We were up and away early on Wednesday, partly to avoid cruising in the oppressive heat and partly to try and get a mooring in Willington. It all worked as we hoped and we found a space on the 48 hour visitor moorings there.

As we passed through Burton upon Trent, Sue decided to pay tribute to the town by having one of its famous products for her breakfast. If you’re now picturing her pouring a pint of Marston’s Pedigree on her corn flakes, you’re barking up the wrong tree. Instead, she had marmite on toast. It’s over a hundred years since Marmite was inflicted upon the human race but full marks to the German scientist, Justus von Liebig who managed to find a way to get rid of some of the waste created by the brewing industry.

Willington is one of those villages that embraces and makes the most of its canal frontage. There’s a large information sign entitled “The Willington Experience” (hence the title of this post) which has a map of the village surrounded by details of all of the local businesses.

We walked out of the village to Betty’s Farm shop where we saw proper free range hens roaming in a huge field outside the chicken sheds. We popped into the local Co-op on the way back, as much to take advantage of the air conditioning as anything else.

The last time that we passed this way, we had lunch at the Green Dragon next to the canal. That was eight years ago and the Green Dragon has lost its colour and is now The Dragon. It’s undergone quite a transformation since we were here before and is now a very much bigger and busier establishment. We had our evening meal there, by accident really as we had only gone to have a look and maybe a drink but with a nice seat in the garden, one thing led to another and the next thing we knew we were ordering food.