6th December 2019
2 miles 9 locks
So this is Part 2 of our cruising home for Christmas journey. Today was very rainy but we still had a lovely cruise along the remainder of Heartbreak Hill, from Rode Heath to Red Bull Services. The services here are excellent and I left Paul filling up with water to go wine shopping (oh, and groceries of course).
7th December 2019
11 miles 9 locks & Harecastle Tunnel
Early start today – well early for us – 8.30am. Harecastle Tunnel was booked for 10.00am but they let us through at 9.30 as there was no one coming the other way.
It was a cold day so Paul did the 5 Stoke locks to warm up – it gets so cold when you’re stood at the back – thermals are definitely needed!
The cruise took is 7 hours today and we moored at Barlaston so we had to go into The Plume of Feathers and have a pint or two of Plum Porter!
We also had a coal boat delivery – brilliant – thanks Fuel Boat Halsall.
8th December 2019
13 Miles 12 Locks
So windy today – we were freezing by the end of the cruise! We saw 3 boats on the move today, which was unusual as we’ve hardly seen any boats moving recently. We made it to Great Haywood, got the fire lit and hunkered down – lovely!
Monday 9th December 2019
14 Miles 10 Locks
Another windy day but there was a long stretch with no locks so Paul went in to warm up for a while whilst I drove. Fradley Junction was so quiet – I’ve never seen it with so few boats! We got to Alrewas at 4.30 and moored up. It was dark and cold and after this lock it’s the river – didn’t fancy cruising along there in the dark!
We love Alrewas, it’s one of our favourite villages – it has great pubs and a lovely butchers. We popped into William IV for a couple of pints tonight – love this pub, it’s really friendly – and dog-friendly too – most importantly. Tuesday was really windy so we stayed put. It was nice just to chill and have a rest as we were both pretty tired.
Wednesday 11th December 2019
13.5 Miles 6 Locks
Today we made it home! So excited to be back for Christmas and see our family – especially our little chick Chantelle. It’s been tiring but fun cranking it down the Trent & Mersey Canal to get home as soon as we could. We moored up at Stenson Lock after a very cold and rainy afternoon.
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Great to hear from you and to have your last blog of 2019….bring on 2020.
Happy cruising 🤙Hang Loose
Hi Lady Rosemary ♥️ Yes looking forward to 2020 🤙
It’s so interesting to read about this! I don’t know anyone who has done this before!
Thank you – it’s a wonderful life 😊