Packing

Heavy rain overnight and more this morning, but it’s quite a bit warmer.  I think I’d rather have it cold and clear (except that we still need rain…)  This morning we started pack and cleaning, so now the saloon shelves are empty and virtually all of our clothes are in suitcases.  I cleaned the shower and the oven, and was quite pleased with the way the shelves came up.

After lunch, we drove to Aldridge, where Helen and Andy were trading at a Christmas Fair at the parish church.  They said they’d had a pretty quiet day (who’d want to go out in such wet weather) so they’d had plenty of time to chat to people — including us.

Tonight will be our final night on board, before we head up to Cheshire tomorrow ready for handover day for Kingley Vale on Monday.

Frosty

As forecast, we had another cold night and it was very frosty this morning.

But it was also sunny, and as I wanted to do some research for a magazine article, we walked down the canal to Whittington.  Everything was beautiful in the crisp air, and there were sections of the canal that were frozen.

As we went through Whittington, a boat came along, crashing through the ice.  It wasn’t that thick but it still makes a tremendous noise.  When we got to Whittington Bridge, we walked up into the village where the Main Street cafe was very busy; we found a table and had coffee, tea, and a toasted tea cake.  We walked back through the village to the bridge by Whittington Wharf, and back up the canal.  At Huddlesford Junction, we saw Rowington, the share boat in which my cousin Catherine and family are part owners.

This afternoon I’ve written a couple of articles and sorted out lots of photos, and Adrian has done work in his charity role.  The latest episode of The Water Road podcast is also out.  This one is about the Montgomery Canal, and can be heard by clicking here.

Sutton Park and The Royal

We’re at the stage where we’re ready to pack — but don’t need to yet!  We haven’t got room for boxes of stuff, and if we can live normally rather than in chaos for a couple more days, then so much the better.

So we decided to visit Sutton Park in Sutton Coldfield.  And talking of cold — it was.  Very.  The park is huge, and a quick half hour walk didn’t even scratch the surface.

We’d also booked to see The Choral at The Royal Cinema in Sutton Coldfield.  It’s a lovely art deco building.

The screen we were in was quite small, but had very fancy seating, most of them in pairs.

The film was good, but it was absolutely freezing in the cinema so if we’d gone specifically to warm up we’d have been disappointed.  It’s been a lovely sunny day, but the clear skies mean we’re expecting another cold night.

Insurance and mile stones

It was cold this morning, although the forecast sleet didn’t materialise.  We took a car-load of stuff to the recycling centre in Lichfield, and then carried on into town for a Tesco shop.  Back at the boat, Adrian followed up on one of the insurance quotes we’d had for Kingley Vale, and found it had gone down in price due to a Black Friday offer.  So we’ve gone with CraftInsure (and it’s probably the first Black Friday deal that’s actually proved to be worth it.

This afternoon, we walked down the towpath to The Plough because there’s a post box outside and we needed to get some birthday cards on their way.  I also walked the other way, past Streethay, s I needed more steps.  Just down from the marina there’s a mile post; I’d at first thought it was a half-mile post, because it’s very short.

Along past Streethp is another one, this one full size — but the figure on the left is still a half mile.  

I think the half miles on both are from Fradley Junction, but I’m not sure about the other one.  To my eyes, one says 5 and the other 6, which would mean they were going in the same direction as the half mile figure.  I might need to go back and have a closer look.

Moving prep — and dinner out

We’ve started preparing for the move from this boat to the new one, and the first jobs included having a turn out of stuff we don’t need.  Some stuff could go in the bins here, but we’ve also got some things for a tip run tomorrow.  I also spent a couple of hours taking the loo apart, and cleaning it as much as possible.

After lunch we drove along to Burton where there’s a B&Q, as we also needed to buy a few things for the new boat.  When we got back, I went for a walk round the marina and out along the towpath.  It’s been a much sunnier day than expected.

This evening we drove to the Tidy residence, as we’d been invited for dinner.  It was an evening of nice food and good company, including plenty of boat chat, of course.  Tonight is due to be cold, and the forecast also has some sleet in it.

A week away

We’re back on board after a week down south.  We left last Tuesday and headed for Kent; I caught a train to London to go to a leaving do, while Adrian went to his aunt and uncle’s.  We then stayed there Wednesday night, and on Thursday headed for West Sussex.  The main reason for going down was for a joint birthday party of our friends, Brian and Mike.  We stayed with them too, for which we were very grateful.  We also saw friends Lou and Roo for lunch on Sunday, which was lovely.  During the few days we both went to the dentist, and on the way back today we stopped off at Winchester to see John and Bowie the Boston terrier.  It’s been really nice to see everyone.

