Ingestre to Stone.

Travelled 8.5 miles, worked 7 locks in a time of 4 hours 5 minutes.

Last nights unset was stunning across the valley.

This morning we woke up to thick fog on the canal, making it very atmospheric. As we were awake very early, Keith got up and made us both a cup of tea, which we sat in bed drinking whilst we watched old episodes of "Family Fortunes" (I know we are very sad). Because I kept both fires in over night, the boat was nice and cosy, when it came to getting up.

Having done the usual morning stuff, which included walking Paddy, we were ready for the off at 7.55am.

The sun was coming up and doing its best to come through the fog.

At 8.20 we had reached our first lock of the seven I was going to work. I felt very fortunate that it was in our favour.

The locks running to Stone, I reckon I could do with my eyes closed, because we know them so well. We had a quiet run and were surprised to see the usual mooring places were empty on the way into Stone.

Even the moorings down below Star Lock had a few empty spots, which is normally unheard of at any time of the year. Moored up was NB Sanity Again, but there was no sign of Bruce and Sheila, so maybe they were doing a bit of retail therapy. Up through Star Lock, I noticed that the Star Inn is now a Marston Pub, so I am hoping the food and the service has improved considerably to the last time we ate there, when both were dreadful.

I always love this view of the old Brewery, in between Yard and Newcastle Road Lock.

Last lock of the day Lime Kiln Lock was done and Hadar was back home to her birth place.

We cruised past Roger Fuller's boat yard and Joe his son was there to give us a wave. Nigel and Anne on Eneebee gave us a wave and a quick hello. We will see them over the weekend no doubt.

We tried mooring up just past Roger's yard, but the moorings here need dredging, when we did finally get in opposite the industrial estate, we were still about 1 foot out from the bank! Before settling down for some lunch, we made a quick visit to Roger's yard to see who was around. We had a brief chat with Tina, I will chat to her longer when she is not so busy because she was busy painting a boat. We then had a chat with Joe, and saw how “Pinner” was coming along, she is looking very good with her new footings. I got to have a nose around a new butty Roger has built named Tewkesbury, Caroline her owner was keen to show me what she looked like inside and it looks fantastic.

Having chatted to everyone there, we returned to the boat for lunch. Whilst here, I have food shopping to do and I dare say some retail therapy, but most of all I am looking forward to a restful weekend here before heading on towards Whaley Bridge.

Chat soon xx