Tuesday started frosty but
it soon thawed and it felt like being a mild day with the sun breaking
out. It was whilst on my morning walk
with Buddy that I remembered that he doesn’t like the Stratford canal because
there are not many places he can get down and drink the water. Most canals have bridges where the towpath
and cut both go through the bridge hole and the drop to the water is shallow
enough for a dog to crouch down and lap some water. The towpath on this canal goes round the
bridges so the same opportunity doesn’t exist.
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One of the few watering
holes – the brickwork has fallen away making it easier for Buddy to reach the
water
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As we neared the spot where
I was going to move the boat to next I noticed three boats had appeared since yesterday. I recognised two of them as local continuous
cruisers but the middle boat was new to
me. As we went past a lady appeared on
deck with her dog and introduced herself as Mandy. It turned out that she and her husband are in
the reverse situation to us. She has
retired and her husband goes to work – they have lived on their boat for nine
years and continuous cruise keeping Birmingham as their focal point.
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Boats moored where we were
hoping to go next
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The boat nearest the camera was
built by Dream Narrowboats, run a couple that we have met a few times up in
Middlewich. In fact they built Karen’s
cousin Dave’s boat three years ago. All
their boats that we have seen have had the word ‘dream’ in their names – apart from
Dave and Barbara’s. They have now
dissolved the company and they have moved onto the last boat they built, aptly
called, ‘The Last Dream’.
It really was a still day
and even though there is a flow to the water from the overspill weirs there
were some good, if somewhat grey, reflections.
No fuel boats ply their
trade along the Stratford canal. I
assume because there are very few permanent moorings and there are too many
locks to make it cost effective for deliveries.
As we are running low on coal I drove to a coal merchants at
Hockley Heath and bought a few bags in the afternoon. As we are moored quite a way from the road it
took over an hour to trolley them all back to the boat. Yes, I know a wheelbarrow would make the job
quicker but I don’t have one.
Whilst ferrying the coal I
noticed a mile marker that I hadn’t seen before. Not sure why I hadn’t seen it before because it’s
in a very obvious place by a lock.
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The only modern ½ mile
marker I’ve seen on the Stratford canal. It's probably the only one as it is outside the waterways offices.
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