Then the Plum Pudding at Armitage, once a very pretentious restaurant where I returned a steak that had been ordered medium rare and came out so overdone as to be inedible only to have it replaced by one that was extremely well done but still recognisable as a piece of meat! It is now an Italian but last year when we tried to go in it was fully booked so have no idea what it's like now. As soon as we got past that John had to pull into the side and I ran ahead with one of the walkie-talkies (a Christmas present from my mum but up to now never used in anger!) to see if the way was clear through a very narrow section that can only take one boat at a time. There were two boats coming so John had to wait at one end for them to clear and I waited at the other end for him to arrive. Still the walkie-talkies showed their worth so thanks Mum!
Once past the winding hole after the narrows we were heading into unknown waters again so the adventure started! It's always nice to go to new places and it's surprising how different the canal can be in different locations.
We cruised through Rugeley, and very shortly afterwards decided to stop. We had lunch, took Paddy out and as the rain had cleared and it was somewhat smelly, being opposite a small but not altogether free-range pig farm, we moved on. No sooner had we started moving than the weather worsened again and so when we saw a nice mooring, outside Wolseley we stopped again. This turned out to be a lovely little village, somewhat spoilt by the main roads rushing through cutting it into 4 sections. It had been in the possession of the Wolseley family for over 1,000 years and so I wonder if it has connections to Cardinal Wolseley of Tudor times? Anyway typically I didn't have the camera with me as we had no idea the village was there when we moored. Our intention was to stay there the night and we went back and I cooked tea. Then the weather cleared again!
We decided to cruise on as it was still light - we'd never set off in the evening before and felt we were really pushing our boundaries (we are THAT sad!) As John commented we were getting the best of the day - the evening sun was in our eyes, the wind had died down, all was calm and the sky was that lovely shade of evening blue. We came to the lock around the corner at Colwich (very nice looking houses with lovely moorings) and a hire boat was coming out of the lock with a couple of idiots on the roof singing Waterloo very loudly and very badly. It's people like that who really upset me - it just seems so disrespectful of the life on the water - especially as there was an old lock house next to them that was obviously inhabited. We got through the lock and within minutes a VERY dark cloud (see below) came over us and the rain started, so less than 20 minutes after starting out we stopped again and this time for good!
Armitage Shanks factory - note the lovely sky!
Anyone need a loo???
The canal going over the River Trent just west of Rugeley. Sky starting to cloud over!
Just before we moored up finally for the night - this was only just after 7.00pm and later on it got lovely enough for 2 balloon flights to take off at about 8.45!
Later that evening the air cooled down and caused mist to rise from the canal! How many of you have views like this out of your front door?
It is now Sunday morning and the weather is foul - its wet and cold and likely to stay that way so we are just going to stay here for the day. Added to that Paddy isn't well - he was eating grass last night and was sick and today he has refused his breakfast (NEVER happened before) and his stomach is growling - poor thing - he's curled up with a blanket over him looking very sorry for himself. John is just about to light the fire and we are going to stay put for the rest of the day - if we don't get to Anderton this time then we can always do it some other time - we have plenty of it ahead of us!
Better luck next time to see the Anderton.
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