This is a test of us on a 360 photo lets see how it looks ..read more

Yet another day without rain but a chilly start and now this afternoon, the sun is out and it feels warm. We pushed off at about 10am only a maintenance boat had been passed and headed to the junction where we turned right to fill with diesel and empty the toilet tank. Then back to the junction, past the bug hotel and right again towards Glascote locks. We didn’t meet a boat until we had crossed the aqueduct and up until then the water was so clear you could see the bottom, just like winter time. At Tamworth Cruising Club I spotted this trailer that looks as if it was made from a Bond Bug, the ..read more

Bit late setting off this morning as the stove required a decoke, it doesn’t take long but its a mucky job and it takes ages to get the black off my hands and around the nails. First one for all the wild flower experts, can you identify these please. It was heading to quarter to eleven before we set off, just as the boat ahead decided to go, so I took it very slowly to let him get well ahead. We hadn’t been travelling long when we passed this well loaded cruiser, I would think it may be a bit top heavy. More work has taken place at the new moorings at Brookhay on the off side in the woods, I ..read more

I said when we moored yesterday there were only two of us there, when we left this morning it was full all the way to the railway bridge with boats that arrived later. It was 10-40 before we were away following a beer box restocking. The traffic today has been quite strange, we didn’t meet a boat until south of Handsacre, then from Kings Bromley they just kept coming. Probably 5 between there and Woodend Lock and another 4 on the way to Shadehouse. We did have a boat overtake us as we passed all the long term moorings at Spode, said his boat wouldn’t go any slower. As you leave Rugeley there i ..read more

A couple of boats went by earlier so we decided to set off just before 10 before any more came along. The Weston ASBO Swan was waiting for me on the offside bank, he ran along beside us before taking tothe water to follow. The camera battery went flat at that point, but he chased us down the canal until we met a boat coming the other way, that confused him as he turned to chase the other, then turned back and ended up staying where he was. Our leaving time worked well, no one ahead and a boat just entered Weston lock to come up. It was a very similar story at Hoo Mill lock with a boat waiting ..read more

Last time we were in Stone we walked passed Piccolo’s Pizza and the aroma coming out made I decide on the spot, that next time in Stone we would try one. So last nights dinner was a 12 inch Fire Ball Pizza and it certainly lived up to its name and description. A real tingly lip job, not sure what the Italians would think of it. During the night it started to rain and was still at it when we got up. We were in no hurry so sat around until lunch time. While we were hanging around a team came buy electric fishing, I didn’t see them actually get anything, the chap following in what looked like a w ..read more

Today was an alarm clock day as we needed to pass through Harecastle Tunnel today. We were away just after ten past eight. The first transit is 8 o’clock and I new boats were waiting at the south end, so maybe they would come first and we would be in at about 9 o’clock. On thing I didn’t realise was that we had a good frost overnight and as we turned the bend after the aqueduct things were still quite white. For any boater who is having problems bending to put in Nappy Pin mooring hooks, this could be the answer. (maybe they couldn’t reach the ring) When we arrived at the tunnel there was no o ..read more

Yesterday evening we watched as the sun dropped below the railway viaduct hoping for a good coloured sunset, but it didn’t happen, the sun just went tobed. Later the sky was crystal clear with several planes in the sky, as expected it turned cold and at 6am this morning everywhere was white with frost. We were away at half ten and didn’t meet any boat at all. You would be hard pushed to miss the mile posts along this canal. They stand about a meter tall. there are also half mile markers which are half the height and the quarter mile markers which are half the size of the half mile marker . Th ..read more

We woke to a lovely sunny morning which was nice after the wind, rain and banging about last night, I crawled out sometime after midnight to tie the rudder down tighter to stop it creaking and squeaking, at about 4am the temperature was down to 2.3° C but was up to 8° when we got up. We were ready to set off at 10 but Diana wanted to go and look at the old railway viaduct and visit the Co-op so it was almost 11 before we finally slipped away. We passed some bungalows on the non towpath side supporting slow down signs, only one of them had a boat moored at the bottom of their garden, but I do w ..read more

Not the best of nights sleep last night, first the hammering rain, then the geese, I am not sure which came next, the ducks on the waterline or the boat behind’s Eberspaecher firing up.Once were were about it was more wind and hail. Things had moderated by about ten se we made ready to set off. The whole journey was a mixture of hail, rain and sunshine with of course a bit of wind. It was an uneventful but rather cold trip to Bollington where we managed to moor at the far south end of the embankment. On our outward journey I questioned the marker in the trees. Tim who came to visit us this aft ..read more