Saturday 16th November and Sunday 17th November
Saturday we walked nearly to Lidl’s up Bristol Rd to find the hardware shop where we were unable to get everything we actually wanted but at least we had a walk! We didn’t know exactly where this hardware shop was but knew it was somewhere near Lidl’s. Having seen the adverts for their Mini Butter Stollen on the tv I said if we had to go past Lidl’s to get to the hardware shop I would go in and get some. Unfortunately the hardware shop was this side of Lidl’s so I didn’t get any! Saved me from myself.
After this little excursion we walked back to town and up London Rd to check out a possible hotel for Mum and Dave when they come and visit. It looked ok and had fairly good reviews on Trip Advisor. There was a bus stop practically outside, the 10’s stop there every 10 minutes and they come right close to where we are moored up so that’s very convenient. Also very convenient is The England’s Glory pub nearly next door. We thought we had better just call in for a quick recce and found it to be a very nice, friendly, local type pub. They had Wadsworth’s 6X on, which we like so all was good.
Sunday we went for a proper walk along the river to Hempstead and back along the road and the canal. This took us just over 2 hours. Part of the walk went past the back of the council waste disposal dump, very picturesque! After we got past the dump it was a nice walk although it was pretty wet underfoot and quite uneven in places.
Coming back along the towpath from Hempstead Quay we had to pass Sainsbury’s so we called in for a few bits for tonight’s stir fry. We then had a look in The Tall Ship which doesn’t look much from the outside but has been recommended for it’s seafood restaurant. They do Wadsworth’s 6X in there as well so as we had been walking for over 2 hours and we we needed a sit down we thought may as well sit down there as anywhere else! The menu looks good and is not out of the way price wise so we are going to give it a go one evening.
After we had recovered a bit we went back to the boat and got changed. We were up to our arses in mud and Ken’s boots had leaked so he had wet feet. Then we went to Foster’s, which we can trip up and fall in to from here being moored right behind it! While we were in there two young couples came and sat near us and started playing pool. One of the couples were very ‘lovey dovey’ and kept cuddling and wringing beaks, which was a bit embarrassing. I said to Ken I wondered what they would think if I suddenly got up, sat on his lap and started snogging him. He said he didn’t know what they would think but he would think I had gone completely barmy!
Tomorrow we are going to Cheltenham on the bus for a change. Neither of us has been there before. Tuesday someone from the Heart Foundation is coming to collect the freezer.
