A Really Late Start This Year!

 Monday 5th to Wednesday 7th June 2023 in Barlaston

Ahoy there! Back at last! For very many (pleasant) reasons involving family, trips and events, we are starting our summer cruise much later than normal. Our plan is to head slowly north, ending up in Liverpool docks during the second week of August, and then on to Chester.

We did visit MM in May for her to have her annual service. Simon (our wonderful engineer) and Matty drove up from Aynho Wharf and, while they were with us, they also changed the solar panels on MM. We had noticed that the old panels, which were stuck to the roof and had never worked very well, were rusting underneath. When R took them off we were horrified. All the paint underneath was destroyed and the rust was awful!

R went and bought a heavy duty sander and got to work to clean up as much of the rust as he could. 

Simon and Matty arrived the following day and, of course, it rained! Luckily it stopped long enough to rust-proof the rusty patches, get a coat of primer on and fit the new panels. Then the rain returned so the engine service was done under our huge golfing umbrella.

So, that was May! On Monday 5th June we drove back up to MM, unloaded the car in beautiful weather, and then went for a wonderful dinner with our friends Mel and Peter, who live nearby. 

On Tuesday morning, we met Mel and Peter again for breakfast at Great Haywood before doing a big shop at M&S to stock up on provisions.

Finally, in the afternoon we left the Marina on MM. M photographed the clock for the record with Guy looking rather grumpy, no doubt due to lack of bananas on board.

We are always very sad to leave Aston Marina and Nick, our brilliant Moorings Manager, waved to us as we passed under the bridge. Rather disappointingly, the weather was overcast with a distinctly cold wind.

The first lock of the summer cruise!

 

Beside the lock is this mile post that marks the exact centre of the Trent & Mersey Canal, 46 miles to either end. We are headed to Preston Brook on our way to Liverpool.

 

As it was late in the day we only went the couple of miles into Stone, where we moored up for the night.

On Wednesday morning, we had breakfast in the handy M&S next to the canal before buying the things that we had forgotten yesterday.

On the way out of Stone is an unusual lock with a separate horse tunnel under the road.

The four Meaford locks north of Stone are very attractive. R paused to chat with a couple fishing from the bank. It seems that the lady was having all the luck! She said she had caught several roach already - he had caught none! By now, at last, the sun had appeared and suddenly it was warm!

After the locks, we stopped for some lunch. R was worried that the power readings from the new solar panels didn't make sense, so he called Matty and Simon. The result meant taking everything to pieces to try to find out what was wrong. 

 

It turned out that the solar controller needed to be started in a particular sequence or it wouldn't work correctly. Now the panels are working as they should - hurrah!

Last year, this lovely house just south of Barlaston with its own mooring came up for sale. Quite a bit out of our price range, but it probably represents our dream house (if it were only closer to the grand children).

Just north of Barlaston, close to Wedgwood, we moored up for the night opposite a large open field. A lovely start to our 2023 summer cruise.

Two Days: 5 miles, 9 locks and 3.9 hours.