Lyra's Travels

Hawthorn blossom at Armitage, Trent & Mersey Canal

After overnight rain the day started out fresh and clear. Of course, as that was the first rain for a long time it was full of dust and the boat was covered in the stuff.
The clear sky continued throughout the day but the wind did get up a bit. This is one of my favourite times of the year as long as the weather stays good. The reason for this is the arrival of the hawthorn blossom. It covers the hedges in clouds of white and really lifts the spirit.
As we approached Fradley Junction it became clear that our decision last night to moor up well before it was a good one. The place was its usual packed self and we even had to queue for the water point. Having waited to use it we found the thing was so slow that we decided to give up after half an hour and only getting about 10% of our tank capacity.
Turning onto the Trent and Mersey towards Rugeley we joined the queue for the 3 locks. The long weekend and good weather seem to have brought out a lot of boats.
We were soon clear through and running along the 10 mile pound which includes Rugeley where we decided to stop for the night and do some shopping.