Month: March 2026

You light up my life, just one of the reasons I love waking up on a narrowboat.

What a difference a few hours make when the light changes. This is actually just over a week ago when we all thought summer had arrived. We had moored at a favourite spot of ours at Burston. It was peaceful and calming, (apart from the Canada guessed

I’m usually up at the  crack of dawn to make the most of the sunrise, (and a cuppa). Only the view had disappeared

I’d like to pretend I watched the mist clear over the next hour, but I didnt, I snuggled back under the warm duvet. However the next day the world had turned pink.

And I remained mesmerised as the colours changed over the next hour

The day was going to be another good one.

Im not the only one who enjoys early mornings

Of course I couldn’t ignore the sunset, although that was looking the other way.

Burston is a pretty little hamlet, a half hour circular stroll takes you over the bridge and up to the village pond where the swans stand guard

Upper Burston Bridge

And more daffodils

Burston Daffodils

Now the good thing about the clocks springing forward is I get another week or two of seeing the sunrise at a reasonable hour, but I’m off the boat this weekend returning the car to our daughter so no 7am photos today. Unfortunately it also means I missed meeting Adrian and Adam on their new boat Kingley Vale yesterday.

Calling out to Canal and River Trust

Come on CRT, this is RUBBISH and that’s the polite way of saying it. I am fed up with not being able to dispose of my rubbish in a civilised manner. This is the bin facility site at Stone Visitor Moorings (westbridge park). Seeing overflowing bins like this is a regular occurrence. It’s not rocket science, its inadequate provision. We need either more bins or more frequent collection- preferably both. Don’t blame boaters for fly tipping. If there isn’t enough space in the bin what are we going to do with our rubbish- the bin is going to get overfilled. We live on boats, we don’t have a back yard to store our rubbish, we dont have cars to drive to a local council tip- not that we’d be allowed to use them, cause they tend to be for local residents only.

I walked over a mile from the Whitebridge lane moorings (other end of Stone) to dispose of my rubbish today, and over another mile back to my boat. I am angry, very angry. The next facilities on our route north are 9 miles from here. And as a continual cruiser, I cruise gently and slowly, it will take me several days to get there. I choose to make compromises over my lifestyle but I pay an increased licence fee to help cover the “increased strain” we put on the system. It’s not unreasonable to ask for adequate facilities.

I have contacted CRT and I urge all boaters to do the same, every time we see something like this.

POST SCRIPT.

I think it only fair that I share this timely response from CRT. Recieved the same morning that I sent in my complaint.

Good morning Cheryl,

Thank you for bringing this to our attention.

I have just spoken to the local Area Operations Manager who said that contractors were scheduled to have emptied this yesterday.

He will contact them to query why it wasn’t collected on due day; and he is sending his team to check it out and clear some of the rubbish so the refuse site can be used.

Kind regards,

Andy Foxall

Customer Support Administrator

And I would hereby urge all boaters to take the time to not only send in photos of such a mess, but also to act fairly and not abuse our facilities by dumping, inappropriate rubbish such as cushions, wood, bits of DIY etc. Campaign to have facilities to take larger items provided.

Has Spring really Sprung?

How can the weather go from being rubbish to perfect in a blink of an eye? I can’t answer that one, but it wont stop the big grin on our faces to be cruising in the sunshine.

Although we’ve still had a few misty frosty mornings.

We made it up to Fradley Junction at the beginning of the week

and turned left onto the Trent and Mersey Canal. Time to flex those lock muscles that have been atrophying for the past 4 months.

Not sure if we’ll make it all the way to Preston Brook, but we are heading towards Northwich so maybe we’ll sneak in a trip to lovely Lymm whilst we are up there .


We can’t go too far each day because Eric has to saddle up to fetch the car. Then find somewhere safe to leave it, where it doesn’t cause any inconvenience to the locals.

Stocked up with groceries at Rugeley in time for a day two relaxing at Great Haywood, taking in a wander around the estate at Shrugborough Hall. The daffs are at their finest.

Although wa are watching our steps around the imfamous two bodied swan gracing the River Trent

Lights out and away we go

After three months in a marina, on Thursday Eric woke up to what felt like hurricane winds. He decided there was no way he was reversing out with several boats within bashing distance and begged an extra night on the pontoon. I, on the other hand, was still snug and safe in the house. But escape he did, on Friday he joined the multitude of other boats waiting both for the barricades at BoneHill to be lifted and for the fuel boat to make it through for the first time since the winter closures blocked her way in December. By 4pm we had a full tank, thankyou Kat, £136pl expected to rise to £169 in the next fortnight. And most of the boats had moved on through the now open bridge. On Saturday I said my goodbyes at home, defrosted the car and set off at 6am to make it back in time for breakfast. What a glorious sight, even if it was with a sense of deja vu. Firecrest was moored on the same spot where we were grounded in last summers drought.

Peel Wharf, Fazeley

But breakfast would have to wait. I’d barely unpacked the car before we cast off the mooring ropes, so desperate to get cruising again. We cheered as we went through Bone Hill Bridge, which had been closed for culvert repairs (for which we are truly grateful)

And I am now back in my happy place, sitting on the roof, with my knitting in my hand and Eric at the helm. Its still chilly so I doubt we’ll be cruising for more than an hour or two a day until the sun warms us up. But right now we are heading north, back up to the Paint Shed for a bit of tweaking after last year’s repaint.

Today is Mother’s day. We shall be enjoying some special memories of both our mums and our children. We hopeits a good day for you too.

Sunrise at Hopwas

Emerging from Hibernation

At the end of November we, packed up and waved goodbye to Firecrest.  Headed home to the security of firm foundations that bricks and mortar provide. We relished spending time visiting friends and family, pavements that weren’t muddy, cupboards that didnt need checking for mildew, and a dishwasher, yet every time the sun shone, (which admittedly hasn’t been very often) a sense of restlessness and the muttered refrain, “its a good day to cruise” could be heard. Being home is indeed a mixed blessing, I value the space and security more than Eric. I have more friends that I like to meet up with for girly giggles, cake and coffee. Eric enjoys being able to pick up his DIY tools from their convenient shelf in the garage without having to unpack storage boxes to find the right one on the boat. But we miss the peaceful simplicity of life afloat. Admittedly Eric is still running his own design business, so during the winter months he has plenty to keep him occupied, whereas I miss the opportunities to be outside exploring, and simply soaking up the ambience of the canals. We have just under 2 weeks left of marina life. Eric is now back on board making Firecrest shipshape and I am taking final advantage of being able to use our car to travel further afield visiting family. 3 months, a whole quarter of a year, doesn’t half fly past quickly these days. I’m not going to promise how often I’ll post our progress but hopefully this year won’t be as fraught with closures as 2025. We are looking forward to moving again in just a few weeks.

Keeping occupied in the club house
But you can’t ignore a loose screw
Just some of the people and places we have enjoyed over winter