ArchiveMarchApril07

March 6

We are still at Higher Poynton, partly because of the aftermath of my illness - I'm now almost back to normal - but also because it's been a good place from which to drive to weekly dental appointments in Derbyshire. We should be away towards the Stumps or Whiteley Green by Thursday or Friday, depending on how soon this appallingly wet weather clears up. It'll be a relief to get away from the flooded towpath on this section with its large pools separated by areas of muddy quagmire (love that word). No matter how often I wash down the side of the boat there are liberal splatters of mud almost as high as the roof within a day or so because this is such a popular area with dogwalkers, hikers and Sunday morning strollers.

Still, our visitors on Sunday, Chris and David Owen-Roberts, braved the couple of hundred yards of it after we enjoyed a pint at the Boar's Head. Liz unselfishly stayed aboard to prepare two large pizzas which were delicious - anchovies on the pieces eaten by Chris and Dave (more like smothered with anchovies in Dave's case), peperami, mushrooms and various cheeses on all. We chased them down with two different wines in a friendly "competition" for which of us had managed to buy the best red for the smallest outlay. They won with a delicious Spanish tempranilla that was just that bit smoother than our Oddbins own-label red. The main course was followed by a superb chocolate mousse made by Chris, who clearly has a special talent with this kind of dessert. If we return to the Macc for winter we will look forward to seeing them again somewhere nearer their base on the Shroppie, for their company as well as their puddings! During our several meetings, by the way, they had talked about their other travelling love - their motorbike. As I've already posted a picture of their boat Isis I felt it fair to add this shot of Chris and bike on a high Spanish plateau - and yes, that is snow.

The latest news from Snecklifter is that Liz is now showing strong symptoms of the heavy cold that struck me down, but as always she is a tougher bird than me and is continuing to work etc. I would guess this strength of character rather than body is typical of most boating women, and probably of most women.

March 13

We've had an excellent week, the highlight coming at the weekend with the visit on Saturday of our Ashford in the Water friends Linda Pelc and John Thorpe. Liz had part-cooked a lasagne, a good choice because Linda and John were very late arriving - a minor social blemish forgiven quickly in the pleasure of their company. And besides, they had a very good excuse : both bellringers, they had been ringing a quarter peal in the morning and one of their number turned up late, skewing their own timetable. The lasagne was still a triumph and Linda had brought her home-cooked Bakewell tartlets which were outstanding hot with fresh cream. The conversation understandably ranged widely from acquaintances in Derbyshire to graphics and sound problems on my computer - an inevitable picking of brains when you have a technological wizard like John trapped aboard.

This week we have more Ashford visitors, with our old "landlord" Brian Parker planning a full day with us on Friday (together with his lovely black labrador Storm, of course) and close friends Clive and Joy Thrower coming for lunch the following day. And if all this sounds like a deliberate attempt by us to indulge in a series of last visits before the season's travels begin then you've obviously caught on. We have only three weeks left to cram in as much as possible around Liz's four-day a week job in Macclesfield.

The brighter weather of the last few days has helped. We came down to the Stumps from Higher Poynton in the middle of last week after taking on water and I've been able to get on with a few outside jobs on the boat. One priority has been to run down our stock of coal so that I can lower our profile before heading into the Harecastle Tunnel in early April. This meant topping up only with diesel when Brian and Anne Marie came alongside with Alton last weekend. However, he also brought a splendid new front fender which he had made specially for me (I hadn't realised his business links on the canal system long predated his taking over n.b. Alton at the beginning of this winter - I've added a link to his company Renaissance which makes traditional fenders - www.bcnboats.co.uk.) This will be fitted before we begin our final season of travels. And there are two more visits by Alton if we need a few more bags of smokeless at the last minute.

March 19

The last of our series of "farewell" visits is over and we have a few weeks ahead of us to prepare for our journey southward to the Thames. On Thursday, Lucy Sendall and Steve Clark came out from the marina at Adlington to spend a night behind us before leaving on their two-week trip to the Caldon and back. They overlapped Serendipity with Snecklifter for an hour so they could help me fit a new front fender using their cruiser back deck as a working platform. I must say that I made an excellent job of the fitting, standing back and agreeing that yes, it was the right height, and yes, I was happy with the way they were using the fitments (mostly theirs) to secure the fender. Truth is, I had little to do with it so when they joined us for an evening meal they certainly deserved the excellent curry Liz had cooked, cooled with a glass of red wine or home-brewed beer.

