Mutiny, avast ye dogs! Also a family visit.

On Tuesday we moved up to Goldstone Wharf to await the arrival of eldest daughter and family. The ostensible reason for the visit was to deliver a pup whose circumstances had rendered him homeless.

A beautiful young staffie dog. Unfortunately the otiose incumbent of the position of Armadillo's boat dog

has one hamartia, a total inability to even consider the possibility of another dog joining the crew. On sighting the new animal, instant mutiny, threats of g.b.h. and a total refusal to allow him anywhere near the boat.
So we got on with the visit, the family were camping and a b.b.q. was planned,

 owing to inclement weather it was moved on board, much more civilised. Then, to keep the grandsprogs amused,

out came the uckers board. A naval game of great skill and complexity and with a little assistance my team lost.

So we changed to Pass the Pigs, there was close scrutiny of my scoring, as if I would fiddle the numbers. (I lost). Over to Pit, if you've never heard it played you don't know what noise is, it is possibly the loudest card game yet invented. Guess who didn't win. We finished with Old Maid, thankfully a quiet conclusion.

As they prepared to leave they all looked rather cheerful, they had dreaded leaving the dog as they had fallen in love with it while they were looking after it, so we never got the new crew member.

"Result," says Marmite as she curls up in her corner, mutineer and still the incumbent boat dog, smug old mutt.

Coracles, Bill & Ben, bagpipes and araucaria araucana and more besides.

Mmmfglorslopbubble, that was about the limit of my vocal ability after the tooth wright had finished today. Splendid was the way I dribbled my cuppa down my shirt this afternoon. To be honest I exaggerate immoderately, he did a fine job, one minor filling and a damn good descale. Just got to pick up the new false choppers on Wednesday. If you're ever in Market Drayton and in need of dental work go and see Mr. Sommerfield at Poynton House Dental Surgery, he'll sort you out no probs!

Well M.D. has thrown up a few surprises today,

 seems to be a coracle, the chap in it lives just opposite the moorings,

with these two in his garden. He then transformed into the town crier, complete with frogged red coat and tricorn hat but by then I had put the camera down and didn't get any photties! We then set off for town and in the distance we could hear what sounded like bagpipes,

which it turned out to be, the Royal Irish Regiment were parading through the town with band playing, bayonets fixed

and flags flying.

Proud men of a proud regiment, recently returned from Afghanistan, well done and thank you lads.

Having had dentists, coracles, town criers and the military we then sighted these strange objects,

they are the seed cones of the Chilean Pine (Araucaria araucana) a.k.a. the Monkey Puzzle Tree, seen many of the trees but never seen the cones before.

To round the day off,

just one of the ex working boats heading for Ellesmere Port for the Easter rally.

This is for the aaahhh!! factor.

All in all it's been a day of many parts.

Isn't the weather lovely?

Next dentist appointment Monday, 1430, filling, oh dear. So we are staying put for the weekend. We walked up into town this morning for a bit of shopping,

There was a whole hedge like this, quince flowers, the lady who owned it didn't know you can make absolutely glorious jam/jelly from the fruit, she just lets it drop off and rot, makes you want to weep.

As pictures of Morrisons would be pretty boring I thought I would just slip in a few piccies of spring. Like this magnolia,

a birch just coming into leaf, so elegant, even in suburban surroundings.

Forsythia, wonderful yellow flowers.
I used to work in a garden centre, problems with your cabbages? I'm your man.

Duck and daffodils, Jill couldn't resist taking this one.

I wish I understood computers and/or the internet. I managed to put a background on the blog, they brought out the new template designer, it won't even load on my computer, guess I'm stuck with the old background for ever. Mind you I am an entirely self taught computer numpty so I can't really blame anyone else, well I can and frequently do but it does me no good.

Market Drayton parish church, it looks to have been over restored by the Victorians so the only bit of graffiti I could find

was W.P. from 1889, no depth or quality.
Family visit next week, they are going to camp at Goldstone Wharf, well, with the best will in the world, we can't fit another six people on Armadillo.
 It looks like we may be gaining a new crew member as well.

Watch this space........

A slumbering monk and some mice.

