In this blog we have a lovely cruise to Tixall Wide on the Staff & Worcs Canal but before that it was my birthday
I got taken out for breakfast at Trent Lock Tea Rooms which was fab. I had a bacon and egg cob and a pot of tea, which was a lovely start to the day.
After breakfast we had a walk along the canal to Cranfleet Lock and continued along the River Trent and around Attenborough Nature Reserve and the Erewash Valley Trail
Our walk ended up back at Cranfleet Lock and we had a birthday pint at the Boat Club. After watching a couple of boats come up the lock we made our way back to Trent Lock and up the Erewash to our narrowboat Hang Loose.
I had a lovely birthday and in the evening we went out for a delicious Indian meal with Chan, Ross and my dad to The Spice Lounge on Friar Gate in Derby.
Time to go Cruising again
13th April 2019
At lunchtime we set out from our moorings on the Erewash Canal to begin our cruise to Tixall Wide. We had to cruise a little way up, turn around and then head off back down to Trent Lock and out onto the River Trent. I love coming out of Trent Lock onto the River, it’s so big after coming down the canal!!
Although we have cruised this way before, we will be going further this time. The weather was cold but quite bright and sunny, so a great day for cruising. It was a lovely cruise and we moored up at Weston-on-Trent for the night.
14th April 2019
Another cold but sunny day and we cruised today from Weston-on-Trent to Branston Water Park. This is a lovely and peaceful place to moor and have a walk around the lake. We had our usual nightly game of rummy – and I am absolutely thrashing Paul (for a change) but I’m sure it won’t last. 14 miles and 4 locks today.
15th April 2019
Today is our daughter, Chantelle’s, 26th birthday, but she has been taken to Paris by her fiancé. They return today so they are coming to meet us tonight for a meal.
Our cruise today began at about 11.30 and it was a lovely, sunny day. Although we were going to stop at Alrewas today and pop into the village, where there is a really good butchers, we decided to push on to get to Fradley Junction so that we can meet Chan and Ross at The Swan (more commonly known as The Mucky Duck).
This is a brilliant pub that you have to visit if you are at Fradley Junction. They serve very good food and a right nice pint! There is also a nature reserve here which is lovely to walk round and a great place to have a wander round and do a bit of gongoozling.
11 locks and 8 miles covered today.
Our meal tonight at The Swan was delicious. Chan and Ross came back on to Hang Loose for a little while before they went home. It was so lovely to see them and we didn’t want them to leave.
Can’t believe that its on the news tonight that the Notre Dame is on fire – heartbreaking news – and Chan and Ross have literally just been in the last couple of days!
Tuesday 16th April
Hang Loose has been ours for 74 days and it’s gone so quickly! Today we set off early, at 9am so that we could make it to Tixall Wide and then stay there for a day as the weather is supposed to be really hot and sunny tomorrow. Also it’s Easter weekend and it’s probably going to get really busy. We only had 3 locks today so a very leisurely cruise and we stopped at Morrisons in Rugeley for some shopping.
Tixall Wide is absolutely gorgeous – I think we’ve found our new favorite happy place! We had a little walk when we got there but not too far as I had already walked 4 miles with tilly and my hip was in pain!!! Anyway we had a lovely chilled evening and had some lovely chats with our neighbouring boaters.
Wednesday 17th April
It was a beautiful day at Tixall Wide, like a summer’s day. We got the chairs and table out and sat in the sun for lunch and even got the shorts on today! We went for a walk into the village and had a couple of pints of cider – it was very strong!!! I had to have a little nap when we got back to the boat as I felt a little bit inebriated!
Thursday 18th April
Woke to a misty morning, after having a nice lie in and we then cruised down to a lovely spot just before Kings Bromley Wharf which was really nice and remote, just how we like it. It turned out to be a gorgeous sunny day and we had a lovely cruise.
The following day we returned to Alrewas, where we moored next to the bowling green. The mooring spot is opposite some houses and lots of other boats moored up but it was a lovely quiet little spot. On our way here we came back through Fradley Junction so we stopped and had a wander around in the sun and a pint in our favorite pub, The Swan.
Saturday 20th April to Tuesday 23rd April
Today we cruised to Shobnall Fields at Burton-on-Trent to meet our friends Nige and Tray, who are out cruising on their narrowboat. We actually arrived at the mooring spot with minutes between us and were soon off to the pub, followed by a delicious Indian takeaway after a few beers. It was a really good night and it’s a great place to moor.
On the Sunday, Chan and Ross bought Pops to join us. We all had a lovely Sunday lunch at The Brewery Tap. It was really good food and only £8 per head, definitely worth the walk from the boat. Chan and Ross left and Pops joined us on our cruise to Willington, where we managed to moor next to Nige and Tray again.
We all went into the village for a couple of beers and then back to Nige and Tray’s boat, where Tray cooked us our tea. We had fajitas and they were amazing. It had been a beautiful sunny day again and we were really pleased it had been so lovely for dad’s first day.
On the Monday we cruised to Weston-on-Trent and stayed there for the night before heading back to our moorings on the Tuesday. This had been such an amazing trip with dad joining us and meeting up with Nigel and Tracey.
We have had an absolutely brilliant time!
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