The following morning our Ashford in the Water friend Brian Parker arrived with his black labrador Storm in time to meet Steve and Lucy's three dogs, Mary, Dinah and Paddy before they all got back aboard and cruised away towards Bosley locks (like the rest of us, Brian is dog-daft and always happy to meet a few more.) Steve and Lucy are the one set of visitors we are almost certain to see again before we head Bosleywards but Brian was making his last visit of the winter and we made the most of good weather and an excellent lunch at the Miner's Arms at Adlington.

On Saturday, still moored at the Stumps, we welcomed Clive and Joy Thrower aboard. Although he has handed over a couple of churches in his extended "parish" to a new incumbent, Clive has taken on other churches and other responsibilities and he seemed busier than ever in the run-up to his retirement this summer. Luckily Joy has already retired and helps him with much of his office and preparation work. With both looking a little tired after a long Friday working on house repairs, we were happy to loll around, exchange news of acquaintances and lunch on another special lasagne from Liz followed by lemon tart and a magnificent cheesecake donated by our visitors.

Today, if the promised snow is not too severe - so far we've only had thunder, lightning, hail and a sprinkling of snow - I'm taking my main computer in to have its motherboard upgraded. So my next update should be written much faster !

March 30

Our sixth (and probably last) season on the Cut is beginning well. My computer is back and running well, Liz has finished work in Macclesfield and we should have returned the car to its summer stable in time to set off on Good Friday, nicely rounding a journey which began on Good Friday in 2002. However .... we've learned a lot in the last five years and one of the most important lessons has been never to travel very far over Easter, or any other Bank Holiday. So we may start our trip down the Macclesfield at the start of the Easter weekend but will make no attempt to get down Bosley locks before the middle of the following week.

Liz was sorry to leave her job, of course, but is looking forward to a change of pace aboard Snecklifter. The work was demanding and tiring in a different way from locking and boat-handling. And I am pleased to have her back for seven days a week even though it will mean curtailing the freedom of four days a week in which I had the boat to myself. Every silver lining ...

My computer has been transformed to a fast and furious instrument since I last updated this website - thanks to the tireless assistance of Armon Nader at Proton computers in Handforth, near Wilmslow. The delay in finishing the job was not his fault. He fitted the new motherboard, processor as well as the Inno graphics card that I had bought over the internet and it was only when I got it back to the boat and played fast games that we realised the graphics card was faulty. As soon as it started getting hot it crashed the pc. So back went the computer and Armon fitted a new card, keeping the pc long enough this time to ensure it was working without problem. So far, so excellent. It's virtually a new machine and when we get a refund on the Inno card should not have cost a fortune. Armon was not only patient with our demands but did a lot of extra fitting of items without charging for his time.

Although our front page shows us again at the Stumps we have moved about a bit in the last 10 days, spending three or four of them at bridge 20, which turned out to be an excellent mooring even though we could not get our stern right in to the bank. The views from the side hatch were very rural, it was just a flight of steps up to the parked car and very, very, quiet most of the time, though we had to be careful not to let the dogs out without leads, of course. While Liz was still at work I cruised up to Higher Poynton to take on water and two bottles of gas and returned to our empty spot at the Stumps on Monday afternooon.

Finally another lovely baby picture but no, this is not Sienna. It's one pic from a group sent to us by Susan and David Lane of Plodder showing the thoughtful side of their granddaughter Abigail. She visited us with her mother Christine when we were on the Ashby last year (see Latest pictures). Couldn't resist brightening your day with this one but I promise the website will concentrate more on boats than babies in the next few months.

April 6

Second thoughts have prevailed. We are still at the Stumps and have arranged to take the car to its summer quarters next Tuesday. If the weather is at all reasonable we will up stakes at first light on Wednesday and, moving at our usual sensible pace, be through the Harecastle tunnel before the weekend. The build-up of holiday traffic on the Macc already has convinced us we made the right decision. As well as an obvious increase in hire boats with the schools out, there are many more day and weekend boaters with children and grandchildren aboard enjoying the sunny weather. Even live-aboards are waking up, shaking themselves and heading out for a couple of weeks or couple of months on other canals, so there's no point rushing down to Bosley locks before the Easter weekend is over.

In the meantime we have been paying last visits to friends in Derbyshire, returning borrowed CDs, collecting loaned DVDs and having lunch with our Sheffield friend Sue Bower at the Castle in Bradway - another excellent meal and Greene King on draught.

