Thursday 13 September 2012

The Stone Squirrel

Our 8 am start today took us towards our planned mooring spot in the town of Stone.  The journey was very quiet with few boats on the entire 3 mile, 7 lock stretch.

IMG_2339

A perfectly normal looking bridge (No100) turned out to be……..

IMG_2340

…… a lovely cross over bridge, where the towpath changes from one bank to the other and the horse pulling the narrow boat could cross to the other side without detaching the tow rope from the boat.

IMG_2342

Another ingenious method of keeping the tow rope attached to horse and boat is by making this lock bridge in two pieces which allows the rope to pass through.  Doug’s back in harness and working the locks again after his arm injury!

IMG_2343

Running repairs to the lock edge but the canal traffic continues on its way.  This is one of the locks at Stone.

We arrived in Stone at about 11:30 and took on water and fuel before finding the one of the few remaining moorings.  We had lunch at ‘La Dolce Vita’ the Italian restaurant next to lock 27  as we usually do when we are visiting Stone,  great food and service as always, after lunch we went into the town for some shopping.

Now - have you heard the one about the squirrel who walked into the hardware shop?  Well this isn’t a joke.  James was in the shop in the High Street when a squirrel walked in!  The shop staff tried to catch it in a cardboard box (some hope!)  but the squirrel won the day. James took a photo of the offending creature and a lady who, with her husband, publishes the monthly “Stone and Eccleshall Gazette” asked James for a copy of the photo to publish in the next issue.  So we’ve duly obliged.

IMG_2344

He was fast!!!!

IMG_2346

Evening is upon us now, the church bells are ringing and this is our mooring here in Stone – very pretty.

4 comments:

  1. Somebody's put the fairy lights out for you!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Interested to see your picture of repair work on the lock in Stone. I reported the problem to CRT on Tuesday and mentioned it in my own blog today! Not bad service really.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi Jim, We did see Starcross when we passed yesterday, but think you might have been out, sorry we missed you and certainly good service from CRT.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hello, I found you on the Jameisons Afloat site, and I am so glad that I did. I love your photographs. It must be a bit tedious going through those tunnels and locks, but what an awesome adventure. I am your newest follower and I'm looking so forward to traveling with you by way of internet. These long boats fascinate me. I had never seen nor heard of them until I started blogging. I'm sure that you meet so many wonderful folks along your journey and scenery must be glorious.
    Best wishes and good sailing, Connie :)

    ReplyDelete