Monday 7th August 2017

No rain again today and we could even travel along in just T shirts but with all the blackberries on the bushes it still seems to be nearly Autumn. Apart from the usual queue for water at Fradley we had an easy passage as there were volunteers helping on each lock. One lady said that it saves her gym membership!

After Fradley we were back to doing them ourselves. At this one in Alrewas the back gate kept opening of its own accord so Graham was kept busy running round until the water pressure stopped the problem.

The gardens in Alrewas are always pretty .

Just past Alrewas the tow path consists of long bridges over Trent millstreams.

Typically at the narrow section we met a boat going the other way. 

The boat at Tatenhill Lock which we have never seen move in 5 years of passing this way.

We are moored at Branston water park and are booked to eat at The Bridge Inn which is really an Italian restaurant. There used to be many boats here but the loss of the hire company at Mercia Marina has definitely had an effect on the number of boats. This section of the Trent and Mersey canal seems much quieter. 

A new road bridge over the canal has been built since we were here last year. I think that they are going to build a big housing estate but at the moment they just seem to be putting in the roads.

We'll be back in the Marina tomorrow.