Cruising Home for Christmas - Part 2

6th December 2019 - 2 miles 9 locks

So this is Part 2 of our cruising home for Christmas journey.  Today was very rainy but we still had a lovely cruise along the remainder of Heartbreak Hill, from Rode Heath to  Red Bull Services.  The services here are excellent and I left Paul filling up with water to go wine shopping (oh, and groceries of course).

7th December 2019 - 11 miles 9 locks & Harecastle Tunnel

Early start today - well early for us - 8.30am.  Harecastle Tunnel was booked for 10.00am but they let us through at 9.30 as there was no one coming the other way.

It was a cold day so Paul did the 5 Stoke locks to warm up - it gets so cold when you’re stood at the back - thermals are definitely needed!

The cruise took is 7 hours today and we moored at Barlaston so we had to go into The Plume of Feathers and have a pint or two of Plum Porter!

We also had a coal boat delivery - brilliant - thanks Fuel Boat Halsall..

8th December 2019 - 13 Miles 12 Locks

So windy today - we were freezing by the end of the cruise!  We saw 3 boats on the move today, which was unusual as we’ve hardly seen any boats moving recently.  We made it to Great Haywood, got the fire lit and hunkered down - lovely!

Monday 9th December 2019 - 14 Miles 10 Locks

Another windy day but there was a long stretch with no locks so Paul went in to warm up for a while whilst I drove.  Fradley Junction was so quiet - I’ve never seen it with so few boats!  We got to Alrewas at 4.30 and moored up.  It was dark and cold and after this lock it’s the river - didn’t fancy cruising along there in the dark!

We love Alrewas, it’s one of our favourite villages - it has great pubs and a lovely butchers.  We popped into William IV for a couple of pints tonight - love this pub, it’s really friendly - and dog-friendly too - most importantly.  Tuesday was really windy so we stayed put.  It was nice just to chill and have a rest as we were both pretty tired.

Wednesday 11th December 2019 - 13.5 Miles 6 Locks

Today we made it home!  So excited to be back for Christmas and see our family - especially our little chick Chantelle.  It’s been tiring but fun cranking it down the Trent & Mersey Canal to get home as soon as we could.  We moored up at Stenson Lock after a very cold and rainy afternoon.