My birthday today so there were a couple of cards and quite a few messages over breakfast. We set off about 8.45 and were soon at Sandon Lock, which was sitting full and open ready for us. There was a Stone hire boat on the lock landing, but they appeared to have spent the night there and hadn’t set the lock for themselves. So we went in and down.
Bridge 82 is one that looks fairly ordinary this side, and much more elaborate on the other.
At Weston, a boat started to pull off the moorings right in front of us. I bipped the horn, which made another boater setting off north question what the problem was —although when he realised it wasn’t directed at him, he understood. The first chap apologised for not looking, and got back out of the way. There was a very cute little boat on the wharf at Weston Wharf; presumably it’s part of a little tug like the others they have there.
Macc hadn’t really gone to sleep like he was supposed to, so we got him out on the approach to Weston Lock, and while Adrian set the lock, Macc got off for a wee. I then moved his bed up onto the slide so he could see what was going on, and he really seemed to enjoy watching the world slip by.
As we approached Hoo Mill Lock a boat was just leaving, and there were too more waiting below so our passage was quick. We were hoping for a nice mooring at Great Haywood. There’s a floating market over the Easter weekend, but the mooring restrictions only start tomorrow, and there was plenty of space.
Macc finally had a nap before we went out for a birthday lunch at the cafe. We took him with us, his first outing to a cafe so we were a bit nervous about how he’d behave. We sat out on the deck and put ourselves in the corner, and Macc had a blanket down. We’d taken water for him and his lunch, which he had scattered on the blanket, and he was a very good boy. We had the compulsory Staffordshire oatcakes, of course. Funnily enough, we had pretty much the same lunch on my birthday last year, except that was at Middleport Pottery in Stoke, after we’d been to see KV in build at Tim Tyler’s yard.
Adrian went to the farm shop while Macc and I waited outside, which gave plenty of opportunity for training on not jumping up at all and sundry as they walk past. But by the time we started to walk back he’d got a bit over-tired and over-excited, so didn’t want to walk nicely at all. However, overall it was a big win. It’s been much warmer today than the past few days and this afternoon the sun has even come out, helping to charge the batteries. All in all it’s been a very nice day.
6 miles, 3 locks. (43 miles, 31 locks)