But the quick summary is that we moved from Sawley Marina on the river Trent to the Trent and Mersey canal via Derwent Lock over a week ago now. We moored up in Shardlow, then moved on to a wonderful country spot just opposite the end of a fabulous lawn. We could even put the chairs on the towpath and have dinner on deck. From there we moved to Stenson Marine in the south east of Derby for both of us to be able to take the train into Birmingham and leave Josie in safe peace. We set out from there late Wednesday afternoon and travelled a huge TWO miles to Willington where Pete walked back to Stenson to get Reg. The next day we set out to Barton Turn Marina and moored up in visitor moorings, with Elizabeth taking busses into Burton on Trent then Willington to collect Reg once more. She is now in Cheltenham on a working weekend, Pete is moored up doing grant assessments and they have both decided that the end of September will be a weekend. Who knows, we may just want to turn the computer on for the fun of it!!
The interesting thing about this set of months out is that we have taken advantage of visitor moorings at marinas. We have not noticed so much opportunity before, and we enjoy being able to do the laundry without having to turn on Loud Levi. In both Sawley and Stenson marinas, we had canal side moorings which allowed us to have electricity and water on tap, but also enjoy the open canal. Barton marina (http://www.bartonmarina.co.uk/p0_0_0.htm), where we are now, is a boat park, but it is a lovely one. The buildings are a bit Disney, but there are real materials and lovely hints to previous wharf buildings. And it is deliciously quiet, close to water meadows and wildfowl. So we've enjoyed the open cruising whilst also enjoying what we have only had in Blue Haven - water and electricity. In Nell's Bridge Acre on the Oxford Canal near Aynho, we had electrics, but there was no access to water. We feel we have the best of both worlds right now.
