Wednesday 28th July
It’s been a pretty non-eventful day today, compared to yesterday. We just made it to the Harecastle in time to tag on the end of the queue which was then going in so we didn’t have to wait at all. When we emerged from the tunnel it was raining (surely not?) and it continued to be showery for some time. We were going to moor up at Festival park but the two boats already there, outside the Toby Carvery, were positioned in such a way that the gap between them was not long enough for us so we carried on to Etruria where there was, and still is, only one other boat moored.
When the rain stopped we decided to take George for a walk up to Festival Park and maybe (ok, ok, definitely) this walk would include a visit to the Toby Carvery. There is a large umbrella there for the smokers so we thought we would be ok if it started raining again. A quick scan of the seats under the umbrella showed the ones which hadn’t got wet during the last shower so we sat there. We were ok for the most part except when there was a huge shower accompanied by a gale force wind and the rain managed to penetrate all areas under the brolly! George got under the table in an effort to keep dry. Ken and I got a little damp. We provided amusement for the people huddling in the doorway waiting to run to their cars, obviously they were wondering why we were sitting outside at all, let alone in a deluge!
When we got back to the boat Ken went off to the shop for a paper and got drenched on the way back! I lit the fire as it had turned a bit chilly after all the rain. I suspect there won’t be a month this year in which I won’t have to have a fire at some point!
Tomorrow we are off down Stoke locks.
