Alarm call at 4 am...

We set off early and headed past the Plum Pudding Pub (which we keep meaning to stop at) and an enormous mobile home park on our way to Rugeley.

 

We stopped at Tesco's for a few essentials where we saw the sparrows enjoying a dust bath on the tow path.

Over the Brindley Brook  Aquaduct.

 

Greg liked the look of this barn near the lock.

Signs on the side of the lock cottage.

Interesting Fungi on top of the tree stump. We tried for ages to get a picture of a very noisy woodpecker but he was very well hidden.

Shugbourgh Hall.....The floating market is held here Easter weekend...last year it was flooded and didn't do very well...this year the weather is supposed to be lovely so it should do well.

The junction where we turn onto the Staffordshire and Worcestershire canal and under a very elegant bridge.

 

Anglo Welsh hire out narrow boats from here so it can be really busy at times...luckily it wasn't too bad today.

At first I thought this was a young fox walking along the edge of the boat..it wasn't until we'd gone past that I realised it was a cat!

Tixall Stables.

Tixall Gatehouse.

Tixall Wide looks more like a lake..it was said to have been built in order not to compromise the view from Tixall House(which is no more).

We sat outside for ages last night as it was quite warm talking to people who were walking by. Molly had a great time making new friends.

The sun reflecting on the water.

This morning at 4.30 the geese started honking which woke Molly up who thought it was great to race up and down the boat trying to chase them...first cup of coffee at 6.15...it feels like a work day!!

Look what the geese left this morning..

First lock of the day...

Greg didn't realise what the bridge was called until I started laughing.." Old Hill Bridge.. how true"

Bee hives at the bottom of the garden.

The countryside was gorgeous. The only thing that spoilt it was the train line running alongside the canal.

Holly here's one for you...He just stood there until our boat had gone past without moving.

This duck had made himself right at home on top of someone's boat.

Acton Trussell church.

And then we stopped.....Greg wanted to know why a light was flashing( I hadn't even seen it!) and when he checked the fan belt had broken...luckily we had a spare.

I'm glad were not sitting on the M6 in all that traffic..

Last lock of the day at Gailey Wharf.

On past the chemical works and we found a nice spot to moor up for the night. Molly is shattered so hopefully she will sleep well tonight.

Happy days.

 

We made an early start on Sunday ,through the last 2 locks at Atherstone and on towards Tamworth and Fazeley Junction.

Just before we got to Polesworth there was a farm which offered Alpaca walking..although they seemed quite happy lying in the sun.

The sun was out but the wind was bitter.

I hope Humpty Dumpty doesn't fall off his wall yet.

Fazeley Junction.

The way to Birmingham...past the old factory which has now been converted into gym.

We moored up just outside Hopwas for the night. All the poly tunnels were up, hopefully full of asparagus.

We didn't see many other boats as we neared Fradley Junction.

I hope she wears herself out today ..we might all get some sleep tonight then!!

We got through Fradley junction with its 3 locks quickly and moored up on the way to Rugeley. We can see the old Rugeley powerstation in front of us and a windmill very faintly to our left. Hopefully I ll be able to get a good picture in the morning before we set off.

Happy Days.

And we're off.......

 

Hooray....The day has finally arrived-Freedom left the marina at 5pm on Friday evening. Molly couldn't work out what the Canadian geese were doing in the field. We filled up with water and then moored up for the night at Hawksbury junction.

 

It was a long night....every half hour Molly tiptoed on to our bed and tried to snuggle down. Then at 5 am she decided to bark at the duck that kept quacking outside the boat!

 This duck made me jump..it was hidden quite high up but poked its head up as we went past.

 

It was a beautiful day when the sun was shining but bitterly cold.

Going past Charity Dock and there were several new 'people' hanging around...

These poor fellas must have been fishing for a long time and not caught a thing...

This tree has lots of glass and mirrored dangling chandelier crystals hanging from it..it looks lovely in the sunshine..

Brave little duckling taking off on his own.

All the bluebells are staring to come out in the woods.

The old hat factory at Atherstone was due to be made into apartments...but they still haven't started 3 years on.

We managed to get through the locks at Atherstone quite quickly as there were several lock keepers on to help, We moored up for the night between the last 2 locks-with Atherstone castle in the distance.

 

 

A lovely sunset to end the day.

 

Happy days.