A great week comes to an end…….

Yesterday morning we had a quick coffee with Olly and Mark on board before Mark had to head off back to keep the wheels of industry turning.

Sunny start to the morning at Fradley Junction – coffee and muffins all round. Great to see you Mark a shame you couldn’t stay longer!

Canal side “des res” in the lovely village of Alrewas.

Leaving Alrewas and heading onto the short river Trent section.

Blue skies and a delightful rural setting as we head towards Burton on Trent.

At Bartons Turns we came across a few fisherman which, rather quickly, we realised was a competition.  It seemed to be the worlds biggest and it stretched for the next eight miles!

Getting fed up with looking at fisherman we turned our gaze to the other bank.  This is aggregate country and a reminder of our reliance on the stuff these days with this massive complex on the side of the canal.

Two “book ends” !

James became a single-handed boater for a while during the day – Doug keeping Olly company (and enjoying some refreshment!).  By the time James got to Branston Lock (home of  the pickle) the skies were getting darker.

It’s pretty clear when you’ve arrived at Burton on Trent.  The heavy clouds were still threatening above us (until we got to Stretton) when they came down to meet us, and we had three separate deluges – the last one being while we were mooring up at Willington.

This is a very soggy Olly on the mooring at Willington!

But the law of sod says that just as we get fixed up the sun comes out and we have a beautiful evening – lovely rainbow between the trees.

We  went into Willington in the evening for a meal and the Green Man.  You can’t miss the low bridge with it’s florescent  signs!

We had a very nice last meal with Olly as he will be turning back on Sunday and returning to the Manchester area.

This morning it was a sad moment but it’s not good bye Olly – we’ll meet up again.  Thanks for your terrific company during the last week, you’re a star!

We had a brief, but very welcome chat with Mick and Maggie on nb ‘Repose’, (MGM’s showboat this year at Crick) who were moored up a little further along the canal.  Nice to see you both.

As we got away this morning it was also a nice surprise when the kind people (and blog readers) on nb Linton Lass called out to us as they passed.   They live only a few miles from us on the south coast.  Happy cruising to you both.