But Where to Go?

So with my time at Norbury Junction coming to end I'll have to start thinking about what I'm going to do for the summer. Since I've been here I've covered much of the western part of the canal system and in a series of weekend and longer trips have reached Llangollen, Ellesmere Port, Manchester, Marple, Great Haywood, Fradley Jc, Braunston, Birmingham, Worcester (almost) and Stourport. So it's time to go further afield. Droitwich is somewhere I always said I would go and I wanted to go when it opened last year, but that never happened. Unfortunately all the other places I want to visit lie in the opposite direction!

I've always been attracted to the eastern side of England - it's what comes of always having lived in the western half. So high on the list is the Fosdyke and River Witham down to Boston (and of course Black Sluice  the and"Navigable Drains" - how could anyone resist  black sluices and navigable drains?!). While I'm over that way it would seem sensible to take in the Chesterfield Canal as well even though this will mean spending time on the tidal River Trent.

Now I have taken a boat down the Trent. I've even steered successfully into Keadby Lock. But I'm still a bit uneasy about it and with visions of falling off the back and watching Starcross sail off into the distance as I go down for the third time (I never learned to swim) I think I'll have to recruit some experienced crew for that part of the trip.