The drive back up was a bit slower than it should have been, and of course the boat was pretty cold.  We immediately got the heating on and the fire going, so hopefully it won’t be too long before it warms up.

Whittington

Lots more rain overnight but this morning was surprisingly sunny.  We thought we’d better make the most of it so walked down the canal to Whittington, leaving the towpath at the first bridge, Bridge 80.

After you’ve walked past all the modern housing, the centre of the village is rather nice.

We went for a cuppa at the very pleasant the Main Street Cafe, outside of which is a post box with a Remembrance Day knitted top.

The local estate agent, which has a branch on the main street, has an unusual name and a novel way with its sold signs.

We walked through the village and bc, onto the towpath at the far end, Whittington Bridge.  That’s the last one on the part of the Coventry Canal which was actually built by the Birmingham and Fazeley company.  After that, the bridges revert from names to numbers again.  There was a little bit of rain as we walked back, but again we were lucky, because no sooner were we inside the boat than it chucked it down.  There’s been more heavy rain this afternoon.  Adrian has been for another appointment about his foot, while I’ve done a couple of little boat jobs. 

Lord Vernon’s Sudbury Hall

The forecast said this morning would be better than this afternoon, so we headed off in the car to the National Trust property, Sudbury Hall.  The estate was owned by the Vernon family — and they also owned coal mines in Poynton, and had a canal basin, Lord Vernon’s Wharf, which is of course now the home of Braidbar Boats.  The hall is rather impressive outside and inside.

The basement contains a museum of childhood, but we decided we didn’t particularly need to see that.  Just outside the National Trust property is a collection of former stables round a courtyard, now converted into artisan shops including a pottery, and a coffee shop where we had tea.

Then we had a walk round the village, which has some interesting buildings and quint streets.

We drove the half hour back to the boat, just as the rain started for a little while.  This afternoon, Adrian has been doing work on his charity job while I went out to complete my steps, only getting rained on right at the end.

Fizz and cake

Quite a nice sunny day this morning, and while Adrian had a call to do, I went to do my steps along the towpath.  He then joined me to do a few more.  This afternoon, we drove down to the Tidy’s where Helen was having cake and bubbles to celebrate her birthday.  A very nice relaxed afternoon meeting some of their other friends.  And I haven’t taken a photo all day!

The Red Carpet

A few domestic tasks first thing, like filling the water tank, and then we got in the car and headed off to Barton Marina.  We’d booked with the little cinema there for a lunchtime viewing of I Swear, a fantastic film about a man with Tourette Syndrome, who did a lot to educate people about it.  The cinema itself is really cute; we were in the little screen, but I can’t imagine the big one is much bigger.

There’s also a cafe bar there which looks pretty good.  The marina itself is a rather soulless place, with the noise of the A38 being very intrusive.

After the film we headed straight down the A38 to Lichfield for a top up shop at the big Tesco, then back at the marina we popped out for a walk down the towpath.  There were boats moving, something that seems like a rarity at the moment.

November Braidbar visit

We drove up to Braidbar today for the last visit before we take possession on Kingley Vale later this month.  There’s a full update over on the KV blog.  The boat is looking great, inside and out.  Lots more photos on the other blog.

It was late afternoon when we got back, but I was seriously short of steps so went out to stride the towpath until it was dark!

Stoke

We drove the hour or so to Stoke this morning, stopping first at a fabric place to see what they had.  Not what we wanted, was the answer.  A cup of tea in the M&S Cafe was next on the agenda, followed by a bit of shopping for things for the new boat.  Then we went down to Trentham Shopping Village, as Adrian wanted to visit the Tog 24 shop, to see what ski jackets they had.  We had lunch of Staffordshire oatcakes in a cafe there.

This afternoon, I’ve baked for tomorrow, and been out for a long walk as my steps were way behind.

Huddlesford Junction

A pretty dull and slightly rainy day.  This morning we drove into Lichfield to the big Tesco for a shop.  After lunch, Adrian went off for an appointment about his painful foot, while I had a walk down the towpath to get my steps in.  I went down to Huddlesford Junction, where the Lichfield Canal used to go off (and may again one day).  It’s currently moorings for a boat club.

There has been lots more movement of hire boats round the marina.  One has gone into the shed for work, and two have been put over the far side, presumably because they’re not needed at the moment.

