HOMEWARD BOUND, HOPEFULLY.

 

Home at Willington

We did stay and visit the boats on Saturday. Caught up with Dan, Vikki and Tom, and someone we hadn’t seen for a while Dave Ross, who brought his boat Colonel to the gathering. Colonel was built in 1899 for Fellows Morton and Clayton, and was originally fitted with a steam engine. It was converted to diesel in 1924 and passed through many hands before Dave. He had it repainted in the original Fellows Morton and Clayton signage last year and it looked very smart.

NB Colonel

https://hnbc.org.uk/boats/colonel

Dave had done some welding on Avalon Two a number of years ago, and attended to couple of the Swan Lane Christmas get-togethers. It was great to catch up with him, but he seemed surprised we remembered him.

Then off we went again down the same bit of canal we had travelled twice already this year. We stopped at Willington of course, handy for pubs and a little shopping. Then on to Burton for a bigger shop at Lidl, and a new pub to us, Bernie’s. A lovely micro pub with a great selection of beers. The Captain loved ‘We require more mini Rolls’ by Shiny Brewery, a deep chocolate cake flavoured stout at 6% very morish. I was happy with a Helles lager by Bluntrock Brewery from Cornwall. I chatted to the lady behind the bar, who turned out to be the owner, and found out that Bluntrock was her brothers brewery. That’s definitely keeping it in the family.

https://www.facebook.com/BerniesBurton

We called in at the Alfred, but only for the one on this visit.

Before leaving Burton we needed a pump out, diesel and a gas bottle. So the Captain made the very very tight turn into Shobnall marina, one of the best marina’s on the system for price and friendliness. Although the gas bottle we had been using had probably about 6/7 weeks left, the uncertainty of when we would get home meant we really needed o replace our empty spare, and at £46 it was a good price. The price of the diesel was a shock at £1.38 per ltr, as when we had checked a week before it was only £1.16, thanks Trump. It was still a good price compared with other suppliers, but still a shock. So we filled up, and after I had picked the Captain off the floor when he got the bill, we set off again.

https://www.facebook.com/p/Shobnall-Marina-100063568994555/?locale=en_GB

Like I have said this is a route well travelled by us this year, so our next stop won’t be a surprise to most of you was Barton Turns. We managed to moor just below the lock, and of course headed of to the pub, the Barton Turn Inn, this had recently changed hands and I was happy to see it busy. We got chatting to other boaters which made it a very enjoyable evening, and we even had an extra pint. Nothing dark on for the Captain, but he made do with a decent pint of Birra Morreti.

We pushed on the Fradley Junction next day by passing through one of our favourite canal side villages, Alrewas, and found good mooring opposite the Laughing Duck cafe, a busy establishment popular with boaters and walkers alike. We didn’t visit but we did head to the pub, the White Swan or Mucky Duck as it is known to boaters. It was busy, but we found a table and had a couple.

Next day and it was back on our home canal the Coventry, a windy day that wasn’t helped by a very slow hire boat ahead of us. Now there is nothing wrong with going slow, but it can be difficult to control your boat in windy conditions if you are going too slow. We were approaching a sharp blind bend, when the Captain reminded me this is were we had nearly collided with Taylors Afloat after they cut the corner last year, and lo and behold we met another boat in exactly the same place only this time they didn’t cut the corner, and we were able to pas one another with out incident. This made the trip to Whittington interesting.

At Whittington there are 2 pubs the Dog, the Bell and also a Coop. We found good moorings and took a walk into the village with the intention of visiting all 3 places. We had been in the Dog before, so decided to try the Bell first, it was great, with a lovely community vibe and Caffrey’s stout on for the Captain, but what made it for me, was the traction engine models displayed throughout the pub. Now most of you won’t know, but I used to collect these, and had about 25 displayed in my living room in Ripley, I had to sell them when we moved on the boat obviously due to lack of space, but I do miss them. I asked the barman about them, they had belonged to the Landlady’s father, who had sadly passed away, and what was on display was only a small part of the collection. I would have loved to see them all. As you can guess we never made it to the Dog as the Bell was just too nice.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/233916176680323/?locale=en_GB

We made it to Fazeley Sunday afternoon and managed to moor. We headed to the chippy for our tea (after a couple of pints of course). The Fazeley Fish bar has never disappointed us, and the it was the same on this occasion.

https://www.facebook.com/Fazeleyfishbarfazeley/

Now we are in limbo, the Atherstone locks are still closed, the Captain did as promised, email CRT on Friday suggesting a restricted opening schedule of either a few hours a day, or 1 or 2 days a week to allow boats to leave the affected area and get to were they needed or wanted to be. Today (Monday) we have received a standard reply saying we should hear something back within 5 working days, but I am not holding my breath they will come back with good news.

As it turns out there is an alternative route home, but its long and involves lots and lots of locks.

So our normal route home is only 25 miles and 13 locks, but the alternative route home is 86 miles and 107 locks. We are still deciding what our next move is going to be, I will keep you posted.

Our way's home, the easy way and the long way

37 miles, 16 locks and 2 canals, the Trent and Mersey and the Coventry.