Left at 09:10 arrived at 14:40
It was warm and
cloudy, we had a good night, all in bed for 10 30, up as usual, we are really
low on water so only quick showers today.
Derek says there is only 1 tap on the next 3 pages of my booklet, unless
we can get some at a Marina/boatyard if we need to. Me and Derek had our breakfast and Charlotte
and Amelia moved into our narrowed bed for half an hour, Derek had folded the
flaps in, they still fit!!! I showered
and Charlotte was in the shower as we set off,rolled Amelia in a cover and put
her on my seat, you can put your feet up on it, she went back to sleep. Its about 1 or so till the first locks so
plenty of time, we are heading for the group of locks just before the
Tardebigge, 12 locks or so today, the kids
are going to get out and help us. The
African Queen Motif is on again, the water is lined with masses of
reeds/bulrushes and at least we are in what seems like familiar territory as we have lots of little brick
bridges, my favourite, its also very narrow in places. We just spotted some lovely horses and beyond
was a beautiful half timbered property.
Its for sale, what a scene, horses in the front field and a huge
attractive house beyond, hope the estate agent used that picture in the
brochure. A surprise was in store, we
went past Dunhampstead, The Brook Line of Hire Boats live here and then we went
into a tunnel, 236yd long, I love tunnels, the pictures don’t come out too
well, but it strange feeling when you see the reflection of the tunnel in the
water beneath you, you appear to be hovering in mid air, its quite
amazing. Charlotte came in the cratch
and shared the experience. Amelia was in
the shower and didn’t even noticed the tunnel as its got a light over it. Just before Dunhampstead we passed a winding
hole and some moored boats, we had to go really really slowly as we sailed by
as the canal was so narrow. At Shernal
Green there was a little enclave of cottages, The Old Forge on the left hand
side even had a beautiful garage? And a large extension/sun room on the end of
it with a glass turret with a lead roof, complete with lead roses on it, the
attention to detail was lovely. Hanbury
Wharf was a lovely mooring spot and boat yard, there were lots of lovely boats,
nicely kept and painted in a variety of colourways, the pub looked good, shame
were not stopping. We reached Astwood
Locks, got a system going, the girls got out with me, we opened the gates (the
first couple were empty and set for us). Derek climbed off at the lock steps
and led the boat into the lock, we shut the boat in, he starts the ground
paddle off, then finished them as water flowed
more smoothly, put his side paddle down when water equals, we open gate
to let the boat out and put our paddle
down, we go on to the next lock and he shuts the gate behind the boat. Derek thinks this is amazing and wears quite
a smug look as he sails away from the lock.
Two of the locks near the top were full so Charlotte and me (Amelia went
in to make lunch) had to empty them and
opened the gates ready for Derek to do his party trick, hope this system works
tomorrow, its ok when there is just us coming up but may be difficult if there
are a lot of other boats. At Astwood Top
lock there was a seat dedicated to a lady who was on NB Sejfton (working boat
we think) she died in 1996, it had its plaque cut out of the black metal it was
made from so it looked really good. At
the lock, 2 families of ducks were going for a rest at the edge of the byewash, it was comical to watch. The Mum jumped up the side with no problem at
all, then the babies tried to do the same, there were 7 altogether, one of them
was a bit dim, he had a few attempts before he managed it, yippee, well done
that little duckling. We stopped at
Bridge 42 to have lunch and fill up with water, it doesn’t last long when there
are four people on board, even if two are a lot smaller. No sooner on our way than we were approaching
Stoke Prior, the next lock, 1 of six, leading to Tardebigge. Derek lied again,
I had barely swallowed my lunch, he said it was further away than it obviously
was??? We did the Stoke Locks, ok with
our system, Stoke Wharf looked interesting for future reference, it had lots of
little businesses and beyond the waterway I
saw a sign saying ‘Antiques’ you should have seen Derek move on hearing
that. We met no one till the last lock,
just before the start of the Tardebigge, 2 boats were coming down, One set of
first timers on a timeshare boat and an older couple with their son and
daughter in law for crew. The first boat
couple had their young sons driving the boat and they went through OK Then the
son and daughter in law from the other boat came and helped us put our boat
through. Round the corner we were at the
Queens Head Pub Moorings, its a beautiful pub, very modern but with a rural
twist outside. It has lots of tables and
chairs/umbrellas and a massive Teepee, with seats inside and furs thrown over
them, guess its for a party venue, even the railings and planters are lovely,
the old fashioned lights have etched motifs on to match the pub sign. I had a wash and brush up and went with
Charlotte to the pub to get a price list, it was very smart inside. Charlotte didn’t like the meals they were
serving would you believe, we had Dereks boat chicken and chips, kids really
chuffed with his by now famed chips, crunchy, they were cooked in the wok, what
a cleverclogs he is??? We had a big
downpour, it lasted 15 minutes and that was it, its still quite warm and
sticky. We have tele YIPPEE its Holby
and New Tricks tonight.
No comments:
Post a Comment