Car retrieval

Having checked out the route yesterday, this morning we walked to Lichfield Trent Valley station to get a train first to Crewe and then on to Nantwich to get the car. 

The car has been looked after by our friends Billy and Sheila near Hurleston Junction. We walked up the towpath to their house and had a very nice lunch with them. 

While we were there, we had a call about the fabric we chose months ago for the new boat. It seems the upholstery people are having trouble getting it. Bill and Sheila suggested going to a big fabric place in Chester to see what they had — so we ended up heading off up there, the opposite direction to where we really wanted to be going. Anyway we found a couple of possible choices, and then headed back south to Kings Orchard. 

Settling in

We’ll be here for a while now, but I still plan to blog each day — partly because this blog is a record of every night one or both of us has spent on board, and for completeness I’ll carry on!  This morning was really sunny and not windy, so after breakfast we wanted to sort out the bow rope.  The pontoon is shorter than the boat, so to make the bow line reach back to the T-stud, we used a chain through the ring on the pontoon.  It was also clear than this pontoon is often unused, as it was covered in duck, goose, and swan poo — so I got the mop and cleaned it all off so at least we can walk down it ok.

We went out for a walk to explore the local area.  There’s a gate from the marina out onto the towpath, and as we went out, a boat also emerged from the entrance.

We’d looked up the walking route to the nearest station, Lichfield Trent Valley, but I’d been looking at the maps and thought there might be a better way than Google was suggesting.  So we walked down to Bridge 84, went across it, and took a path through a couple of gates.  The path then cuts across a big HS2 site.  This part is apparently still being built, as it’s near where the line re-joins the West Coast Mainline, although there doesn’t appear to be much going on.  Maybe it’s different on a weekday.

Once across the site, the path goes under the A38.

Then there’s a level crossing over a railway line, which seems to have almost no traffic on it.  It’s just a link between two busy lines.

Once we had crossed the railway, we went out onto Burton Road and followed it to the station, about 35 minutes walk in all.

On the way back, we were almost at the marina gate when we could hear an engine that was either a very rough boat or something else.  It turned out to be a diesel train, pulling a London Northwestern train along the rarely used track.  It had most likely been off for maintenance, and was on its way back to the main line.  This afternoon we have done very little, although Adrian has given me a haircut.  Oh, and last night the sign writer, Andy Russel, put some photos on Facebook of what he’s done on Kingley Vale, so I’ve done a post on that blog.

It’s quite a nice marina, although there is a bit of background noise from the A38 and you can hear the trains on the West Coast Mainline, which crosses the canal down by Huddlesford Junction.  There are a lot of hire and share boats here too, so there’s quite a bit of moving around of boats, usually at high revs!

The Final Countdown: Day 13

It’s always good to see the Tidys, and The Crown in Alrewas did us fine for food.  The place was rammed, and because it was Halloween, lots of patrons were in fancy dress.  There was more rain overnight, and in the early hours I was woken up by strong winds blowing us about.  This morning, we seemed to be slightly on the wonk, the level in the pound apparently having dropped slightly.  We set off about 8.30, with Adrian setting Bagnall Lock and me bringing the boat.

Common Lock was empty for us, and as we came to leave a boat arrived so we could leave the gate open for him.  Getting out was a challenge because of all the leaves in the water.  The locks up to Fradley Junction were also empty or mostly empty.  The house by the junction is being given a makeover, but we’re really not sure about the big gold letters on the gate.

We came up Junction Lock and then turned left onto the Coventry.  The Swan behind us looked lovely lit up by the sunshine.

The leaves on the Coventry seemed even worse — maybe oak leaves are worse than others for getting stuck on the prop.  Some of the wooded sections did look lovely in the sunshine though.

We came under the A38 and through Streethay, then turned into Kings Orchard Marina, which will be our base for the next few weeks.

We’d been told a pontoon number, but that one already had a boat on it, so we ended up outside the office to sort things out.  We were pointed to another pontoon, but then had to get there.  The wind was very unhelpful, and it took a couple of attempts to reverse in — and even then it was done somewhat inelegantly.  Later on, I was gratified to see one of the hire boat staff moving a boat and also being blown all over the place.  Once tied up (also not easy because the pontoon is a bit short and has very few rings on it) we returned to the office to pay for the month.  This afternoon we’ve been for a wander round the marina to locate everything, and along the towpath for a bit.  As we’re plugged in to electric, we’ve got the washing machine going

5 miles, 5 locks.  (80 miles, 56 locks)