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| Our mooring at Meaford on Sunday evening |
Our main aim for the
weekend was to get as far south as we could so that Karen could start commuting
daily rather than stay away in a B&B during the week. It seems like we
achieved that aim as she left at 5.20 this morning and was in the office for
6.40. The journey should get shorter as
Buddy and I continue cruising during the week.
In all we covered 33 miles
and went through 43 locks this weekend so that’s a lot of cruising for us compared with what
we have been doing over the last few months.
On Sunday morning Karen’s cousin, Dave, picked her up to take her back
to the boatyard to pick up our car.
Karen then drove to Barlaston, a village south of Stoke-on-Trent, and left it in the
Plume of Feathers car park. Dave then
picked her up from the pub and drove back up to meet me in Stoke. Incidentally the pub is owned by Neil
Morrissey and sells a good range of craft beers including a couple of his own
brand.
After Dave had set off with
Karen to the boatyard I set off to get through the 2 ¼ mile long Harecastle tunnel and then
down to Stoke. It was pouring – the first
heavy rain we have seen for a while. I
had to go up one lock before reaching the tunnel and had a problem before I got
into it. I had forgotten how low the
bridge was before the lock but managed to stop in time to remove the trolley
from the roof. I would have had to move it
before going through the tunnel anyway so it didn't really matter.
As it was before November
I could turn up at the tunnel and queue for passage – in the winter
months you have to book a couple of days ahead.
As it happened I only had to wait a couple of minutes as there were no
boats coming through and no others going through with me. I had to drop the solar panels down flat and
remove the chimney but was OK leaving the wood and plants as they were. It was
a strange experience going through such a long tunnel on my own but I kept myself
occupied counting the distance markers every 100 metres.
When I got out the other
side the rain had stopped. Fortunately
it stopped for the day and we had lots of glorious sunshine but there was a
cold wind that was noticeable when clouds blew over.
Karen joined me when I got
to Stoke and popped a chicken into the slow cooker for our first roast on the new
boat. We are slowly getting things
sorted out - the bookcase in the saloon is based on the one that Mike and Aileen have on their boat Quaintrelle - thanks for the idea guys. The cupboard also hides the cabling from the broadband receiver on the roof and the wireless router - so wire free and wifi!
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The saloon – just need to
get some curtains – Buddy in his usual spot in front of the stove
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The towpaths around Stoke
are all tarmacked so there were lots of cyclists around – probably more so as
it was Sunday - although, for some reason, there were none in the photo
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Karen and Buddy having a
rest at Trentham lock
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When we reached the Plume
of Feathers we decided to carry on for another couple of miles and get through
a couple more locks. We ended up mooring
in the Meaford flight – see top of page and then walked back to the pub to pick
up the car.
It was a really pleasant
evening, rounded off by a delicious roast and a contented feeling that we had
achieved quite a lot over the weekend.
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| Our view from the dinette on Sunday evening |
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