Alrewas to Willington

Alrewas to Willington

A new week has started and, on Monday 14th September, we now have just 17 days and our 2009 cruise will be over. This means that, because we only have about 35 miles to go, we will need to stop longer at each place. Of course, you will already be aware of some, if not all, of these stops by the time I post this blog but, for your delectation and delight, here’s the plan.

Firstly we will stay here at Alrewas today and then, on Tuesday we’ll go on to Barton Marina, where we hope to stay for two nights on mains power. This will give a well needed boost to our sadly depleted batteries. Although, having said that, they are nowhere near as depleted as they were when we stayed at Nantwich.

In order of appearance we intend to stop as follows: Branston Thursday and Friday, Willington Saturday and Sunday, Swarkestone Monday, Weston Tuesday, Shardlow Wednesday and Thursday, Sawley Friday, the dreaded Kegworth Saturday and Sunday, Loughborough Monday and, finally, Pilings Lock Marina on Tuesday 29th September. We may have to make up another day or two along the way because we would rather begin our tenancy on the 1st of October. If this means paying for an extra night or two prior to that date, then that’s what we will do and, hopefully, the River Soar will behave itself once we’re on it.

Today, which is Wednesday 16th September, we are moored at Barton Turns Marina. We arrived here yesterday morning and will be on our way again tomorrow. Although we only have a short distance to go, we felt it would do the batteries some good to be hitched up to mains power for a couple of days. At £10 per night for moorings and electricity, we think that’s pretty reasonable. Our last stopover like this was at Llangollen, where BW charged just £6 per night whereas, at Nantwich they stitched us up to the tune of £15. Oh, and they have a Garden Centre too, but it doesn’t seem to stock enough plants for Wifey’s liking. All she wants to do is replant the small pots on the roof. The place is big enough, but obviously does not cater for boaters!

As you all know, I’ve been looking around for an Alfa 146 recently and have been using Auto Trader for this purpose. When searching through this company via their website, it is necessary to enter your post code and how far you are willing to travel. I put in the Pillings Lock post code and 40 miles, and found just one. At £695 it’s a snip, especially when you consider that, because of the new scrappage scheme, second hand car prices are catually rising. Anyway it is, I’m happy to say, with a car dealer, as opposed to a private individual. I don’t know about you, but I always prefer to deal with a trader rather than an individual, not that they are more trustworthy, but at least you do have some comeback if things are not to your liking.

So, I am now about to send them a holding deposit but, it occurred to me this morning that I will need full details of the vehicle so as to be able to purchase the Road Tax on the day I pick the car up. Unfortunately, since I am unable to go online from this marina, I can’t email the dealer, which does not bode well for our permanent moorings. I’m going to have to give the lovely (sounding!) Jayne at Pillings Lock a bell today and ask about that.

The marina here has a very decent looking pub, along with various shops, including a Butcher, Bake and Ice Cream Maker that also sells fruit and veg. There is also a Thai restaurant and deli and, of all things, a toy shop. The site itself appears to be surrounded by lakes and wildlife preserves, and so it is a pretty popular visitors spot. The deli has seating outside where folks can while away some time with a coffee and sticky bun. Except for the lack of Internet access it’s a pretty good spot to moor up at.

Tomorrow we’ll be off to Branston, which is where the famous pickle comes from.

Well, tomorrow has arrived at last, it is 06.20 on Thursday 17th September and I can’t say I like the look of the weather. Thankfully, although we have heavy cloud, we do not have a heavy wind to go with it. Branston is only
2 ½ miles away and we only have two locks to go through.

Now, although I mentioned the above named shop, I neglected to mention the rather excellent pie we purchased there. They call it their Marina Special and it contains steak, kidney, mushrooms and onion. We have visited many a butcher during the past three years, but we have never found one that lives up to it’s claims. This pie has really thick chunks of meat in it, much thicker than any we’ve come across before. The pastry is nice and crunchy, not soft and gooey like some we could mention, and the innards are real juicy with just the right amount of gravy. So, well done to The Butcher, Baker and Ice Cream Maker at Barton Turns Marina.

In addition they do many other cooked pies and savouries, including a rather delightful cooked sausage in a puff pastry wrap. If you can imagine a triangle of pastry, onto which is laid one sausage along the longest length, with the shorter sides wrapped around the sausage, what you get is a puff pastry wrap with the two ends of sausage exposed. They were really tasty too. Sadly very few marinas have shops built alongside them, which is a shame really as I’m sure they would be blessed with far more visiting boaters if they dis.

Now, on to the pub and the lake, which we walked partly around yesterday morning. In fact the whole site has only been constructed during the past few years and the pub is dated 2007. The trees are all very young and of quite a mixed variety. I don’t recognise most of them, but we did see oak and hazel nut, to name just two.

Naturally our doggie went for a swim but, who would have thought that the powers that be would site a notice forbidding such behaviour much too high for her to read?

Oh, and lest I forget, the meal at the Waterfront Pub was very tasty too. We settled for Coronation Chicken Wraps and a bowl of chips. Now, we were happy with the quality of the food but, and it is a big but, when I asked for a bowl of chips which, by the way, cost a massive £2.50, I did not expect a finger bowl of chips. It has long been recognised, that a packet of crisps attracts a profit of about 3000% and not a lot of people know that. However, just one, reasonable sized spud, went into the filling of that bowl. Beware you boaters who pay them a visit, portion control is very much a feature of this pub.

