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Cruising home for Christmas - part 2

Cruising Home for Christmas – Part 2

Posted on February 2, 2020July 5, 2020 by Steph

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).

Don’t think this one’s been used for a while!
Trent and Mersey Canal
Moored at Red Bull

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.

About to emerge!

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!

Trent and Mersey Canal

We also had a coal boat delivery – brilliant – thanks Fuel Boat Halsall.

Trent and Mersey Canal

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!

Trent and Mersey Canal
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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.

River Trent
River Trent
River Trent
Stenson Lock
Stenson Lock
Lovely little donkey in the field by the lock
The sun setting on our cruise home
See you next year

 

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4 thoughts on “Cruising Home for Christmas – Part 2”

  1. Rosemary Chapman says:
    February 2, 2020 at 8:02 pm

    Great to hear from you and to have your last blog of 2019….bring on 2020.
    Happy cruising 🤙Hang Loose

    Reply
    1. Steph says:
      February 4, 2020 at 9:41 am

      Hi Lady Rosemary ♥️ Yes looking forward to 2020 🤙

      Reply
  2. Karis | Don't Dream, Just Travel says:
    February 5, 2020 at 9:23 am

    It’s so interesting to read about this! I don’t know anyone who has done this before!

    Reply
    1. Steph says:
      February 5, 2020 at 4:52 pm

      Thank you – it’s a wonderful life 😊

      Reply

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