9th--14th October

Sunday, 4th to Thursday 8th October
Today we went back into Trinity Marina, as Trev is off on an adventure! I stayed in the marina whilst he was away. Trev went to help a friend, Eric, from Llangollen, to bring his boat back across the Ribble Link. So he caught the train to Crewe, and Judy and Eric met him and took him to their boat. They all stayed on board on Monday night, then on Tuesday, Judy left with the dogs and Trev and Eric took the boat across the Ribble estuary. You can only cross it at certain times of the tide and you have to wait until the BW men say you can go. Then it's down Savick Brook and turn right onto the estuary, as if you were going to sea. There are 'perches' (which are poles, I think, from the way Trev described it) at one mile intervals, and after so many you have to turn left and lock into the River Douglas--unless you're planning on going out to sea! Trev enjoyed the experience very much, and it's probably the only chance he'll get to do it, as our boat is too long to go there. The only downside was that the rain came down by the bucketful and they got wet through.

Whilst Trev was away, I did some quilting and computing. On the Monday, I went with my friend Margaret, who moors at Trinity, to a quilting day and we made a wall hanging. On the Wednesday evening I went with her to a talk about the use of colour in quilting.

Friday, 9th October
Trev got back on Thursday, and then on Friday we set off for Llangollen and our winter mooring. First we went down the Ashby Canal to Marston Junction. On the way we met Ian and Alison on "Gosty Hill", the working boat, and bought diesel and coal from them. We like to support the working boats whenever we can, and it's always good to have a chat with them. We usually put the world to rights! At Marston Junction, we turned right onto the Coventry Canal. We went through Nuneaton, and then we were out in the country again. I love this part of Warwickshire. Once you leave Nuneaton behind, the scenery is glorious. We moored up in the countryside before Atherstone.

Saturday, 10th October
We went on into Atherstone and did the flight of eleven locks, meeting other boats coming up, which is always a help, as it means the locks are set for us. We moored up at Polesworth as friends were coming to have a cup of tea with us. Barbara and John live at Sutton Coldfield and this was about the nearest point for them to visit us. They hadn't seen our boat and so were keen to come and have a look. We spent a pleasant couple of hours together, and when they left, we set off again and moored at Alvecote, on the boundary of Warwickshire and Staffordshire. In fact, Leicestershire's boundary is very close and so is south Derbyshire's.

Sunday, 11th October
Ever onwards, we set off again and went through Tamworth and passed Fazeley Junction, where the Birmingham and Fazeley Canal goes off to Birmingham. We filled up with water here, and then moved on, through the pretty village of Hopwas and more beautiful scenery. There were quite a few boats about today, I suppose the beautiful weather has brought them out. We're having wonderful autumn days, a real Indian Summer. It makes cruising a delight and we're getting the miles in, in case the weather changes. We've a long way to go and so are delighted with the long sunny days. We moored at Fradley Junction tonight. Tomorrow,when we set off, we shall go to the junction and turn left onto the Trent & Mersey Canal.

Click here to see a video of the Coventry Canal

Monday, 12th October
I've bored you before with tales of the "Mop Fair" in Warwick, so I won't go on about it again, except to say that October 12th is the day when the Fair is on in Stratford-on-Avon and then the first Saturday after the 12th it comes to Warwick. When I was a little girl growing up in Warwick, I would save my pocket money up for "The Mop". Even now, my internal calendar still registers the date!

But we are on our way to Llangollen, and today we set off again, under a heavenly blue sky. We went through Handsacre, where there are some lovely houses backing onto the canal, . One of them had a hawk in the garden tethered to a branch. Just as we were approaching Rugeley, we had a great pick up of wood, ready for the winter. The trees alongside the canal had been felled,and there were plenty of logs for us to put on the roof of the boat. Then we moved on into Rugeley and moored up to visit Morrison's. I never cease to be amazed at how a 'little shop' can turn into a mega shop, and we end up spending a fortune! We only needed some fresh vegetables, and came back with about six bags all filled and heavy!

After Rugeley, we cruised as far as Little Haywood, and then moored up, as tomorrow morning we have a man coming to fit a new cable--I'm not quite sure what it does, exept that it is attached to the throttle! It has been getting stiffer these last few months and it seems that it needs replacing.

Tuesday, 13th October.
The man arrived at about 9.00 and duly fitted the new cable, and then we set off again. First we came to Great Haywood Junction, and here we moored up for water and to get rid of rubbish. Whilst we were there, another boat came in wanting water, and there was nowhere to moor, so they breasted up to us until we had finished. They were live aboards, and we swopped anecdotes and stories as we waited. They have taken a full time mooring, and said that they aren't using it, they're always out cruising, which is what we found in our first year. We had a mooring at Braunston, which we only spent a short time on, and so we gave it up after a year. Mooing up in Llangollen for five months in the winter suits us very well. Then we have seven months cruising.

We filled up with water and said goodbye to our friends, and set off again. We need to be in Stone tonight, as Trev's cousin Ann and her husband Graham are coming to visit us. This part of the canal is so pretty and rural, we passed through the little village of Weston-on-Trent, but the rest of the journey was through open countryside, some of it ploughed and ready for winter, some fields with cows, horses or sheep and everywhere very tranquil.

We made it to Stone and found a mooring--we had wondered, as we came along the canal, if we would be able to get in, because it was getting quite late in the day, and often the moorings are all taken, but we were lucky. Ann & Graham arrived and we went to The Star Inn, but the food was nothing to write home about, it was very mediochre. We had been once before, some years ago, and not enjoyed it, but the people we met at the water point in Great Haywood said they'd had an excellent meal there, so we thought we ought to give it another go. But it certainly wasn't worth it. However, we had a good evening with Ann & Graham, and they're hoping to come and see us when we're in Llangollen.

Wednesday, 14th October
We walked into Stone this morning and bought some milk--we certainly didn't need anything else after the big shop at Rugeley! We were going to have a coffee at "The Lounge" but it was closed for refurbishment, so we went to Costa and had hot chocolate. Then it was back to the boat and on again. We went through the four locks at Stone and then the four at Meaford. Now we were approaching Stoke-on-Trent. We went through Trentham lock, and then there were the five Stoke locks to do. At the bottom lock was a group of young people with cans of beer, but they were pleasant enough, throwing their empties in to the cut........... The locks here aren't very nice at all, some of them are under long bridges where it's very dark and spooky, there is graffiti on the walls and the bridges, and all in all it's a place to get through as quickly as possible. We've been really lucky with all the locks today, they've all been set in our favour.

At last we finished the locks and came up for air. We continued along the canal and almost out of Stoke. We moored by Westport Lake, ready for the Harecastle Tunnel tomorrow. There were quite a few other boats there, so we felt safe enough. I shall be glad to get through the tunnel and out the other end into the countryside again. Oh, I forgot to tell you, I won the battle of the stove and it is now alight! It's almost too warm, the days have been so warm, but it's lovely in the evening and early morning.

Autumn Cruise Log

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