Catch-up and Hopwas weekend

Catch-up
We arrived back at Barton Turn Marina from our week visiting family on Sunday last.  Monday and it was a quick dash into Burton-on-Trent to pick up my new spectacles, do a bit of food shopping and then return the hire car to Enterprise.  Tuesday we I washed the boat and got the laundry up to date and on Wednesday we filled with diesel and took our leave of Barton Turn and headed for Fradley Junction.  We arrived perhaps twenty minutes before Lisa and David on  Nb.What a Lark  who we had arranged to meet as they dashed through for a date with Streethay Wharf.  A liquid lunch in the Mucky Duck then followed and then we were pressed into help clear the contents of the fridge before What a Lark was left to the mercies of the boat yard.

Thursday dawned and we got a plaintiff call from Lisa, David was ill and could Joe take the boat to Streethay.  Of Course.  I walked the dogs to Streethay, Joe steered What a Lark, Lisa packed gear away and David suffered but once the boat was delivered Joe and I and mutts walked back along the towpath to Fradley and David and Lisa started their journey home to the south coast.

Nb.What a Lark enroute to Streethay Wharf for work on their tunnel lamp mounting

On Friday we walked back into Alrewas and lunched at the George an Dragon, two lunches including desserts for £10, result!  Post lunch and back at Fradley we went looking for Roger and Pip of Nb Windsong, who had moored in front of Yarwood.  They were in the Pub, surprise, surprise.. We joined them and enjoyed a catch up and a pint before arranging to travel to Hopwas for the weekend and have a bit of time together. 
Which brings us up to date..

Roger, Ozzie the dog and Pip of Nb Windsong

So, Saturday morning dawns and we slip away from Fradley at 07.30, service the boat and head off on to the Coventry Canal.
A dank start to the day as we go off in full wet gear. by the time we arrived at Hopwas the sun had come out and the day was rather pleasant.  Nb. Windsong soon arrived and we toddled off to book a table for Sunday lunch at The Tame Otter.

 First and only lock of the day prepared and waiting

 

 Yarwood coming up from the service point

 

 Making the turn on to the Coventry Canal

 

  Passing Nb What a Lark now moored up and awaiting Streethay's ministrations

Yarwood moored on the school moorings at Hopwas

Chappel Beer Festival

Yesterday afternoon I went to my first beer festival.  Our hosts, Abby and Wardy, are regular festival goers and Joe has been several times in the past - my role in the past was to collect a slightly inebriated husband from the local rail station and get him safely home this inn the days before I 'discovered' real ale..
The Chappel Beer Festival, organised by CAMRA ( Campaign for Real Ale), is held at the East Anglian Railway Museum based at Chappel  Rail Station on the Sudbury line which goes from Marks Tey, just south of Colchester in Essex, to Sudbury in Suffolk, running along the lovely Colne Valley.

The festival is set up in railway carriages and goods sheds, sidings etc. which makes for an interesting venue.

 Our train from Marks Tey for the six minute journey to Chappel

 

 Passing over the Chappel Viaduct

 Approaching Chappel

 

 Chappel signal box

 

 Joined the queue to get in

 One beer down, decisions, decisions...what to have next?

 Everywhere you looked people, mainly men but not exclusively so, were sitting/standing in the sunshine clutching festival glasses with beers of varying colours...

 

Faced with more beers than we could  'shake a stick at' and no idea where to start Joe and I opted to sample only beers brewed by Essex based breweries...when in Essex etc.   We stuck to the third of a pint samples - present pint glass to bar staff, identify what beer you wish to sample and ask for a third, half or a pint and then pay up.  The advice from the experienced members of the party was to fill up on 'stodge' - the technical term for the festival food on offer - pasties, chips, curry, burgers and the like, the liquid intake was punctuated by veggie pasties and tarka dhal or chip butties.  Healthy eating resumes shortly! 

 

 This will be Joe going for his 'stodge' rations

 

 Amber nectar

 

BR signage from the Fenchurch to Shoeburyness line

 

We left the festival at just before 8pm and caught a packed train back to Marks Tey but as we were leaving there was another train load just arriving for their 'beer o'clock'..

Go Away..

The two dogs have stayed in Norfolk with my brother and here be one of the reasons...Tiger Cat. 

We have had a couple of days staying with Abby, Joe's daughter, and her partner Wardy, and the resident cats, Tiger and Bitsy.  The felines are house cats and not used to sharing their world with anything but their human companions and the occasional human interloper...K9's are not welcome in their world
and humans can be a bit annoying as well...

 'Go away..'

 

 'Has she gone?'

 

'This is my very annoyed look...'

Night out in.....Harwich??

We are spending a couple of days with family in Colchester and yesterday evening we had a jaunt out to Harwich where we were going to have a meal in The Pier Hotel.  We caught a series of buses and trains that took us to Harwich Town where we walked through to the quay.   Harwich is the most northerly Essex town sitting on the junction of the R. Stour and R. Orwell.  and although it still operates as a port, with Stena Ferries operating services to the Hook of Holland and Denmark, it is no longer as busy or significant as it once was.

