As we travelled up the Trent and Mersey to Rugeley the weather was ideal for sailing at a sedate pace. The baby birds all in evidence. We saw Canada Geese chicks for the first time. One pair had twenty and another two. Talk about being productive!
Rugeley was a very busy mooring destination for boaters and entering the town via canal it was boat to boat on the towpath. I was a little bit concerned about meeting a boat coming the other way with the channel so narrow and at some points little room to pass. Lady luck smiled upon us and we managed to find a mooring for a few days there.
The only thing about our position was that the bank had deteriorated and deposited its gravel into the canal. Every time a boat went past the base plate ground on them making uncomfortable noises. I couldn't stand it and after a couple of nights we carried on.
Rugeley was pleasant enough. I'm not a great fan regarding the behaviour of supermarkets in relation to the way they treat farmers and other producers; let alone building stores in areas that don't want them and then seeing little established businesses unable to compete and disappearing from the High Street. But what struck me about the Rugeley store was its concourse from the canal. It is charming and seems to exude a peacefulness that relates to its waterside neighbour.
After attending the very nice church on Sunday we set off again towards Stone. Just as we were mooring up opposite Shugborough Hall, Great Haywood, we met the priest from the morning service with some parishioners on a sponsored walk. So we donated a tenner for their efforts and pot for good measure.
The mooring was very pleasant and we stayed till Tuesday morning so we could do some walking and visit the Hall's grounds. Six miles in lovely sunshine and back for 2 p.m. to have some lunch.
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