A surprise visit…..

We had a surprise visit yesterday late afternoon from friends Lynda and Ken, who are on a weeks holiday on a hire-boat while they wait for their dream to be built.  I’d had a message a little earlier saying they were heading towards us, but didn’t expect to see them until today.  About 4.30 there was a mad tooting from the canal and there they were!  They continued on a bit until they found a mooring and then walked back. A lovely couple of hours, a good old chinwag to catch up, several bottles of beer and a bottle of wine were drunk.  They departed back to their boat at about 7.30.  It was great to see them again – we met last year at the Beacon Boats gathering in September, they had booked a build slot for early next year, but sadly were one of the customers that Beacon had to disappoint when they announced their closure.  They have now found another builder to make their dream a reality.  But they will always be honorary members of the Beacon Boat Club!  I was having such a good time that I totally forgot to get a photo.

This morning we made the short hop to Stone.  We were both in need of haircuts, and a post office, and Rog needed to replenish his beer supplies.  I feel much better now I’ve had my hair cut short again – far easier to manage on the boat.  The hairdresser that I have used before was shut, but luckily there was another just across the road and they could fit me in with only a short wait.  The lovely and very camp young man (he looked about 12) certainly knew what he was doing, and I’m very pleased with the result.

We had lunch in the Star Inn by the first lock, and have decided to stay here and carry on tomorrow.

Aston Lock

The view from the top.  The narrow beam Dutch barge you can see was being crewed by a very miserable single-hander, who was up our rear end for a good couple of miles prior to Sandon Lock, and was extremely grumpy when Rog spoke to him!  Miserable git!

5.7 miles and 2 locks