An, finally, for today’s entry, I bring your attention to yesterday’s news at six on BBC1, which, once again, went over the current unemployment situation. I have to confess a certain amount of confusion here because, on the one hand they mentioned a total of 4.7 million unemployed and, on the other hand they said that 5.9 million were receiving unemployment benefits?? As our friends across the pond would say, go figure!

It is now late morning on Friday 18th September and Sheila has just finished polishing the starboard side of the boat. Just occasionally she gets a bee in her bonnet and sets to with a will. As for myself, well, I’m still messing with the recipe book.

We arrived here at Branston yesterday, a little later than we normally would have after such a short trip, because we had to wait for the pump-out unit to become available at Barton Turn Marina, and that doesn’t open until nine am.

The lake at Barton Turn is quite a walk away, so we didn’t hear much from the local flocks of geese. Here though the lake is right next door to us and the geese seem to think we need waking up at 4.30 in the morning.

We took a good walk around part of the lake yesterday and discovered that it’s not just a lake, it’s a water park. It even has Dog Dipping areas where walkers are encouraged to let their dogs swim, rather than disturb the water fowl in other parts of the lake. Other activities, such as model boats and fishing, are also allowed, which makes a fine change from other lakes we’ve seen, where most such activities are banned.

Tomorrow we have a somewhat longer cruise, because we are going all the way to Willington, which is seven miles and two locks away, but we have to stop at Morrison’s for shopping, and they’re just this side of Burton on Trent. So, the plan is to leave at 7 am instead of the usual 8 o/clock. Willington is where we’re planning to stay the weekend, which will leave us with just over a week to our moorings, where we intend to be on Monday 28th.

It’s Sunday again and we’re at Willington as of yesterday. We came through here last year, or perhaps it was 2007, my memory aint what it used to was. However, last time we were her I distinctly remember it being much more peaceful than it is now. Unbeknown to us there’s a train line about 50 yards from the towpath and I feel sure we would have remembered that. Still, the service stops quite early in the evening, and so we don’t have our sleep disturbed.

The Green Dragon pub is just a short walk from our moorings, so Sunday lunch is no problem but, it looks like we’ll be visiting twice today. According to my dearly beloved, Sunday night is acoustic night, so we could be in for a treat. I am having to re-think my approach to the guitar myself, though I’m hanged if I can understand why I’m having so much trouble with it. Perhaps I’m just a little bit impatient – patience really isn’t my strong point, as you all know – or perhaps I just don’t have it in me to play the darned thing. Whatever it is I’m not giving up just yet. Also, I think maybe I’ve been taking the learning process a wee bit too seriously. After all I’m no spring chicken and I have no aspirations towards fame and fortune in the music industry. So, I think perhaps I should adopt a more relaxed attitude and take some tips from experts in the instrument, which is why I’ve been searching the Internet and downloaded a couple of short courses. We shall see.

We are hoping to be at our new moorings by Monday the 28th, on which day Alan will pay us a visit. This is so that he can take me to Chesterfield, where I have found a 10 year old Alfa Romeo 146 at the princely price of £695 and, since I now have a buyer for the RAV 4, I won’t have to find more than £200 to clinch the deal. I much prefer to deal with a trader when buying a car because, unlike a private sale, you do have someone to have a moan at if the car is not up to scratch. This company also run a credit check on the vehicle, so I should have no fear of somebody knocking on my door claiming the car is theirs. Full details as follows:

5 Doors, Manual, Hatchback, Petrol, 93,500 miles, Metallic Blue, MOT-08-2010. Service History, Leather Steering Wheel and Gear Knob, Electric sunroof, Electric windows, Electric mirrors, Alloy wheels, Central locking,
Foglights, PAS, ABS, Radio, Driver airbag, Metallic paintwork, Child locks, Adjustable steering column/wheel. Insurance Group:13A, HPI CLEAR, Only 2 previous owners.

Tomorrow we have not decided where we are stopping, so it will be a nice surprise for both of us!

After a very good Sunday, not only in terms of the weather, which was a most pleasant, sunny a warm day, but also in terms of pubbing it. At lunchtime we sat in the garden but, unfortunately, the nearest pears on the tree were too far to reach. Later on in the evening we returned, just for a couple of hours, to listen to a young couple perform a variety of modern pop songs on guitars. I have to say that the fellow was very good and really knew his way around the fretboard. The, very attractive young lady, who was tall and leggy and slender, with rather tight jeans, also played guitar, but I felt her voice was best suited to country music. I really could have sat there until closing time but, as we’re on the move again this morning – Monday 21st September – I did not wish to wake up with a mouth like a gorilla’s armpit.

We are now embarking upon our very last week of our 2009 cruise and we have decided to stop off at Swarkestone, which is about five miles away. Meanwhile, having managed to get online, I am going to post this blog, which will still give me time for one final blog when we arrive at Pillings Lock.

Have a good week folks.

Dave, Sheila and Rusty.