am. Two things impressed us about Alrewas; one being how quiet and pretty it is, the other being the large number of excellent visitors' moorings for such a small place. Lincoln, which had very few visitors' moorings,  could learn something from that!

A typically attractive narrow bridge, after which M set off to walk the towpath to Fradley.

The towpath walking was a joy in the autumn sun; the hedgerows abounding with rose hips, trails of red briony, sloes and holly berries in profusion, already turning red..

A 100 yard stretch of ivy in the hedgerow was alive with thousands of honey bees flitting between the seed heads. M could hear their buzzing from fifty yards away.

This way to the "Laughing Duck" café at Fradley Junction - and second breakfast!

A welcome sight. The café is normally packed at weekends on sunny days; today, being out of season, it was quiet.

Second breakfast, always such a treat.

Meanwhile, Guy contented himself with a banana on board and "taking the rays".

We are not in a hurry to get back to our winter mooring, so we decided to stay here overnight. There are plemty of moorings opposite the café (very convenient!).

A pleasant walk up to the junction with the Coventry Canal and the next locks.

One of the reasons that Fradley is such a delight is that the road to it doesn't go anywhere; there is no through traffic. Originally, HS2 was scheduled to go very close to the Junction and the construction access road was designed to go through Fradley! The effect would have been worse than driving the M25 straight through the middle of Reigate High Street. Thankfully, a small amount of common sense has prevailed and the line will now pass half a mile to the west and the construction access road will no longer go straight through Fradley. However, beautiful secluded Woodend Lock, one mile away, will now be between the main line and a spur - so quiet and secluded no more! We can't help feeling that a bit more common sense would find a better (and much more economically rewarding) home for all those billions and billions of pounds.
Today: 2 miles, 4 locks and 1.9 hours.
Trip: 422 miles, 165 locks and 210.1 hours.