An afternoon at the National Memorial Arboretum

Sunday 16th May 2021

We started off from our very quiet overnight mooring and then stopped before the junction to refill the water tank. Then through the swing bridge to become part of a three boat shuffle. Eventually everybody got where they wanted to be including the boat that was just turning round to go back down the Coventry canal.

 

Then down the five locks to Alrewas, past the new marina being built, where we arrived earlier than predicted due to the easy run down from Fradley where we met a couple of Cutweb members for a chat. Now that Covid rules have been relaxed we were amused to see both cricket and football being played side by side on the same field. Imagine the hassle if a footballer got clobbered by a rogue cricket ball. The footballers were having to constantly retrieve their stray footballs from the cut as it was.

 

After lunch we walked to the National Memorial Arboretum which is about a 45 minute walk from where we were moored. Unfortunately I used Google maps which ignored the ‘National Arboretum Way’ footpath and took us along the A513 road between the A38 and the Arboretum entrance. Not a walk we would recommend to any-one as the grass verges are un-even with abundant overgrown trees dangling across the route. It was only studying the OS map in Nicholsons guide when we returned to Jannock that we spotted where the footpath was routed.

 

A visit to the Arboretum is highly recommended, and it’s free entry. It is so beautiful. The trees chosen to carefully represent those who are being remembered – indeed honoured! There are many beautiful and varied sculptures. We thought of so many family and friends both lost to us and who serve country and community but it is not a sad place to visit – just very thought provoking.

 

The Arboretum is run by the Royal British Legion and although we had pre-booked our free tickets, as we entered via a pedestrian access rather than the formal entrance we did not collect them on arrival. After visiting the loo, Brenda stopped at reception and asked whether they needed to know that we were on site, and they did.

 

We decided to take a ride on the ‘wally trolley’ that provides a guided tour around the grounds. I’m so glad that we did because it was a one hour trip with running commentary that explained a lot of specifics that we were not aware of when we had wandered around earlier. Although it was expensive (£7) each, it was well worth it for the extra information that we gathered during the trip.

 

The long walk back to Alrewas, via the A513 again, was another un-enjoyable experience but was rewarded when we called into the Coop for some milk and picked up Bread, apple pies and doughnuts all at vastly reduced prices.

G&B