A peacefull night in a lovely mooring spot
Today we are meeting Simon, a long time friend, and Ian and Joyce who are fellow Venture owners. The rendezvous point for both is Alrewas, a village two miles and four locks along the canal
We have help at the first lock from a family with small children. Kids find locks and boats endlessly fascinating, forget Alton Towers and Disneyworld, just take your child to the local canal for free
I have also treated myself to a rotating handle windlass, and am surprised how much easier this is to use
We are assisted at the second lock by a boat coming up after we have gone down, meaning we don't have to close the gates behind us. Double jackpot at lock three: boat coming out of the lock in time for us to cruise in, plus a boat coming up after we have gone down
We pass this burnt out boat, sheltering under a bridge
and this rather apt mural
So we make good progress, mooring up in Alrewas just after 10am. Vera goes off for supplies and comes across both an excellent bakers and a top class butchers, buying some tomato and basil focaccia for lunch
It's great to meet up with Simon and swap news, and catch up with each others lives.
He joins us aboard as we travel for a mile or so and two locks in order to turn the boat around and start heading back
There is a short section where the river Trent joins the canal
This is my first time on a river on a narrowboat, and although the conditions are reported as Green, I am a little apprehensive
However everything is fine and before long we reach our winding hole to turn around. The shorter boat makes a real difference: I have never turned round so easily or competently
We hit a couple of heavy showers on the return to Alrewas.
These soon give way to sunshine as we leave the river at the bottom Alrewas lock and head back into the village to moor up (again),
light the fire and settle down for lunch and more chit chat
Ian and Joy arrive to meet us and are really welcoming as co-ownership. Ian confirms that I have taken the right steps to test out the central heating, the final test will be to see if we can get the heating working while the engine is running. If so, it would suggest a problem with the battery voltage. Owning your own boat, never a dull moment!
Our visitors leave and we sit down to watch and listen to the rain beating down outside. We attempt our daily Guardian cryptic crossword while sipping a very nice bottle of Lindaur sparkling wine. Very cozy. The crossword defeats us today, but there will always be another one tomorrow
At 6.30 we wander into the village for food and drink. We have lost track of time somewhere, it is Friday, it is Halloween, the streets full of kids out trick or treating, the pubs full of adults in fancy dress costumes. It's nice to think that for at least one night of the year people are beginning to reclaim the streets
The Crown is full, standing room only with elbows tucked in
Manage to get a table at the George and Dragon, which also had a full Halloween theme going, for a very passable meal
Then back to the boat. The fire has kept everything toasty and warm. For those who might think it's cold on the water, I have to report the temperature as we got back onboard was a very comfortable 29 degrees
No comments:
Post a Comment