Day 89 - the Trent & Mersey, almost to Rugeley.

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2 locks, 408 in total.







The wind did die down last night but then it became cloudy which rather messed up any chance of seeing the meteor shower – at the moment it's not looking too hopeful for tonight either unfortunately.







With considerable wind assistance we motored up to the junction with the Trent & Mersey, intending to turn right. Of course just as we got there a boat approached from the right, indicating that he wanted to come our way – at least, that was how I interpreted his sign language until I realised that he was actually just turning around whilst we hovered in a wind tunnel. No harm done anyway but he could have delayed his manoeuvre until we were past – we would have done in his position.







After a quick walk with Hattie down to the Trent I spent the morning in the laundry of the local marina. They had one washer and one dryer – I had 2 large loads of washing; whilst it took a while, the clothes did come out clean and well-rinsed, which made a pleasant change. Meanwhile John went to the farm shop for more supplies.







After lunch we motored south along the T & M, following the R. Trent and its valley past Shugborough Hall and Park. We would have visited the grounds but dogs had to be on leads the whole time – considering the size and nature of some of the grounds, this seemed unduly harsh. Cannock Chase was beyond the Hall, rising above the surrounding land. We moored just before the outskirts of Rugeley, opposite a smallholding with several pigs and piglets – they all seemed to wake up together and started playing around. In the distance beyond the smallholding was the railway and the Virgin Pendolino trains, which are considerably quieter than some others.







There was another classic Hattie moment today at a lock. She had taken 2 tennis balls ashore and dumped them at the feet of another boater who kindly picked one up and threw it for her - no reaction from Hattie till I told her to fetch it, with she did with bad grace. The chap threw it again and even he couldn't misinterpret the look of contempt that Hattie gave him. The problem is that Hattie plays games but doesn't tell anybody the rules – obviously he should have known to throw the other tennis ball first!!

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Photos

Essex Bridge - Ancient Monument.
This is a very old packhorse bridge over the R. Trent at Great Haywood. It was very long and narrow, with plenty of places for pedestrians to get out of the way of the riders. When the Ansons built Shugorough Hall they had a wider bridge built as they preferred to go to church by carriage.

The railway bridge at Great Hayward.
Looking through the bridge you see 2 neat terraces of cottages - these were built by the Anson family (Earl of Lichfield's family) to house the inhabitants of Shugborough village who had been evicted to provide more privacy for the Ansons.

For those who don't know, my maiden name was Hartley....
.... and I suffered my fair share of jam jokes too!