Sarah's entry - Sunday, 20th August
A nice late start today - the morning dedicated to a leisurely breakfast, a shower, and some good conversation to clear the air of the last few days. Once we set off, about 12pm - we felt ready to face the day with courage. We had moored the night before just off the main canal - so we turned around in a 'winding hole' which is a wide area in the waterway which allows boats to do the equivalent of a 'three point turn', to get back onto the main drag. The day turned out to follow the same pattern of weather as previous days - dry in the morning, wet in the afternoon. I was outside for the rain today!! We had several locks to go through, and we were aiming to reach the historic town of Stone (also of the book 'Narrow Dog to Carcasonne' fame) by the end of the day. Along the way, we encountered flocks of Canada geese, fluffy cloud skies and green fields. The bricks of the buildings turning deeper red as we chugged along the Trent and Mersey, continuing further North towards the place of my childhood. There were quite a few locks to negotiate, and all of them in this area were extremely slow to fill and very deep. We arrived in Stone about 7pm. We moored up at the bottom lock, ready for the flight of 11 the next day. We had been hearing the news throughout the day on the 'canal express', that a lock gate had fallen off in one of the locks departing from Stone. Many people had had to moor up in Stone that night as they couldn't get any further until the lock had been repaired. It sounded like a terrible thing and we hoped that no one had been hurt. Anyway, as expected, it was very chockablock once we arrived, full of people who could go no further. As we approached, we pulled to the side, and I borrowed somebody's bike to scout the next half a mile for a free mooring. I found one right near the end - next to the lock! Perfect for the next morning. Stone was a great place to stay. We ended the day having a drink in the lock side 'Star Inn', then crossing to the other side of the canal to the 'Dolce Vita' lock side Italian restaurant. Pseudo-posh - we felt very funny in our boating clothes amongst the well-dressed and sweetly smelling. We decided not to go in with our bag of laundry (it was too far to walk to the nearest launderette), and we enjoyed a tasty meal and wonderful conversation rarely found amongst our hectic schedule. We crashed into bed about 11.30pm ready for an early start in the morning. |