A bevy of bloggers….

We spent yesterday watching some pretty miserable boaters cruising past. Mainly hirers, they were stood out on exposed cruiser sterns with faces screwed up against the horizontal rain. It didn’t rain all day, but when it did it certainly put some water down.

This morning we headed back up to Fradley, but first had to cruise to Alrewas and drop down Bagnall Lock to the winding ‘ole. The wind was a lot quieter today, and overnight rain had cleared so conditions were much better.

We arrived at the lock as a boat was coming up, then took our turn going down. With no-one behind us I intended leaving the bottom gates open for our return, but as we left a boat came around the corner to claim the lock.

Dropping down Bagnall Lock

Graham and Jill on NB Matilda Rose.

We exchanged shouted greetings, then turned around and followed them back up the lock.

We passed the smart NB Sanity Again with Bruce and Sheila watching the boats go by, then carried on the Fradley Junction.

Bruce and Sheila and NB Sanity Again

We followed Matilda Rose up to Fradley where we were lucky to snag the last space on the moorings, just above Keepers Lock. Very busy here as usual, and there seem to be a few boaters here who don’t understand that 48 hours max. means only 2 days. They were here when we left on Wednesday….

Graham and Jill were heading around the corner onto the Coventry Canal, aiming for beyond Streethay tonight, but they pulled in and walked back to join us for a cup of tea. Needing to push on, they only stayed for an hour. Next time we’ll try for longer, eh. Good luck, you two.

Oh, and I almost forgot. Thank you to the gentleman on NB Brindley for saying hello this morning.  I get a real buzz out of meeting people who actually read this stuff!

Locks 5, miles 2½