A view from a train.

About two miles north of Warrington station just after going under the M62 you pass an abandoned lock. 

I tried to get a couple of pictures whilst doing 100+ mph on a Pendolino yesterday. 

Research determines it to be part of the Sankey canal. 

Penultimate resting place

Today we went to Leicester to see the King Richard III museum. We had hoped to see his last resting place in the cathedral but unfortunately this was open for worship only and there was no access to Richard's resting place. 

It made us wonder why they went to such lengths to bury him in Leicester when they deny access to an 11 year old boy desperate to visit. Surely the burial place of a King should be accessible!

We did go round the new visitor centre built on the car park where he was found. I had previously taken the children to Leicester to see the RIchard III memorial stone in the Cathedral. That day, unlike today, we were made welcome. We also had a look round the now infamous car park before any digging started as research had led me to the conclusion that this was the most likely resting place of his remains. When we saw the excavation site it was a revelation how lucky it had been that the body hadn't been disturbed whilst it was there. 

The bones below the knees had been destroyed by Victorian foundations, just above and to the right of the head were concrete blocks from the 1930s demolition of buildings and to the left of the body the floor of a building stopped just inches from the body. 

Anyway he survived. Maybe one day we will visit his current resting place. 

Here are my photos of the car park excavation showing the position the skeleton was found. 

The calm after the storm.

Today was a much nicer day and we had a leisurely morning moored at Oddingley before returning to the marina. 

We are very pleased with our decision not to cruise the River Severn as it was closed today. 

Just three locks today so relatively easy. Lots of hire boats out, rushing to do a cruising ring during the Easter holiday. Surely the journey is more important than the destination. With the Severn being closed they'll be stuck at Worcester anyway. 

Gracie got appointed a trainee lock keeper today and was delighted. 

Opening a lock can now be considered child's play. 

The locks at Hanbury have side ponds which saves half the water each use. Very clever. 

Alison and the CRT volunteer open the side ponds. 

And here it is filling wIth water to be used for the next boat.  

The Hanbury locks are quite deep at 11'. 

It feels a long way down. 

And the gates hold back a lot of water. Good job they're strong. 

Last lock. 

Next week we had planned to go up the Severn to Stourport but are reconsidering.  What if the river is in flood again and we can't navigate? What happens if they close it whilst we are on the Staffs and Worcester canal?

There are always more questions than answers!

First cruise of the year

It's the end of March so time for our first cruise which is a taster for the children before our grand summer holiday cruise. 

We were going to go down the Droitwich canals and then down the Severn to Worcester. But the weather forecast was for really strong winds, which had duly arrived by Tuesday morning and several rivers were already closed due to high water level so we put safety first and decided to do both journeys on the Worcester and Birmingham canal. 

It was really windy and keeping control of Magpie II took a lot of effort. 

Apart from the wind, we had the odd shower but it was also a nice day for cruising for much of the time. 

Not much time for photos on the first day, too windy as well. This is the only other one I took. 

We moored by Diglis Basin and had a lovely tea at the Wetherspoons in Worcester. Also a lovely beer. 

Today the wind was less and we bravely decided to turn at the top of lock two and head back to tonights mooring which is at Oddingley. 

The children were a great help with the locks, a good job as they have 200+ to do in the summer!

They both had a go at the tiller as well. 

Magpie II looked good, though you can't see the newly blacked bottom. We added a few scratches here and there  but it is a contact sport. 

We needed to be wrapped up warm but had a really good day. Everyone is cooking tea as I write the blog. 

Here are the rest of today's pictures. 

Blackburn and back - again.

The start of the Easter holidays and time to pick up Kenneth-Michael and Gracie. 

The 10:15 Pendolino to Preston got there just in time for me to make my connection onto the Colne train. The first time this has been managed, though it was close, I jumped off, ran to platform 2 and the Colne train was on its way in. At least these two photos show both trains were there at the same time. 

We caught an early train to Preston to allow us to go to Boots and get some lunch. 

Here is our train at Mill Hill. 

The best thing about train travelling rather than being in the car is spending quality time together rather than parking on the M6. 

 

Here is our return ride and very comfortable it turned out to be. 

A day out in Nottingham

This post is dedicated to friend and colleague Martin Sutton whose pub advice I have followed in Nottingham this afternoon. 

I started at the Organ Grinder. 

A superb pub and the brewery tap for the Blue Monkey brewery. Great pub, great beer. 

Then I went to Fellows Morton and Clayton. 

A pub named after the great canal freight company and on the banks of the canal in Nottingham. 

And finished at Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem. The oldest pub in England. 

A fantastic afternoon. Thanks Martin. 

Pi day

Particularly if you're American. Today's date is  3.14 15 so at 9:26:53 the National Maths Teachers conference began. 

I won't bore you with all the mathsy stuff but here is a picture of me with a man who inspired a nation.