Yesterday Steve and Lucy on Serendipity came out of Lyme View marina and moored up behind us - they want to spend a bit of time out and about on the canal - giving us chance to thank them again for all their help through the winter and to make our farewells in case we don't return next winter. Steve spent another couple of hours in the late afternoon sorting out a problem with the radiator on the engine even though he had to be up early this morning for work. Lucy is going to join us on Sunday evening for a roast pork dinner. Liz will spend part of the weekend having the car valeted and shopping for industrial quantities of tinned tomatoes, beans, tea, coffee, bake-yourself-bread and the other basics that make extended cruising that much easier. Fresh bread, milk, fruit and veg can then be picked up as we travel south to Brentford lock. I will be rubbing down small patches of rust and preparing to paint over and make good. There's plenty to do!

April 11

We are on our way at last, waved off by Lucy from Serendipity at 6.30 this morning - she had obviously got up early to see us go - and have tied up just below bridge 52 on a stretch of the Macc near Bosley Locks that has a wonderfully wide panoramic view across fields to a distant railway and a large dish that one passer-by told us was Jodrell Bank but two later walkers cast doubts on. If the weather is as bright and hot as promised we plan to stay here for a couple of days and postpone our trip through Harecastle tunnel until Monday morning. Alton has been at a working boats rally at Ellesmere and a phone call to Anne Marie today established they are on their way back and will pass us on the Macc some time tomorrow or Friday when we'll be able to top up our diesel tank before our journey south. Our later departure will put our estimated time of arrival on the Thames back a week or so but even in our last full season we don't intend breaking speed records.

It was good to be on the move again, even though our last few days at the Stumps were so enjoyable with Lucy and her three dogs good company - Steve was working, of course. She joined us for our Sunday evening meal when Liz roasted a large piece of pork with home-made Yorkshire pudding and various vegetables and for a final cup of tea yesterday when we enjoyed some special chocolate biscuits she had bought us in Poynton. On Tuesday we drove the car back to its summer quarters at the home of our friends Alan and Daphne Binns at Stanton in Peak and were driven back by another friend Joy Thrower from Great Longstone. On the way over we took her to lunch at the Jennings pub, The Shady Oak, where an excellent meal of cider-cooked ham and eggs with chips and peas was eased down by a dark pint of Jennings bitter. Liz and Joy stuck with soft drinks.

The canal was rather quieter today than it has been over the long Easter weekend, especially as we were travelling so early in the morning. Before reaching the town of Macclesfield I passed a heron fishing from the towpath. He stepped back a foot or so and watched me go by with supreme patience before returning to his spot and I enjoyed one of the closest sightings of the species since we came on to the Cut. At Macclesfield itself we stopped to fill the water tank and have breakfast, before cruising on to this excellent mooring. Not surprisingly the flow of traffic since we arrived has increased somewhat, most of them hire craft returning to weekend bases.

April 16

Our stay at bridge 52 extended itself to four and a half days, at least three of them in gloriously sunny weather that threatened at times to become too hot for comfort. After a wet and dank winter we're just not ready for unseasonal heat but the forecast for a colder blast from Arctic climes before the weekend has reassured us that normality is about to return. Our longer than planned stay had one important bonus in our meeting on Saturday and Sunday Geoff and Margaret Wade who began a three or four year journey on Seyella last August. While their boat was being built they followed our website and Geoff was generous in a recent entry to say that it inspired him to start his own blog -

http://www.seyellas-journey.blogspot.com/.

We'd have happily stayed another few days, cleaning and fettling around the boat, but we have almost run out of bread and milk so this morning we set off just after 6am and reached the bottom of the Bosley 12 locks just before 9am, a comparatively uneventful but pleasant descent in a mist that shut out the lovely views of the Cloud normally enjoyed as you descend.

Another hour and a half and we were moored in a prime spot on the aqueduct between bridges 72 and 73, with a superb view of the valley beneath and the vague outline of the railway viaduct in the near distance. Liz is just about to walk ahead a couple of bridges to reach a post office and general store where urgent supplies can be found.

Tomorrow we will probably cruise the short distance to Congleton wharf from where we can walk into the town and get a taxi back with less vital fodder from Morrisons. We'll then position ourselves overnight near the stop-lock so that a short trip on Wednesday morning will bring us early to the Harecastle Tunnel. But don't hold me to it. The trouble is when I find a fabulous spot like this I want to put down roots - even when Liz is urging that we get on with our journey south.

