Handsacre to Stone and back
to Weston
Saturday 28th
September
I received a most unexpected
email from the marina yesterday; that’s the one that cleaned out the burner in
our heater system. I was asked to give them a call, because since we seem to
have had so much trouble with it and, more importantly, that we’ve had three
new burners since we bought the boat, they think there is probably an
underlying reason as to why the system won’t work within its own working
voltage limits.
So, straightway, as soon as
we moored up at the pig farm yesterday morning, I gave them a call. Now, since
the fuel pump is working properly and fuel is getting to the unit and, since
the burner has now been cleaned, the nice man thinks there may be a problem
with electrics , or there may even be a problem with the ‘brain’ of the unit.
So, the upshot of our conversation was that, when we get to Crick he will be
willing to come along and investigate. I suppose I must have placated them with
my grovelling follow-up email.
Now, the pig farm moorings.
These are just a couple of miles outside Rugeley and are nice and peaceful. Of
course, during high summer and with the wind in the wrong direction, the smell
is something else again, but it’s the peace and quiet that we like.
Talking about Rugeley; which
is where we always stop for Morrison’s shopping; a couple of feet above the
canal towpath, hidden behind a row of bushes, is another pathway. Behind that
pathway was a huge hoarding, behind which some construction work was going on.
Also, the bridge ahead of the moorings had single file traffic access. Well,
the hoarding has gone and, in its place is a brand new Tesco store. And, on top
of that surprise, we discovered that the bridge is now closed to traffic.
We still used Morrison’s and
Wifey overheard a couple of women talking about the new store and neither of
them had yet tried it out. With a huge Morrison’s in town, you would think that
there would be no need for a Tesco too, but how wrong can you be?
Sunday 29th
September
On a rather dismal morning,
we took a slow cruise down to Great Haywood and, with only two miles and one
lock to go, we made it in less than two hours. Just as we were leaving the pig
farm moorings, another boat passed by with a couple of guys on board and, as you
do, we exchanged pleasantries. Shortly afterwards, another boat pulled out
ahead of us and we thought, ‘here we go, another slow journey’. This was
because, with two boats now in front, we weren’t going to get through that lock
in a hurry.
However, just a little way
short of that lock, we passed the first boat, which had pulled in to the side
of the canal. I asked, in passing, what the problem was and, wouldn’t you know
it, they had a similar problem with their rudder as we did a couple of years
ago, only their problem seemed much worse than ours. It seems they had hit
something as they approached a lock earlier in the week, after which they were
having serious problems keeping the boat in a straight line. Not only that,
they still had a couple of days cruising before they could get it looked at
back at base. I don’t feel quite so bad about our own problem now!
The rest of yesterday went as
normal, but with one difference from last time we were here we couldn’t get the
TV to tune in properly. As it happens, there’s not much that we watch at
weekends; except perhaps Countryfile on Sunday; so this was no great hardship.
Amazingly though, the people on the boat in front of us had no such problem.
Most boaters do experience problems with the TV down here, it all depends
exactly where you are moored, just a few feet can make a big difference.
Thankfully the phone and Internet are OK here.
Later in the afternoon we
took a walk around the village, via the boatyard where we bought ice creams.
Well, as far as we are concerned, it’s still summer!
We’ll stay here today and
then make our way to Weston on Monday. Weston doesn’t have much by way of
shops, just a small newsagents about half a mile along the main road. But it
does have a pub close to the towpath and, just as you leave the canal, there’s
a small field that has chickens in and, as you would expect, the owners do sell
the eggs.
Tuesday 1st
October
Only a month to go now and
we’ll be all set to while away the winter at Crick marina. Meanwhile we’ll get
to Stone today, weather permitting.
Yesterday dawned grey and
cold with a light breeze and, after three locks and three miles, we made it to
Weston without incident. With the help of another boater, we just managed to
squeeze ourselves into a spot.
Later on I took the camera
for a walk to see if the chickens were about. Well, they were, but the field
they were in also boated a camper van and another car, so the pictures I took
are really not much us. Other than that we simply chilled out for the day.
Once again our pooch has an
upset tummy and woke us up before 5am today. She seemed a bit off colour
yesterday evening and spent a lot of time on her bed. This in itself is fair
warning that we’re in for an early awakening. One of our first stops at Crick,
will be the nearest vet. Hopefully they will be able to come up with something
to alleviate the problem.
Wednesday 2nd
October
From Weston to Stone is about
six miles and includes two locks, which makes it about a two hour trip. For no
reason that I can fathom, it took us 2½ hours. Apart from a bit of a cross wind
I can think of no reason for being that slow. Still, we made it without mishap
and had no difficulty finding somewhere to moor up, unlike last time when we
just managed to squeeze in at the top end of the moorings. This time we are on
the five day moorings and, since we’re meeting Alan and Chris today, we’ll
probably stay for Thursday and get some shopping in.
Thursday 3rd
October
Had a really good day
yesterday, thanks mainly to Alan and Chris, who joined us at about 10.45 and,
after a chat on the boat and lunch at Wetherspoon’s, kept us chatting until
about 3pm. I now have a DVD of Zulu Dawn and another DVD of jokes and photos of
Malta, where they spent about 10 weeks on holiday. The latter of the two
brought back memories of my time there in the late 60s, but it has certainly
become a lot more touristy. You never know, I might find one that I can paint.
Alan also handed me a bunch of books, one of which, ‘Zulu Rising’, I started on
yesterday. He’s given me a quite a lot to be getting on with, which will give
Wifey a chance to catch up with the books sitting in the cupboard. Those are
the books I have finished with and I suppose I’m just a faster reader.
Talking of painting, the one
I started recently, I also managed to mess up, so I’ll have to start it again.
This time I’ll do a slightly different view of Wolverley.
We’ll stay here at Stone for
today and move on back to Weston tomorrow. We aim to be at Great Haywood again
for the weekend and then make our way to Crick.
Friday 4th October
Well, it’s just as well we’re
on the five day moorings because, by the sound of that rain out there, we may
not be going anywhere today. Our plan was to go back to Weston, which is about
six miles and two locks, but if this weather keeps up we aint going nowhere.
Yesterday was OK for the most
part but, just as we had set out for the waste disposal point, which is two
locks up from here, the heavens opened up and, by the time we got back we were
both like drowned rats. My so-called ‘waterproof’ jacket is, once again,
anything but. That’s another jacket that doesn’t live up to its claims.
We have now discovered why
there were so many boats moored here when we arrived on Wednesday, there’s a
Food and Drink Festival on this weekend. It also explains the marquees that have
been put up on the adjacent field. So, if this rain continues we just might
take a gander at what’s on offer although, it won’t be long before that field
is a quagmire. Ah well, we’ll just have to play it by ear.
Saturday 5th
October
It’s still very mild for this
time of year and, despite my fears yesterday morning, we did indeed manage to
get away and, surprise, surprise, we actually made it to Weston with a soaking.
This time, rather than go through to the main moorings at Wston, we stopped
short at bridge 81, which is far more open and quiet. The rest of the day was
spent in the usual manner.
Today, hopefully, we’ll go on
to Great Haywood, where we’ll stay for the weekend.
Meanwhile, all the best for
the weekend.
Dave, Sheila and Rusty.
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