Towpath toddle

Eloise, who visited on Monday/Tuesday, with her mum, dad (No. 1 Son) and uncle (No. 2 Son), enjoys a toddle down the towpath.

On the whole their mass visit went very well, and a good time was had by all. How do you fit five adults, one of whom is allergic to cats, a toddler and a cat, into a pair of narrow boats?

Well, Jim took the opportunity to test out his travelling accomodation with a new tent in Chertsey's hold, whilst I stopped in Chertsey's back cabin and No. 2 Son had Bakewell's back cabin, leaving the family of three to squeeze into Jim's four foot bed - Eloise did have a travelling cot, but no way was she going to settle on her own, plus there was the difficulty of isolating her from the cat. Apart from both Jim's and Sebastian's air beds going flat, this worked fairly well. I will post another time about the clever carpentry that separated cat from bed.

We had buns from Jaspers on their arrival, of course, and then went to the Bridge for dinner, followed by the regular Monday night quiz. TThis was a very well run affair and most enjoyable, although our team (the Bakewell Tarts, natch) did not trouble the winners' podium. Then on Tuesday morning we took breakfast at the Truckers Rest transport cafe on the A5 near Cannock (thanks to Paul for the recommendation) - absolutely excellent and set us all up for the day.