P.S. Geoff and Margaret passed us on the aqueduct this afternoon (with their lovely dog Meg on the stern) -see left

April 18

A later start yesterday brought us to the Queen's Head mooring at Congleton from where Liz was able to walk a few hundred yards to the railway station and book her ticket to visit Jonathan and Jenny in a few weeks time. We then walked together into the town to do some urgent shopping before pushing on to our planned overnight mooring at Kent Green bridge. When we got there, however, we found a boat in the one "sweet" spot deep enough to take Snecklifter without our going aground so we cruised on to Hall Green, had an evening pint of Robinsons in the Bleeding Wolf and settled down to a quiet night before tackling Harecastle Tunnel.

This morning we pulled the boat forward half a length to water up and just as we were finishing were hailed by Geoff Ward from Seyella. A marathon runner, he was on a training run from their overnight mooring well above Red Bull basin but he stopped long enough for a quick chat and then opened up the stop lock for us before disappearing off down the towpath. We reached Harecastle to find three boats already waiting and tied up alongside the third of them, a hire craft with three jolly fellows on board. Half an hour later a solitary boat emerged from the tunnel and we immediately set off for our second journey through one of the Cut's most remarkable structures. It's quite an experience, though not one I'd want to repeat every season. By 11am we had tied up just below the bridge at Etruria - all three spaces right outside the China Garden were taken - but it was only a five minute walk back to the pub for a lunchtime pint. The place has been transformed since our last visit in late 2002 when we had to stay nearby for five days when Liz was very ill. In those days you could get a bowl of chips with your beer for £1 and that kept me going for several lunchtimes. The beer was also on the pump. It's now on the engine and not to be mentioned in the same breath. Still, we intend moving on tomorrow to reach Stone before the weekend.

Now for some very sad news. Logging on to the internet this afternoon we found this email waiting for us :

"Dear Mike and Liz, I have been asked to contact you by my mother Gillian Williams due to the sudden death of my father, Alan Williams, on Monday 16th April 2007. My mother informs me that they both have a great many friends who visit your site and who may wish to attend if possible the funeral service which is taking place at Pleasington Crematorium of Tower Road in Blackburn, Lancashire, on Tuesday the 24th April at 13.30 hrs. The reception is being held after the service at the Britannia Hotel, Standish,Lancs.

"I would be extremely grateful if it was possible for you to add this to your website and pass on the sad news to those who knew him and feel free to pass on my contact details - mobile 07808171295 - as both myself and my mother would like as many people as possible to be there to say their farewells and to celebrate his life. Many thanks, Gary Williams."

We first met Alan and Gillian on May 16 2002 when we were on our way down from Blackburn and Burnley (see the third photograph in the Well Met on the Cut section). They were then living with their dog Tess on Viking Lady, one of the first Heron boats to be fitted out in a Tim Tyler shell more than a decade earlier. It was featured in Heron's original promotion video. Shortly after our meeting, Alan poked his head in through our hatch and gave us a Heron mug for the boat, a collector's piece we still have safely guarded through nearly five years of travel. We next met them when Alan and Gillian were running the Lock Stop Bistro at Hillmorton locks and we enjoyed a marvellous meal there as well as sharing a few pints with mine host. He was a lovely man, great company, an inexhaustible source of info about life on the Cut and we send our warmest love to Gillian, knowing how much she and others will miss him. Although we cannot get to his funeral service our thoughts will be with her on the day.

April 21

We've actually reached Stone for the weekend as planned. It might not have been so. After our usual early start from Etruria we cruised down to Barlaston, tying up on an official mooring about a mile north of the village, overlooking the Wedgewood factory. And despite the constant whirr of cooling fans heard clear across the fields and the rush of trains from the nearby railway I'd have been happy to stay there for two or three days had it not been limited to 24 hours. The towpath was low and curving so that I could have easily reached most of the lower side of the boat to sand down and repaint if I had had the time. Instead I concentrated on sanding the wooden sides of the roof-top box that holds spare bags of coal, empty home-brew barrels and other paraphernalia. Before the end of the day I had given the two sides two coats each of varnish (fast-drying in the sunshine) and before evening had screwed them back on to the large, heavy base. Between coats I enjoyed watching a heron fishing a hundred yards away, until it was driven off by two territorial crows.