Having just spent a couple of days out in the Shropshire countryside, and beautiful it was too, we are now back at Market Drayton, a nice enough town but enough is enough. At least there is now a usable signal so a bit of back log.
Last Tuesday we got to tag along on a tour of the new Joules brewery in M.D. Anyone familiar with good ale and the canals will know that Joules was, for years numerous, a major brewer of fine ales, based in Stone. In fact the old brewery is still visible alongside the Trent & Mersey in that splendid town. About thirty years back they sold out to one of the super breweries and the fine old name disappeared, seemingly into oblivion.
However, a small pub chain purchased the Red Lion in M.D.

 and, by scientific investigation, discovered that the old well in the pub connected to the same aquifer as that which supplied the Joules brewery. It was a small step from there to deciding to set up a brewery to reproduce the long missed ales.

The result is now not only visible but in production. By consulting one of Joules brewers they obtained the recipe for their

Pale Ale, the red cross is one of the oldest trademarks still in use and the beer is just superb. Made with only English malt,

 Kentish hops and liquour (water) from their own borehole it is as the advert. says.

The mash tun,

the boiler and

the hop back. Home brewers will be familiar with these.

These are the fermentation vessels, all named after Arthurian characters and clad in oak staves, because it looks nice!
But for those only interested in the finished product they have a splendid bar and the Mouse Room. The panelling was originally commissioned for the boardroom of the old Grattons catalogue company in 1931. It cost £342 and was carved by Robert Thompson,a.k.a. The Mouseman.

The fireplace,

two of his signature mice, the bottom one is unique as it is mobile, the head nods.

A cheeky devil and a slumbering monk, the latter being the name of the breweries second beer, a bit sweeter and maltier but still delightful.
We also had one of the best ploughmans ever and several pints. Well worth the six quid it cost.
Next time you're in M.D. do visit the Red Lion, a hidden gem.
If anyone is interested the carvings today would cost over a quarter of a million quid!

A promise of more interesting things coming soon.

We are moored out in the country at the moment, just above Adderley locks and unfortunately the signal here varies between miniscule and non existent. Since the last post (That sound ominous) we have been on a tour of the new Joules brewery in Market Drayton, I'll write it up when I can upload some photo's. Also visit to dentist was successful, next one on Monday.

So watch this space...............

Perambulating around High Offley.

Well we had two good nights at The Anchor and today it was back to Market Drayton. Now it is time to gird the loins ready for the dentist tomorrow.
Yesterday morning, in need of a little exercise, we set off on a walk around the local lanes. Up the hill to the church,

 as usual, locked but worth the walk for the views from the churchyard,

on a clear day you can see for miles, hmm, cue for a song?
The local insects were keeping busy,

 I thought it was a bee when I took the photo' but I think now that it's a fly of some sort.

The blackthorn is just starting to come into flower, in the next week or so the hedgerows will be looking as though it has snowed.

 He was walking across a field, local ramblers club seems to have some odd members.
We finished the walk along the towpath, past the permanent moorings,

I think it's amazing what they can do with transplant surgery, but naming your boat after it?

An old leat on a bridge.

We had Thursday night at The Navigation, it was open mic. night, usual mix varying from the mediocre to the spot on. I thought Dave the Duck and his mate on slide guitar playing good old rock n' roll were the best, but as Dave is a mate and I like rock n' roll there may be a touch of prejudice there.
Yesterday we moved on to, go on guess, you are correct, The Anchor. Quite a busy night but none of the usual musicians were in so we sat around and put the world to rights with special reference to rural bus services or more specifically the lack of them.
I think the decision, at Bristol Crown Court, upholding B.W.'s interpretation of the rules governing continuous cruisers and the definition of "Bona fide navigation" is going to ruffle a few feathers in the coming weeks. I await the fallout from it with some interest.

If you've ever wondered why Double Culvert Bridge over Grubb Street Cutting is so called here is the answer, it is actually an aqueduct carrying a covered leat over the canal, it appears to have been a while since it carried any water. If you cross the bridge, in the fields opposite you come across

the remains of the sluice that once fed it from a small stream, the stream still runs off to the right but all the old paddles are long gone. We followed the leat to its outfall, it just goes into Loynton Moss, perhaps an old attempt to prevent the moss drying out?