Bats and Stick Insects

 

Stenson Deep Lock

Morning Jotters

Can you believe it? The dratted sun is out now!! After the greyest August on record, we are finally bathed in the warmth of glorious sunshine just as we decide to head for home. We’re dragging our feet down this last stretch, visiting our favourite moorings and lingering through the villages, reluctant to reach the marina and moor up after our long trip.

Ratcliffe Flood Lock

This week we have travelled from Loughborough to Wychnor and tonight we are moored on our favourite river mooring just outside Alrewas We ventured into Loughborough on Bank Holiday Monday and reached the basin to find that all the pontoons were full. Carl squeezed us onto the quayside, which is not really a mooring but he managed to tie up to the railings while I nipped here and there to get our supplies. I was disappointed not to get a mooring as I was looking forward to wandering into town for coffee and cake but Carl went off for milk and came back with flowers for my birthday and the day was saved. Onward towards Zouch, along the river which looks so pretty when the sun shines but is just steely and grey under the cloudy skies. We moor up and watch the wind whipping the trees along the bank and light the stove to banish the chills. A typical English Bank Holiday.

Up the Trent to Sawley

We shared the journey from Zouch to Ratcliffe with a young couple, out on their boat for the first time. They had bought the boat for a song and were gradually doing it up. I hope for their sake that it isn't a cold winter this year - it can be tricky to get the hang of keeping your stove going through the night and without that, you will wake up with icicles on your nose. Still, they are young and will soon get the hang of it or, if they don’t, the boat will be back on the market come the spring. We lost them after Ratcliffe Lock - I worried about them as we turned onto the Trent, in case they had broken down but they chugged past after we’d moored for the day at Derwent Lock and waved so I guess I’ll never know what happened to them. That’s the thing about boating partnerships, some are fleeting and leave you wanting more and some make you sigh with relief as they chug off into the distance. Today, our peace was shattered when a boat moored close by with Fog Horn Leghorn aboard. In fact, everyone on board had their volume turned up to 11 and we felt like we knew them intimately after just a few minute of listening to them discussing their boating day. We pulled the boat back several boat lengths to escape them and diluted their conversation with our music player. It was a massive relief when they set off again and our peace was restored. Their loud voices were audible long after their boat disappeared!

Sawley to Shardlow

We were up early on Wednesday and met a boat at every lock as we left Shardlow and tackled the last of the remaining broad locks up to Stenson. We stopped for coffee and cake at Swarkestone Garden Centre and while we were there, a message popped up from our friends on the Naga Queen to say they were on there way. Hurray! We celebrated with Prosecco (thanks Jean-Bean) and a nice bottle of red wine later that evening and put the world to rights while Tricky perfumed the air, overcome with joy at seeing her best pals again.

Paired up at Stenson

We planned to eat out at Stenson on Thursday night so the next morning we had a pleasant chug for all of 3 miles and one lock to the moorings by the Stenson Bubble. There was a bit of confusion about where we could sit, all the doors were open downstairs and at first we were seated in a draft by the door. I went off to check out the gin stocks and when I enquired about another table, they found us a cosy spot upstairs - I must have looked like I was going to spend my pension on their gin! It’s a few years since we visited this pub, we had our works leaving party here in 2008, and I can’t help reflecting on the happy times we have had boating since that time. We ended the night back on the Naga Queen and had so much fun we decided to have one last night with them before they had to go home. We arranged to meet the following night at bridge 25, a favourite mooring spot for them and us. 

Dinner at the Bubble

We left Stenson and chugged onward the next morning, still under grey, drizzly skies. I left Carl watering up at the services in Willington, while I trotted off to the Co-Op for supplies. There was a drama occurring outside the shop - a car had gone into the ditch and an elderly chap who was driving the crashed car was sitting on a bench, looking traumatised. The street was blocked with emergency vehicles and police and fire crew milled about while paramedics attended to the driver. A recovery vehicle turned up and as I walked back to the boat, an ‘Incident Support’ vehicle arrived with his sirens blaring, he was a bit late but maybe he was bringing the refreshments. It gladdened my heart to see that, in an emergency, the 999 response can still be relied on. 

The Captain Looking Serious

We were very sorry to part company with the Naga Queen as she slipped onto her moorings next morning and they waved us off towards Burton. The narrow locks are a joy and a delight after so long on the broad locks - a bit like taking your boots off and finding your slippers after walking a marathon. I was a teeny bit hungover after our three nights of carousing with Pat and Malc - I might have got a little carried away with the Baileys (glum faced emoji). We had planned to walk into Burton but after we’d backed onto the diesel pump in Shobnall Marina and loaded up with coal and gas supplies, we just wanted to get to Branston and call it a day. I was really looking forward to an early night but a boat arrived in after dark with searchlights blazing and immediately struck up his generator. The noise was magnified as he had chose to moor under a bridge and I hung out of the hatch listening to the racket and hoping he would soon switch off. Then the fireworks started somewhere over Branston Village so I gave up and went to find my earplugs. As I closed the hatch, I glimpsed a bat swooping along the canal, caught in the headlights of the boat behind us – wow! I wish I could capture that image – it was spooky! Every cloud, as they say.

Leaving Naga Queen on her moorings

I think this will be the final Jotting for this year and I'm looking forward to taking a break from talking to you via the blog and to be meeting up with you in real life again. See you soon, I hope.

Love from

The Floating Chandlers


ps Almost mown down by the rush of pensioners in the garden centre, we arrived just as lunch was served. Some things never change.

is this a Stick Insect?

Pps On the nature table this week is a thing that looks like a Stick Insect. It hopped aboard and kicked the ornaments off the bookcase before Carl ejected it. Have a look at the photo – what on earth is it??