harleyj

As I posted earlier we have had 2 nights at The Swan. The first was a Friday night in '08 when we all had a ball and the place was thumping. Our next visit was a Wednesday in '10 and we were just about the only ones there. We will definitely be stopping there again this time because it is one of the iconic pubs on the cut.

There is more to life than drinking, you know!!! Yet to find what it is, so I may give up and just keep drinking. I have tried Marstons Pedigree a couple of times and would have to agree, not one of my favorites either.

I will answer the last paragraph first, I will probably be one of the youngest at 56!!!!! We haven't had a problem with the food before and we will be more than happy to sit at separate tables and as often as possible we will be ringing ahead. Harley We are not exactly food junkies, just after a good meal and nice atmosphere. Must admit from our previous travels on the cut there is not a great deal of diversity of restaurants but we are really just there for a good time and a few laughs. Harley You have not lived until you have had Fish & Chips(Whiting) from The Colour Patch, Augusta, Western Australia. I have heard about the famous Fish & Chips from England. Sorry to tell you this but they don't come close to ours.

This is the sort of info we want to know whether the Bird in Hand is open. Is it close to the canal? Went to the Toby Carvery at Festival Park in "08 twice, good value, but a bit like a fast food joint. We are looking to have lunch at the Packhorse so will check with them. Harley That is something you can be assured will not happen. We will be flying the Aussie flag as well as the boxing kangaroo so keep an eye out for us. Closed a couple of pubs last time('10). I thought pubs only employed eastern Europeans now. Being an old "perv" myself I will make sure I get a good view of that arse. Harley

When we were last in Willington, after doing the Leicester ring, we had our last night in Willington at the Rising Sun, I think! The Green Dragon wasn't doing meals. Been to The Swan, "08 great, '10 average, twice before. Will try the George and Dragon thanks. As I said above, great in "08, average in "10. Great spot though so will definitely give it another go. Harley Have to agree, especially now that the "Japs" own Fosters (Victorian slop) and "the sheep shaggers"(Kiwi's) own the other major brewery. Thanks for the offer, but we are all coming from different directions. We fly into "Brum", great place to fly into, much better than Heathrow, and stay at The Heron's Nest on the Grand Union. Harley

I have used your guide extensively for the above itinerary. It is very helpful. My wife and I will be on our fifth visit to "pommyland". It will be our fourth time on "the cut".We love the place and love trying the different beers. Harley Nothing quite like a icy cold lager on stinking hot day to quench a thirst, but as you would know you don't exactly get a lot of that sort of weather. After our trip around "the four counties" in '08, when it was bloody cold on quite a few days, we developed quite a taste for that "warm muck". Obviously you haven' been to "Oz" lately because the range of beers here is now staggering. Harley

Great, your shout 1st each night. See you there. I thought that was the domain of live-aboards. If you are going to eat "roo", I would advise roo-tail stew. Music wise, I don't think we have enough room in the case for the "Stylophone" Harley

We are doing the Cheshire Ring starting from Mercia Marina on the 11th of May for 2 weeks. There will be 10 of us on 2 boats( Much Ado & Cimbaline ), 5 Aussies, 3 Tasmanians and 2 Poms. Because there will be such a large group each night and most lunch times we intend to ring ahead to the pub of choice. What we need from you mob is a critique of our choices of pub for meals and whether they are still open for business or an alternative if there is one nearby. Not only are we looking for good food but also a wide range of beers(some cold, we know you mob are a bit allergic to fridges) and some good wine. 11/5/12; Evening Meal- The Old Boat, Alrewas 12/5/12; Lunch-The Crown, Hansacre: Evening Meal-The Fox & Hounds, Great Haywood. 13/5/12; L-The Star Inn, Stone: E M-The Lakeside Tavern, Meaford 14/5/12; L- The Packhorse Inn, Longport, Stoke: E M-Robin Hood, Buglawton 15/5/12; L-Fools Nook, Sutton: E M- Windmill Inn, Whiteley Green 16/5/12; L- On the boats, middle of Marple Locks: E M-Globe Hotel, Dukinfield 17/5/12; L- On the boats, Aston Canal: E M-Dukes ’92, Castlefield 18/5/12; L- The Railway Inn, Sale Bridge:E M- Golden Fleece, Lymm 19/5/12; L- Tunnel Top, Dutton: E M-The Moorings, Anderton 20/5/12; L-The Boars Head, Middlewich: E M- Cheshire Cheese, Wheelock 21/5/12; L- The Broughton Arms, Rode Heath: E M-The Bird In Hand, Etruria 22/5/12; L-Lakeside Tavern, Meaford (again): E M-Dog & Doublet Inn, Sandon 23/5/12; L-Wolseley Arms, Wolseley Bridge: E M- The Swan, Fradley Junction 24/5/12; L- The Bridge, Branston: E M-The Green Dragon, Willington Any help with info on any or all of these pubs would be greatly appreciated. We will have a computer geek with us this time, so we may be able to catch up with some of you mob in some of the pubs along the way. Harley P.S. I know the planning looks a bit over the top, but as I said at the start with such a large group we thought it better to plan well ahead.

Thanks to "Ditchcrawler" who so very kindly recorded this fantastic program and then sent it halfway around the world to me, I too found this program so interesting. With so many of our friends getting earbashed about our trips on the canals we can now show them this program and they now understand a little bit of the mystique of this wonderful asset that you all have. Having only really known about the canal system for the last five years, I never realized the amount of volunteer work that was done by so few people so that people like us from all over the world as well as you the locals can enjoy.

On our first two trips my wife did most of the steering and I or others did most of the locks. On our last trip we made sure all four on board had a go at steering as well as locking which gives everyone more of the overall experience. As long as you keep to a reasonable speed and take your time entering locks it's not that hard.

On Tuesday I received in the mail two wonderful DVD's. The Golden Age of Canals & Julia Bradbury's Canal Walks. Thanks to "Ditchcrawler" who recorded them and then out of the goodness of his heart sent them all the way to Australia, we got to watch these fantastic programs. We now can show all our friends what we have been raving about for the last five years or so since our first trip on the canals. Without this forum I very much doubt we would have got to even know about these fantastic programs let alone watch them. Harley & Shelley

Called climate change, get used to it. We have had declining rainfall since the seventies. Water restrictions even in winter at the moment.

Outer Woojimooltha.

Thanks for the link, but its a bit like not being able to receive the signal, iplayer is not available outside of Europe. So if there is any DVDs could someone let us know.

As we can't quite pick up the signal for the Beeb here can anyone tell me if we can get a D.V.D. of both or either of these programs?

Aren't hire boats aloud on the "Anderton" boat lift?

On our side of the continent at the moment we would not have enough water to fill the shortest pound in the system. Thats not to say we don't live in the best place in the world!!!!! Whats that saying a few blokes on this forum say, "I'll just get my coat", although thats the last thing I would need at the moment. P.S. I get a bit scared reading your posts as I am married to "Smelly Shelley"

Big country Oz, 33 deg here and the football season and I'm talking real footy not that catch it with your feet, kick it with your head rubbish, starts this weekend.

As a "victim" of the narrowboating that as tillergirl says you will want to do it again & again(we are currently planning our fourth trip on the canals since 2006)my other advice to you is make sure you have plenty of warm clothes and if you can take more than 2 or 3 days(a week at least). As for where to go, there is just so much to see and wherever you go you will love it.