Yesterday we continued on to Stone, stopping at the excellent chandlery which is part of Stone Boatbuilding Company to top up diesel and gas and to buy more paint for the roof and sides of the boat. Diesel was 53p a litre which was a minor shock after being spoilt through the winter by Alton's "home-delivery" service at 48p, but I would guess the Stone price is going to seem reasonable indeed as we progress to the Thames. The first (and only) time we had come this way before, in 2002, we could not find a mooring near the famous Star inn but as we dropped through Yard Lock we saw a good 60 foot spot just beyond the lock bollards so we tied up immediately without bothering to check the moorings below Star Lock, even though we were right opposite a building site. Retirement flats will eventually rise there - but not yet! And we needn't have worried about excessive noise : they didn't work that late, and besides, we spent much of the time off the boat with an hour or so in Stone's many charity shops climaxed, of course, with a lunchtime pint in the Star. Five years ago we had been disappointed by the pub, mainly because the service seemed so lackadaisical. This time we enjoyed the visit very much and caught something of the atmosphere that has kept it special among boaters and locals.

On the way to town, by the way, we were met by a couple of familiar faces coming up from the moorings below the lock - Paul and Jean Morris of Enchantress with whom we played leapfrog on the Shroppie last year,- getting to know them a little bit more each time we stopped near each other. This brief meeting on the walk to the shopping centre gave us a chance to catch up on winter news - they had stopped below Bosley locks, we above.

April 24

Our weekend at Stone ended early on Sunday morning when we broke our rule about weekend cruising and set off for the countryside. We travelled for only an hour or so before finding a lovely, quiet spot near Burston where we were able to get our roof-top box finished and the blue tarpaulin cover back on. It was just in time because we woke next morning to steady rain that kept us pinned down for a day longer than we had planned. This morning it was still raining but only intermittently so by 8.30 we decided to brave it and set off through three locks and nine miles to Great Haywood, then another two locks and three miles to this mooring overlooking Cannock Chase, one of our favourite stops on this canal.

This was only the first time in many visits to Great Haywood that we didn't moor and enjoy a pint or so at the Clifford Arms but we had received a text from Ralph Freeman on Grey Nomad telling us that he stopped at bridge 69 and would wait for us there. Sure enough, we spotted him as we came through the bridge, sitting out beside his boat and photographing our arrival with a rather splendid looking telephoto lens. The result will appear in my next update. As soon as we had tied up he had the kettle boiling and we sat out over cups of tea catching up on the news of his winter and of changes at Barton Turns marina where he is based. Tonight he is joining us for an evening meal so there'll no doubt be lots more updating about common acquaintances. Tomorrow, it's on to Rugeley and given fair weather we hope to reach Fradley junction.

April 27

Ralph Freeman came to dinner as planned and shortly afterwards we were joined for coffee and a glass of port by another old friend - Trevor Cooper-Tydeman with his lovely Jack Russell, Ziggy. Ten minutes before Ralph was due to arrive I saw that another boat had tied up beyond Grey Nomad and even at that distance it looked familiar. A quick walk confirmed it was Zungeru and Trevor agreed to join us after

we had eaten. Unfortunately Liz's three-portion meal would not have looked as appetising divided between four! Anyway it was a splendid evening with Trevor in his usual scintillating form. Ralph's pic of our arrival at bridge 69 is on the left.

By nine the following morning we were on our way to Rugeley and an hour or so later heading for Morrisons to replenish bread, milk and other staples. Our mooring for the night was at Handsacre, on the rings near the main road bridge and only a couple of hundred yards from the Crown inn (draught Bass) and Michael's fish and chip shop - with a name like that it's hard to resist. The chips were reasonably good, the cod very good indeed.

Yesterday it was back to the usual 6.30am start and before 11am we were securely moored on rings at Huddlesford, again only a hundred or so yards away from the Plough (a recurring theme perhaps). Between the two locks above Fradley we spotted Jubilee, the coal and diesel boat, and he was good enough to pull alongside

us to supply both. A friendly group of Americans were coming down the locks behind us on a Shakespeare boat and were only too ready to ease past us and into the lock vacated by Jubilee.

Fully topped up with diesel, coal and water (taken on at the junction by Liz while I walked two cassettes and rubbish down to the main facility block) we approached Huddlesford talking about Dave and Liz Dressler on Anon who had been so helpful when we had an engine problem during our first visit there. Amazingly, we had been tied up for only an hour or so when another boat moored in front of us and, yes, it was Dave,who sat out with us for much of the afternoon, catching up on the news, until we got ready to meet some old friends from Sheffield who now live in Lichfield. Liz had virtually grown up with Trevor Cooper, whose mother Kathleen was the best friend of Liz's mother Doris. Doris died in 1995 aged 82. Kathleen is 93 and still lives in Sheffield.

