Rugeley

Last night it wasn’t the owls, ducks or even the foxes we could hear, it was the trains.
At least it was fine when we set off this morning just after ten. Last time we came this way these offside moorings had been taken over by the company doing the towpaths, they have made quite a good job of restoring everything.

As we left Tixall Lock I spotted this small growth around the near side bottom gate. I have seen a lot fungi this past couple of weeks, some of which looked very edible.
I think the towpath is much improved from our last visit and on the wide they have lifted the path in places with a couple of rows of sandbags, it must have been so close to flowing over.

As you can see the morning was dead calm when we set of, the breeze did pick up a bit later when it was quite chilly.

We were pleased to meet a boat between the aqueduct and Great Haywood Junction as it resulted in Haywood Lock being full, meeting another couple of boats below also ensured that Colwich lock was in our favour. I don’t remember so many boats being moored at the housed on the offside below the lock in the past. We didn’t see much more movement but I couldn’t resist a snap of this little chap or lass.

It wasn’t long before we were in Rugeley and passing Naomi's Landing, for those of you that have never been passed the establishment its best describes and a house with a smallish garden and mooring. They keep their boat on the mooring but the garden and landing stage are home to numerous manikins  that get redressed many time in the course of the year, obviously we are now approaching Christmas. If you wish to see more they have a Facebook Page (5) Facebook 

We planned to moor in Rugeley and both the moorings between the |Tesco/Morrison bridge and the removed bridge were free, so once the boat coming towards us had passed we pulled in there.

Today’s Journey

6¾miles, 3 locks in 3 hours