Slowly does it

We’ve arrived at our last mooring spot before we “abandon” the boat in a marina again to head off to the Netherlands for the Marillion Weekend. It’s another old favourite, Tixall Wide. It’s that “pretend lake” near to Shugborough Hall, a mile down the Staffordshire & Worcester Canal from the junction at Great Haywood. We’re still taking our time. In the past we’ve made the cruise from Congleton to Tixall in 2 days – this time we took 49!! But we did stop at Barlaston and visit Neil Morrisey’s The Plume of Feathers pub (no we didn’t see him)

We spent a couple of weeks hovering around Stone running errands, taking advantage of the local amenities including the swimming pool, laundrette and take-away pizza! It’s been a rather grey and dull start to the year, so catching glimpses of the sun in the last couple of weeks has really cheered the soul. The railway station and many of the shops in Stone have a curiously gothic style which seems a little out of place. It turns out that they were designed by Sir Henry Arthur Hunt, a surveyor who worked for the North Staffordshire Railway Company. Earlier in his career, after the Houses of Parliament burnt down in 1834, he was commissioned by Charles Barry to provide the design estimate for rebuilding the Palaces of Westminster (very gothic). Hunt suggested a construction time of six years with an estimated cost of £724,986. It actually took 30 years and cost over £2 million, oops!

Winter stoppages are still hindering us from making further progress south. There are currently 174 closures, restrictions or advisories along the 2,000 miles of waterways that the Canal & River Trust are maintaining. The last stoppages for us are the repairs to Woodend and Shadehouse Locks. They are preventing us from getting to Fradley Junction, but this should be (fingers crossed) completed by mid-March. The CRT contractors and volunteers have been busy trimming back hedges and trees along the tow paths and the offside of the canal. Some of this has been essential because of fallen debris from the recent storms which has blocked the waterway and footpaths. We’ve spent days happily scavenging for wood to restock our supplies whilst daydreaming and scheming about the rest of the year. We still aim to spend most of this summer chugging towards London and then on to the previous home territory of the Kennet & Avon in the direction of Bath and possibly Bristol.

We are keeping ourselves busy.  Ian finished his interior decorating (it looks much brighter in here), chopped wood and serviced the multi-fuel stove. I’ve rediscovered the joys of baking and needlework; the boat is often littered with colourful cut threads and the smell of cakes, naughty but nice. We’ve been liveaboards for three years and whilst it feels perfectly natural for us to be living like this, I can’t believe how quickly the time has flown by.

Living in a very small space means we’re very tight on storage space. We’ve have had a few goes at decluttering our stuff. Minimalist living, weirdly, doesn’t get in the way of a comfortable life. This might seem backwards, but it’s oddly liberating. You just don’t have room for anything that isn’t either essential or extremely precious. It makes you realise how little you really need. During the winter, the fire is always burning, keeping the boat toasty, but the cold surfaces along the inside of the hull can cause condensation, and damp can develop inside cupboards and at the back of shelves. It’s so easy to overstuff a hidey-hole and then sadly suffer the consequences. This wouldn’t happen in a newer boat with spray foam insulation, but Heron is now 28 years old, and we think her rock wool insulation has started to sag a little behind the panelling. We just need to be careful and keep on decluttering.

So as much as we are enjoying the rest, we are missing the warmth and sunshine of the Caribbean. We can’t wait to get going and then these grey days will be a distant memory! Bring on the sunshine and the summer.