Early evening, Trevor drove out with his wife Elaine, another Sheffielder, to meet us for a drink in the Plough and afterwards they came to have a look inside Snecklifter and enjoy grilled chicken and lettuce tortilla wraps prepared by Liz. We hope to see them again on the way back in a few months - as we do Ronnie Slater of The Robert Mylne - who was also a good friend to us when we first stopped at Huddlesford. We sent him a text inviting him for a cuppa in the afternoon but unfortunately he was working.

This morning I set off just after 6am, well insulated against very cold weather but still chilled to the bone by the time we tied up at Sutton Road Bridge just after 9am. As soon as she has read over this update, Liz will be off to the nearby supermarket while I continue sanding down the side of the boat ready for painting. Tomorrow we are heading for Polesworth for our usual Saturday newspaper and then on to bridge 50 to lie low for the weekend.

April 29

If we had to list our top ten moorings, this lovely spot near bridge 50 would be placed fairly high among them. The usually green low hill on our right that screens us from the railway is covered in bright yellow rape this year and apart from a few farm buildings and a couple of houses off in the distance we could be living (if only for a couple of days) in a wilderness. As I write this early on Sunday morning there is not a boat in sight and our nearest neighbours since we arrived here before lunchtime yesterday have been cows, a small herd that came close up to the hedge that separates us as soon as I started my rotary sander. They might not agree but this is the perfect mooring for jobs that involve making noise!

Yesterday morning we got away early from Sutton Road Bridge and were through the two Glascote locks by 7.30. The journey to Polesworth was uneventful until we were about a mile out and a familiar boat came towards us. By the time we had closed to a hundred yards I had recognised the steersman as Jud Wall on Piggiwig and as we passed, shouting greetings to each other, his wife Maurean appeared at the back hatch to wave. The Walls were the first boaters we got to know after leaving Heron's boatyard at Mirfield. We met in Leeds, travelled with them as far as Skipton and since then have met several times, though not always to stop and chat.

By the time we reached Polesworth the official moorings were almost empty so we tied up, bought fresh bread and part-baked baguettes in the shops and then continued our journey to bridge 50, passing through the middle of a long strung-out angling match. Happily, these fishermen were a friendly bunch, and the last of them was casting at least 200 yards from where we wanted to moor. Here we stay now until Monday or Tuesday morning when we'll have another early start to water up at Bradley Green before tackling the 11 Atherstone locks.

E-mail update: Recent messages include one from Mike and Sue Richardson on Shania who are heading down the Oxford canal for the Thames and enjoying the countryside, and this lovely pic from Gerrard and Jane Cox of Belle,(the Dachsund Carrying Company). "We have found a wonderful new crew member. Known as Bodie he is a standard Dach. This is our first standard and he is already much bigger than our minis - he is 19 weeks old. I have attached the only pic we have of him when he was just over 10 weeks."

And finally this from Julia Cory and Steve Bacon and their son James on Even Balance: "The major news is that we have moved marinas and are now based at Ventnor Farm nr Napton. The move occurred during March, and we are very happy with the service we have received since being based there, especially the attention to detail for boaters that the marina affords. It gives us a number of different and varied cruising opportunities in typical English countryside surroundings. We have just spent four days over Easter on the boat, tackling the Napton flight and mooring near Fenny Compton on the summit of the canal. The weather was spectacular for the time of year and we all enjoyed ourselves, Jess included. We were able to sit out during the afternoon, which is more than we did during our summer trip to Wales last year!

Of course, we will miss the Ashby Canal and some of the rural aspect, but we are very much looking forward to exploring from our new base. The rest of our Easter break was spent in the Peak District, our second visit, the first being seven years ago. We stayed near Hope, in an excellent b and b that also took dogs. Again the weather was fabulous for walking and we managed about six hours a day. Jess took to it very well and in typical terrier style was raring to go. We have a break in Spain at the end of May, and then the big summer trip down onto the Thames during August. We plan to go as far as Henley and then turn back and head for Lechlade. A month should give us plenty of time, we like to spend a couple of nights if we find a good mooring. We also will have boat chores to do I expect."

Won't we all!

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