TRIP REPORTS

AFTER THE "NATIONAL"

August / September 2007

Part 2 — Rugeley to Etruria

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We resume the story at Rugeley on the Trent & Mersey Canal.

On Saturday Wendy shopped as soon as Morrison's was open. Not wonderful, but better than many Tescos, and there was an independent greengrocer opposite, and recycling bins nearby. The delinquent Tilly dashed in - and out again - in the early evening. When she came back, in the late afternoon on Sunday, we shut the cat flap, which seemed unfair on Mandy, and hoped she wouldn't behave like an escaping convict on Monday morning, when I needed to shop in the town to replace my printer which seemed to have died. Not only had we overstayed on the mooring, but we're desperate for a rubbish point, and water & a pump-out wouldn't come amiss.

I went in search of somewhere to buy a new printer, but with no luck. Then we set off at 11:28. At Haywood junction we stopped to take on water and dispose of rubbish. We had to queue for water before continuing northwards on the Trent & Mersey.

It was a bright sunny day, and by late afternoon the sun was coming from low on one side, making steering very difficult. For quite a bit of the day we had a Challenger boat on our heels, whose crew were helpful at the locks. We tied up at 18:58 about ten minutes' walk below the bottom lock, as other boats moored there said (accurately) that there weren't any decent mooring spots free further up.

We walked up to The Star for a meal (very good), and to meet my Cutweb fried Ian Cardinal, Rector of Stone, for a few drinks and a chin-wag, which turned out to be mostly about cats. A very pleasant evening. When we got back to the boat, Tilly came to meet us, then leapt onto the boat's roof. There was no sign of Mandy.

Both cats were in when we woke up, so Wendy closed the cat-flap and gave then their first breakfast. They had their second breakfast when we had ours. They're getting a bit like the Wizards in Pratchett's books.

We set off at 10:59. It was another sunny day, much better than forecast. We stopped at Stone Canal Cruisers for a pump-out and I had a good a chat with the man who served us. They charged £12 for the pump-out, which is good by this year's standards.

We weren't very quick through any of the locks, as what down-hill traffic there was didn't fit in with our timing very well. The Stoke locks were deep and effortful, so we were glad to find a good mooring spot right by the junction at 18:25. Just before dinner, Libby Bradshaw 'phoned to say that one of our South London IWA colleagues had died. This was a great shock, as totally unexpected.