Friday and the end of our annual narrowboat adventure, in some ways it comes as a bit of a relief, the thought of returning home to a comfy bed and eating and drinking normally (you will have probably spotted that we have slightly overindulged on food and drink). I can't wait to see Oscar the dog and check up on the chickens, oh and of course it goes without saying seeing my wife and daughters. I will miss the camaraderie, the boys chat, the beer and the slower pace of life on the boat; but it's not over until the fat lady sings and we still have lots to do.
We made it to Stone for our final overnight stay, I'm not sure who won the 'how long did it take us' debate, as we stopped for a couple en route at the Saracens Head in Weston, plus with the pre and post lunch top ups on the boat, we lost track of time and to be honest it didn't really matter anyway. The Saracens Head is a regular calling point for us, the pub has had some major investment recently and has become more of an eatery, but it always has a good selection of real ales on and friendly helpful staff.
Just before leaving the Staffs & Worcs, the canal opens up into a large expanse of water, known as the Tixall Wide or Tixall Broad. The story goes that Thomas Clifford gave his permission for the canal to pass through his land on condition that it was made to look like a lake when viewed from Tixall Hall. It's certainly an unusual feature of the canal network, of course it could equally be that there was an existing lake on the site that the canal just linked into, but that's not such an interesting story! The hall was demolished in 1927 and all that remains is an Elizabethan gate house built in c1580 (first picture) which is now owned by the Landmark Trust and is used as holiday accommodation. So if you enjoy your holidays with a bit more luxury than narrowboating you can rent the gatehouse and decide for yourself if the canal does indeed look like a lake.
Our final pub visit of the trip was to the Swan, one of our old favourites. Pre covid it used to offer a free Sunday lunch buffet, once all the food was laid out they rang a bell and it was every man for himself. It will be a while before those times are back, if ever. We have visited some lovely pubs during the week, but I think my favourite was the Vine Inn & Brewery in Rugeley, it was a lovely pub, basic, but with a big open fire, great beer brewed on the premises and fantastic friendly staff. It was a new discovery for us, how we have never found it previously is a mystery, but better late than never. Anyway, back to Thursday night, after a couple of beers, unsurprisingly fish & chips won the day over M&S Gourmet, left to our own devices this is probably what we would have been eating all week. Of course these were no ordinary fish and chips they were extra large fish and chips, the amount of chips we ended up with would probably have fed everyone on the canal for a week, but as always after a day of drinking it hit the spot. It was washed down with red wine which as we all know is good for the heart, so it was a well balanced final evening meal.
Friday morning was a short journey back to the marina, where we had to prepare the boat for the next crew taking Rowington out on Monday. So it is a refill, (fuel and water), pump out (the toilet) and clean down including sanitising all the surfaces. Once all that was done we said our goodbyes and headed in our separate ways until next year.
Thank you to Captain Neil and Susan for allowing us to use one of their allotted weeks on the boat for our holiday, and to the Captain for meeting the preholiday route brief to enable us to visit, but more importantly, support as many pubs as we could in these difficult times. To Head Chef Dawn thank you so much for the lovely food, it is one of the joys of the holiday and to Sous Chef Stevie who gets us going in the morning and feeds us at night. Finally to my fellow cabin boy Bob, great to see you again and thank you for your company.
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