Working class hero

A few more boat names for your perusal .

Summer ,Spring , Autumn or Winter its all good .

The most rusty boat name we have seen.

We see a few like this .

Don't know .

The great man himself.

We like this .

Never me .

                                                                                                    Happy Days

Reflection

With Carolyn back in Devon for a couple of days me and the Lad Hamish have spent hours walking around the local area. The picture above is the lock landing to get off the river Trent and back onto the canal at Alrewas . Strange how an idiot angler should set up right in the middle of the landing . He even has his wife with him who is happily knitting away.

What a lovely looking Swan and how lucky was I to get that reflection .

I do need to get myself a book on Fungi especially one which tells me the safe ones to eat.We often find field Mushrooms which we pick and eat and they taste so much better than shop bought ones. These in the picture above look like they would be delicious but I don't think I could take a chance on eating them without knowing exactly what they are .

These look like they would be alright as well . No doubt someone out there that knows about them would tell me that I would be 6 feet under if I was to eat them.

With Carolyn back tomorrow we will stock Inca up from the village shops and continue our way down South for the Winter.

                                                                                                        Happy Days

Auriga

After a couple of days at Alrewas it was good to see a coal boat which is something we haven't seen for a few months. As I have said before we always buy if we can from the coal boats as in the middle of Winter and with ice on the canal these boats are a life line for many us livaboard /continuous cruisers .This boat is called Auriga and is operated by Rick on his historic Narrowboat which was Built by Harland and Wolff in 1935. It’s the first time we have ever used Rick and full marks to him as he reversed all the way back to us from the winding hole in Alrewas to serve us with diesel and coal. Rick covers a wide area in the midlands and can be contacted on this number.

PHONE RICK ON 07962 013199

                                                                                                          Happy Days

Alrewas

We pulled pins from Branston at 08.40 and were soon at Branston lock where I was well impressed with this fence. Being an ex mechanic its always good to see old engine parts being put to good use

The lock cottage at Branston lock does B&B and has to be a great place to stay if you enjoy canals.

Number one Lock wheeler Carolyn preparing the lock.

After a good cruise we dropped back down on the the river Trent for the one mile section between Wychnor and Alrewas  . This probably be the last bit of river we do for some time as it is all canals heading South after here.Passing the church we discovered that   "Wichnor (Wychnor), or Whichnour, is a scattered village, township and chapelry, forming the south end of Tatenhill parish, six and a half miles SW of Burton-upon-Trent and the same distance NE of Lichfield. The whole belongs to the lord of the manor, John Levett, Esq, of Wichnor Lodge, a handsome mansion, seated in a beautiful park of 300 acres, on the north bank of the Trent.
The river Trent here runs in two circuitous streams, crossed by a range of noble aqueducts, forming part of the canal, and by a stone bridge, of many arches and culverts, on the Lichfield and Burton road, which latter is the Icknield Street of the Romans. Near the bridge is an iron forge, established about 90 years ago. King James I visited Wichnor, on August 21st, 1621, and held a court at the hall, and he dined there again on August 19th, 1624. The corn mills here were burnt down in 1596." It’s another one of those places that you pass and never seem to go and explore , maybe one day.

Not a brilliant picture of a Kingfisher but I will endeavour to get a better one.

As we come off the short river section Carolyn locks us up in to the village of Alrewas. As you can see the river is on green boards which means it is safe to navigate .

After winding we picked up this 14 day mooring which is just a short stroll from the village . With a Chippie and a Chinese takeaway it will be a tough decision of what to have for dinner tonight .With Carolyn heading back down to Devon for a couple or three days or more and me having all I need here I will wait in this lovely village for her return.

                                                                                              Happy Days

Back on the cut

Pulling pins from our mooring at Shardlow we had a good cruise in front of us today as we wanted to get to the other side of Burton on Trent and try and pick up a mooring at Branston water park . It was good to see this Skein of Geese flying over the top of us as we cruised up the Trent and Mersey canal.

We have seen this one before somewhere but never moving along .It has two small electric outboard engine which are fixed to a bit of timber. It would be interesting to see how fast it goes and how well it handles.

Reaching Weston lock and this is one of the only locks anywhere that Carolyn cant open or close the gates on. As well as them being heavy they also slope back in towards the lock and even with my heavy weight I still struggled.

With the colder weather coming we decided it was time to get some coal on the roof and as we hadn't seen a coal boat for some time we went in to Mercia marina to pick some up. As you can see the new building work is coming on and there will soon be even more high end expensive shops here , just what us boaters need. We assumed that the coal would be on the wharf where you get the diesel but it was up outside the reception. We were told that we would have to sack truck it ourselves from there to the Midland chandlers pontoon where we were told to moor. Needless to say with such poor customer service we didn't bother and went on our way.

Better luck at Shobnall marina for our coal. We pulled up outside and the lovely helpful staff there barrowed out 5 bags of Excel coal to us. This will do us until we meet up with a coal boat and get a full load .

On our way again we pass the Marston's brewery which John Marston established in 1834 at the Horninglow Brewery at Burton upon Trent. By 1861 the brewery produced 3,000 barrels a year. In 1890, Marston & Son Ltd was registered as a limited liability company. In 1898 Marston's amalgamated with John Thompson & Son Ltd and moved to Albion Brewery on Shobnall Road, which the company still operates. By this time the brewery had a capacity of 100,000 barrels a year. It was at this time that the Burton Union system began to be used. In 1905, the company merged with Sydney Evershed to form Marston, Thompson & Evershed.

The British brewery and pub operates over 1,700 pubs in the UK, and is the world's largest brewer of cask ale. 90 per cent of profits come from the pubs division. It was known as Wolverhampton and Dudley Breweries plc until 2007 when it rebranded as Marston's.

It owns six breweries and brands including Marston's, Banks's, Jennings ,Ringwood and Wychwood. Its priority products are Marston's Pedigree and Wychwood Hobgoblin.

After a good cruise we picked up this mooring just before Branston water park . The bridge in front of us has just been built and there is now building work going in in the fields both sides of us and opposite the water park . I dare say that the next time we come this way it will look completely different.

Tomorrow it will be a short cruise to my favourite village of Alrewas where we will spend a few days before heading South for the Winter.

                                                                                              Happy Days