Blue Lias to Radford Semele.

Dear Friends and Followers.

Well if you want a good meal and fabulous pint of beer then I can recommend The Blue Lias at Stockton. We had a fabulous meal there last night. I had the Chicken and Mushroom Pie, with fries, Salad and Peas and Keith fancied the Scampi, Chips, Salad and Peas. We even indulged ourselves with a dessert. I had their Cheesecake, which was sublime and Keith had his all time favourite Sticky Toffee Pudding with Custard. Beautiful pub, great food and staff. Interestingly The Blue Lias did not begin as a pub. The inn was originally an 18th century farmhouse. It is said to be haunted by the ghost of a red-haired farm labourer who was killed by the enraged farmer who returned from market one day to find his wife in bed with the red haired farmhand. It first became an inn when the early canal travellers stopped for evening refreshment and overnight stabling for their horses.

This morning we woke to a watery sunshine after overnight rain gave the boat a wash and topped up the canal. The plan had been not to rush off, as we had planned to go not further than Welsh Road Lock. But we left our overnight mooring at 9.10 am following a hire boat from Braunston. They had already descended the first lock by the time we got there, so we did that one on our own. We got to the second lock of the day and there was clearly a problem.

The C&RT guys were working on one of the bottom paddles. The other one was already out of action when we came up, so obviously the other one had also stopped working, so the guys had to come out and get it sorted. They did not hold us up for long, but it also meant we had caught up with the hire boat Wenlock, so we joined them in the lock. They were a lovely group on a 50th Birthday cruise, doing the Warwickshire Ring. 

We had thought of stopping at Welsh Road Lock, but changed our mind when the only deep water mooring was already taken. Plan B was to cruise with Wenlock to Radford Semele.

At Bascote Staircase Locks we did the switch with a boat coming up. I had to explain how it was going to work with three boats and although they did not get the concept they were prepared to go with what I told them of how a chinese puzzle works. Our hire boat crew also enjoyed the way it all worked playing the switch. 

Heading for Radford Semele we passed Chrissy and Paul on Narrowboat Anjuna, who we have known for years. Sadly we did not get much of a chance to have a natter, but it was so lovely to see them again.

Having enjoyed the company of the hire boat Wenlock and her crew we said our "goodbyes" at Radford Semele, which is where we will be for the remainder of the weekend.