We had a lovely evening with the Oleanna crew. Pip and Mick came round for a tour of KV and we had a drink before heading to The Crown for dinner. The food was pretty good (Adrian particularly liked his chicken burger) and the conversation was top notch; Macc behaved, in spite of hardly having a nap in the afternoon because there were so many towpath distractions. I appear to have failed to take any photos though, but maybe Pip will have some on the Oleanna blog in a few days.
This morning was foggy when Macc and I first went out, and our breakfast time walk was also pretty atmospheric.
We set off at about 9, with the fog having lifted a bit. Boats had already been past, and I’d kind of lost track of how many had been each way so I was pleasantly surprised to find that the lock just needed topping up.
A boat that had been on the water point just behind us also set off (they’d probably been slightly dismayed to see us pull out!) which meant that their crew closed one of the bottom gates behind us, which I appreciated because the step across the gates seems very high up at this lock. We were then on the river section and passing the weir, although there’s very little flow at the moment. Just round the corner from the weir is a strangely shaped bridge which means all boats have to get right over to the towpath side.
Wychnor Lock is quite pretty with the old warehouse building alongside, but what the photo doesn’t convey is the noise of the A38 that’s right there. Today, Halloween appeared to have arrived here already.
The A38 accompanies the canal for the next couple of miles. It’s a really busy road with loads of lorries, but at least when you’re next to it rather than on it you don’t have to contend with some of the terrifying junctions.
We passed Barton Turns Marina, and then when we got to Barton Lock a boat was coming in from below so I went and helped them up. We went down and stopped on the water points below to fill the tank as we’ve done a couple of loads of washing. There was a class from a nursery school out by the canal, and the kids were very taken with Macc. While we were stationary, Adrian tried phoning the fracture clinic to try to get some idea of when he might get an appointment, but couldn’t get through. We set off again and arrived at the very pretty Tattenhill Lock. The historic boat moored there had been one of the boats that came past in Alrewas this morning.
As it looked very unlikely that Adrian would be required at the fracture clinic tomorrow, we decided we’d moor at Branston Water Park rather than going into Burton. There was a nice bit of piling right at the start of the moorings, so we pulled in there. The stern is a long way out again, but we’re getting used to that. After lunch, we took Macc for a walk right round the lake.
This afternoon, I’ve had a go at recalibrating the water gauge. Since we had a replacement one, it gets to 100 per cent far too soon, and then stays on 100 for ages. The gauge is down by the water tank and you have to take the cover off and adjust a tiny screw. Adrian was checking on the app while I adjusted it, so we took the reading down to about 90 per cent and then gradually back up to 100. Hopefully it will be more accurate now.
Adrian finally got through to the fracture clinic — who said they hadn’t had the referral from Fazeley yet. So he had to call the Minor Injuries Unit, who checked and found that a box hadn’t been ticked — an easy mistake to make, apparently. Slightly frustrating, but it should have gone now, and the fracture clinic said they normally call the next day so we should know more tomorrow.
5 miles, 4 locks. (253 miles, 162 locks)
Hmmm….. Photos? Pip didn’t take many either! And she says the few she did take are sh*t. Too good a time was being had!