There was 2 inches of snow at home when we got up this morning, not the sort of weather you want on a canal holiday but I am pleased to say the sun was out and the snow must have been a local affair as by the time we got to Shrewsbury it had gone.
We picked up or boat at mid-day, it is almost identical to the three previous boats we have had from Napton Narrowboats, as you can see this one is called Laura.
As we are "old hands" the only bit of instruction we needed was how to work the central heating, we have never used this facility before but I suspect it will be very welcome over the next few weeks as although the weather forecast suggests there won't be much rain it is going to be cold!
After two hours motoring we found a Marstons pub serving food with a spare table, not an opportunity to miss as it is the first day the pubs have been allowed to open this year so we sat ourselves down for a nice meal in the sunshine. It was the sort of chain pub we would normally avoid but today it was great, just being able to avoid the cooking and some excellent draft beer - bliss and a good start to the holiday. I had tried to book somewhere for the evening but everywhere was full, it would have been very cold once it got dark so probably not a great idea.
Tomorrow we will wander round Rugby, a city we have never been to before and then we will have a bit of excitement as we will go shopping in a large Tesco next to the canal. This is essential as whilst we brought tonic we left the bottle of gin at home.