 High Lighthouse Harwich designed by John Rennie and built in 1818

The High Lighthouse is almost the first thing you see when you exit the rail station.  It is no longer in use.

 

Essex clapboard houses

A Trinity House pilot ship moored at the pier

 

Trinity House HQ Harwich.  This building was completed in 2005.

 

Trinity House is the authority established by Henry VIII in 1514, that is  responsible for large elements maritime safety.  They are responsible for lighthouses and lightships around UK waters, pilot services, buoys and training for mariners.  The HQ was transferred to Harwich from London in 1940.

 

Harwich Pier and moorings

Sunset over the R. Stour

 

The  Pier Hotel built in 1860 to provide accommodation for passengers using the busy intercontinental port.  Next door to the Pier Hotel is a building that is now Harwich's Town Hall but was the very grand Eastern Hotel owned by the LNER rail company.

We enjoyed an excellent meal, a bit pricey but very good and it was a special occasion after all.  Lots of locally sourced ingredients including Harwich scallops and locally caught fish and shellfish.  A good vegetarian selection and real ales as well.  It says something about the reputation of this venue when it is packed with diners on a Tuesday evening!

A lightship now moored as tourist attraction by Harwich Pier.

 

The guy in the rowing boat is jet washing the sides of the lightship

 

By the time we came out of the restaurant it was dark and we wandered over the road to the pier to watch the shipping heading out to sea.

A Stena ferry heading out of port.

 

Harwich Pier

A trip east..

Joe went off yesterday morning to collect our Enterprise hire car...and by early afternoon we were packed and on our way to Norfolk.  We took a slight detour into Loughborough as I needed a bit more yarn to complete a jumper I am knitting Himself - he could make a fashion statement by wearing a one sleeved jumper but he is a bit reluctant for some reason??  So it was back to the craft shop where I bought the wool to be sure that I got the same dye/lot and then on our way again.

 Enterprise hire this time with no £12 per day damage waiver..result

 

 Overnight stay at my Brother's B&B in Bressingham

 

The dogs are staying with my brother and sister-in-law for the rest of the week while Joe and I visit family in Colchester.  Tonight we are eating out in Harwich and tomorrow it is a date with the Chappel Beer Festival more of which later.

Saving pennies and pounds

Just a thought for boaters hiring cars.  A conversation with a lady from Australia re car hire got Joe trawling the Internet for an insurance product that might save us money.  Enterprise charge £12 day for their 'damage waiver'. It is voluntary but if you don't take it their excess is a hefty £700!!
Joe has taken out an annual  policy for £39.99 that covers any excess with any car hire company here or in the EU.  This also covers up to nine named drivers.  The company in question is icarhireinsurance.com and is owned by Chubb Insurance.  Hope it helps...

A berth in Barton Turn

 Come Friday morning after two nights moored out in the sticks in relative peace and quiet we pulled pins and headed off towards Burton on Trent.  Our aim was to moor up at Branston by the water park and then slip into Barton Turns Marina on Saturday morning where we had booked a berth for Yarwood.  That plan was quickly modified when we came across notices pinned to the lock beams at Dallow lock announcing a National angling match of 300 pegs due to take place on the Saturday. Bolstered by advice from other boaters we decided to give Branston a miss and head straight for Barton marina.

 And we are off again. yet another glorious day in this stunning 2013 summer!

 

Arriving at Horninglow Basin we reversed Yarwood into the service point- this before we knew we were going head directly to Barton Turn Marina, - to fill with water and empty cassettes.

 

 Filling with fresh water at Horninglow Basin

 Off he goes back on to the cut, destination Burton on Trent

 Approaching Shobnall Basin and the Marston Bridge

 

 

 Branston Lock

 Yarwood on the lock landing waiting for a boat coming down

 Fletcher and Floyd waiting for Joe to come into the lock and me to do things...

 

 Branston done and dusted and gates to be left for an approaching boat....result!

 

 Tatenhill lock approach

 Himself 'playing to the gallery' chatting to gongoozlers on the bridge at Tatenhill lock

 

Leaving the last lock of the day, Barton Turn.

 

At Barton Turn Lock we loaded the dogs back on the boat and I joined them for the last stretch into Barton Marina where we located the visitor moorings and tied up.  Joe went off to settle up for our stay and told them we were happy to stay on the visitor moorings....that may have been a mistake as the visitor moorings are close by the pub and on Friday night the pub at Barton Turns had a live band and the live band didn't finish its session until 12.15am and the merry, happy, enebriated customers didn't go home until 01.30am...

I expected much of the same on Saturday night but things were quite peaceful last night and I slept like the proverbial log.

 

 

 Visitor moorings at Barton Turn Marina

 

So we are now on shore power and everything that can be washed  has been washed and I have even spent an hour or more ironing this morning.. the first time the 'resident iron' has been out of its box I might add!

 

Tomorrow Joe goes off to get our hire car and we decamp for a week of family visits.