The white stuff

The view from the front doors this morning

It's been threatening for a couple of days but when I opened the front doors this morning, the snow had finally arrived. Quietly and secretly in the middle of the night.
There's not been much of it here at Alrewas – just a couple of inches – but enough to turn the trees, the towpath and the boats into monochrome.
Unfortunately, tonight as I write this, most of it has gone, leaving behind a mushy, puddle ridden towpath and slippery, slushy pavements.
We've been here in the pretty village of Alrewas for a couple of days now. We had our day out in Derby – a mixed bag of a town with some handsome old buildings and a pretty Cathedral Quarter but a place that didn't seem to have much of a centre given the extent of its suburbs - and then went from Willington down to Burton for the compulsory Lidl fix.

A study in monochrome

Next day started bright, cold and sunny so we pressed on - and on a bit more - to get through the long straight and noise stretch beside the A38 trunk road. With bad weather forecast I also wanted to get up the infamous 'river section' where the Trent crosses the canal. Heavy rain can quickly raise the levels and the river's flow to make the short section impassable and shut the canal until the weather improves.
It's curious that Brindley allowed such a weak spot in his busy canal but perhaps the wide, flat Trent flood plains made it impossible to cross the river by a more reliable and weatherproof aqueduct.
Anyway, we have walked the village streets and footpaths here twice now and there's lots to admire: Alrewas's proximity to the A38 and surrounding large towns makes it a desirable spot to live but though it's grown in size, it hasn't lost its traditional English village core. And it's a friendly place which enjoys having the canal and its boats: a place where passers-by give cheery greetings.
We will weekend here and then head Fradley-wards where our imprisoning lock is soon due to re-open.