Day three and day four.

It's Sebastian again, sorry for the unimaginative title.

Jim and I are on the train again, we said our 'goodbye's to Shilling, gave her quick sweep and tidy and headed off forAlvechurch railway station. I even snuck into the toilet's behind the pub and had a shower before we left: wouldn't want to turn up on mum's doorstep looking unpresentable would I?!

Yesterday moring was a fairly relaxed start, no more getting up at six. But we were on our way soon enough. The place where we'd moored was near a few bars but the only real noisemakers were the local geese. Jim decided that they are the undesirables of the aquatic bird world and are, therefore, Chavs. He told them this quite often.

Once again Shilling started and ran with no trouble whatsoever, we kept the fire going so it was nice and warm inside, despite the need for several layers and gloves whilst steering, and that was welcome when our journey ended and we huddled in the warm and waited for the pub to open.

The pub was called 'The Weighbridge' and it was fairly easy to see how it had got its awards. The landlord was friendly, the food was lovely, the building was homely and the beer was varied and tasty. If I remember correctly there were four real ales on tap and three of those were local.

After that was a short walk back to the boat and bed, the story ends there but as I glance out of this train's window it's easy to spot the canal alongside and the route we took.