What's happening?

What's happening?

That's the question currently being asked of us

The simple answer is our three explorers are soon to embark on another holiday afloat.

Who with? 
It has to be Canal Cruising of Stone. If you have read our previous two Blogs you will know that we rate this firm for the simple reason that they are customer driven. Nothing is too much trouble and the boats are well maintained and equipped. Also worth noting fuel is included in the price and that's a big plus. Some of the other firms in the business will tell you they charge extra for fuel but you only pay for the fuel you use. That's true. It's still an additional cost though and one customers don't have to bear with Canal Cruising of Stone

Where to?
North along The Trent & Mersey and then onto The Caldon Canal where the plan is to go to Froghall at the end of the line and also travel to Leek on the arm that branches off at Hazelhurst Junction. As always where we end up each night will depend on a combination of the weather, time and how we feel. Many folk have a plan B in case plan A cannot be followed. We don't even have a plan A. The way it works for us is, we plod along at our own pace and stop when we want to. If we were in a hurry we would not be taking this type of holiday

What about the Blog?
Easy to answer this one. The first of these trips, in 2013, taught us that having a live Blog is not feasible. Although we did attempt to issue daily posts the technology (and Malc) was not up to it. A combination of poor or no signal at times plus Malc couldn't afford a decent phone in the first place didn't help. We did get something out occasionally but elected to keep a daily handwritten diary to chronicle events along the course of the journey and then add them to the Blog in the days following the holiday. This worked in 2013 and again in 2014 and so as it's a tried, tested and trusted method it will be this same this year, 2015. Malc still can't afford a decent phone!

Who are we?
These are the pen pics we used last year

Dave
Dave's the thinker. Always calm under pressure (unless he's watching Crewe Alex) Used to help run a hire boat firm, one of several that put the customer first. He knows the business inside out. Big fan of The Who and allegedly has every record they ever made, and don't we know it! A keen fisherman, or should that be angler, waiting to catch the one that got away. Dave does have a knack of finding his way around without a map; most of the time! However, when he uses the words "trust me I know where I'm going" we have learned to be wary. 

Trev
Trev's the one with the education (and yet another Crewe Alex supporter) Nothing bothers him and whatever happens he just gets on with things. Got a great sense of humour and a bagful of jokes, which he insists on telling us more than once. Shares Dave's liking for fishing and is the most likely to stay out in the rain for the elusive catch. Trev impressed us, and a pub full of people, a couple of years ago by singing an Elvis song from start to finish and was word perfect. 

Malc
Malc's the quiet one and no wonder as he's a Coventry City supporter! Interested in the heritage and engineering of the canal system. Give him a choice of cruising the Caribbean, Mediterranean or the canal between Wolverhampton and Birmingham and we all know he would pick the last one. A member of CAMRA and an advocate of real ale. A fan of curry and always able to find an Indian restaurant wherever we may be. Can't see the point of fishing, much prefers listening to the magnificent voice of Mick Jagger and that's a fact. A keen but not very good photographer and always anxious to record the highlights of the holiday as well as the magnificent scenery along the way