Water shortage (and ale shortage)

Today I made the early start I'd been threatening. Could have been earlier, though. I got up at 06:00 when it was only just getting light, but by the time we set off from Weston upon Trent it was three quarters of an hour later, and daylight. I meant to take a photo of the poster for the local church: it was advertising "Holly Communion" - and it's nowhere near Christmas!

Despite the early getaway we still encountered queues at the locks. One boat coming the other way said there had been ten boats queueing to go up the Stone locks, but when we got there there were only two plus ourselves. It didn't bother us, though, as we had plenty of time. We even stopped to eat our fry-up lunch, above Meaford top lock.

Before that, at Aston lock, we passed what will be an enormous new marina. It's at the big hole in the ground stage, with plenty of hard hats and hi-vis.

Jan's been working hard on her dissertation while I've been steering (and single-handing many of the locks), so it was only at 16:30 that I started repairing the puncture my bike's front tyre developed recently. I had intended to cycle from Stoke bottom lock to Poundland to get some more rechargeable AAA batteries for my timelapse camera, and I might have made it, had the repaired innertube not deflated as soon as I put the wheel back on the bike. Shopping trip abandoned, we carried on up the flight. At the top we turned sharp right onto the Caldon Canal to water up at Etruria services. I took the opportunity to have a shower. Then winded below the Etruria staircase, and tied up between there and the services, below a row of trees covered in pink blossom (cherry?) Pretty, but the boat's going to get covered in hard-to-remove petals.

Plan for the morning: visit Hanley (Stoke-on-Trent city centre) for the batteries, then set off for Harecastle Tunnel. We intend to get to Hassall Green by the evening, so the Romping Donkey is likely to get a visit.

Oh - the water shortage? Not on the canal, but in the Toby Carvery at Festival Park. And not for long: it was only Jan waiting for the glass of that clear liquid she'd ordered. There was a serious ale shortage there: no real ales at all!