A long day!

The title speaks for itself! Not all boating but today seems to have been a very long day! It's amazing what little secrets you find on the waterways. It turns out that last night we were moored right alongside this.
Amazing to see the way the tree has grown right over the archway. Closer inspection revealed a beautiful brick 'cave' which backed right out ontot he River Trent. A little historical detective work and we guessed it was once the boat house of nearby Bishton Hall before the compulsory act of parliament drove a canal right through the middle of their sweeping lawns thus cutting them off from the river. A fact proven by looking at the picture on the homepage of the website where you can clearly see how it used to look!

Onwards towards Rugeley where a coupel of hours saw us getting a mammoth load of shopping and having a pleasant stop and chat with Derek & Dot from NB Gypsy Rover again.

Our journey continued to Fradley Junction where traffic was light and the passage was made more pleasurable by meeting some interesting people. The ex-serviceman who had fitted his own 40ft boat out to a very high standard and who was having to hassle BW to get his licence due to the fact that his own morals wouldn't let him go off cruising without a valid licence dispalyed - how refreshing! Not to mention the passing 'hi' to Nev from NB Waterlily - meeting fellow bloggers seems a steady feature of this trip! Not a great picture but the best I could get as I grabbed the camera and avoided the moored boats!

As we approached Hopwas, the clouds loomed and our planned evening BBQ seemed more unlikely. It produced an amazing sky but only a few spots of rain. We finally managed to more just before Tamhorn Park Bridge opposite the military danger zone and exactly 7 days since mooring here on the way up! A BBQ was had, (a record - 2 in one Easter trip!) and a very pleasant evening.
Now for my historical pictures! A delightful image of Bourton Lock and cottage. I know this is a particular favourate of Bones and something she blogged about recently, (April 11th post - A cottage of dreams.)

This post was scanned by my father and given the title - 'cheer up, things could be better'! It redresses the balance by showing Steve doing some work and me just contemplating life in general, (as much as one does at age 7!)

Tomorrow, we hope to get through Atherstone and as far towards home as possible before mooring somewhere; anywhere ready for the return trip in on Thursday.