Car Shuffle Day

We opted to do the car shuffle today so that we can potentially use it to explore some of the places that can be seen from the river but not accessed - mainly as a result of woefully few mooring places!

Mike walked to the station - about half an hour as he missed the tiny pedestrian subway at one intersection! - and caught the 9:52 to Birmingham New Street. This was the first off peak departure, which makes a considerable difference to the fare.

Although only two coaches and at times quite busy, it was as comfortable as they get (even if train seats these days seem to be as closely packed as airlines - and there were always a few seats available for those getting on.

It ran to time and at New Street it was a short walk to Moor Street which was re-opened to relieve pressure on New Street. As a result it retains many of the older fashioned signage and decoration making one almost wonder if one is about to board a steam train! There was plenty of time for Mike to sort out an issue with his tickets for a journey to London in June as well as have a coffee.

The train from here to Stratford stops at almost every station there is but several are listed as Request Stops. So, Mike had to make sure that he found the guard before the train left so that he could put in his request for a stop at Wootton Wawen!

Again, the service ran to time and just after 1 o'clock Mike began the half hour walk along the road to Mill Farm Marina where we had left the car.

After reporting back to base about the initial ETA from the sat nav, Mike set off on what turned out to be a little longer than the 1 hour 45 minutes (by about 20 minutes) mainly because the weather was rather wet and a thin covering of mist or fog which slowed down the traffic. Overall it was not a problem journey and he even found the little parking place near the river that we had been told about a couple of days ago.

Meanwhile Christine had been doing some cleaning on the boat and then went to the nearby shopping area where she picked up a  smart pair of trousers and a top for a sunny day (if we have not had our full ration for this year!)

In the evening we had tickets for a play at the Key Theatre, just about 200m from where we are moored! After some discussion we opted to go early so that we could have fish and chips in their restaurant. These were very freshly cooked and quite traditional!

The play was Life and Beth, a comedy by Alan Ayckbourn (first staged in 2008) and was performed here by Peterborough Players, the local and well rehearsed amateur dramatic society. It certainly made for a pleasant and amusing evening - nothing too challenging!