Sunday 25th August 2013

No need to rush today so after a leisurely breakfast we set off for the marina. As usual Alrewas was busy and the overgrowth of plants doesn't make passage through the village easy. 

The notice board at the section where it joins the river Trent tells you which way to go and if in doubt the bollards remind you. I met someone this holiday who said that before the bollards there was just a stick in the water and you had to guess where the channel was!

A lunch stop at Branston water park and a reunion with the swan with the broken wing. We remember him/her from last year.

Safely back in the marina with a view of the boat from the other side as our neighbours are still "on the cut" 

We have had a brilliant time and are already thinking of next year's route. If anyone asks what the weather has been like in the summer of 2013, here is the answer!

Saturday 24th August 20132

The weather forecast for today was awful. Heavy rain, thunder etc. We decided that if the forecast was correct we would stay where we were in Great Haywood. No point getting soaked when we were on the homeward leg. Well, in true British fashion the forecasters were completely wrong. Admittedly it was not burning sunshine when we woke but nor was it raining. We left early deciding to go as far as possible before the rain came. 

After one lock we passed our neighbours from the Marina but they will not be back until Tuesday when we hope to be home. This is the view as I left Colwich lock. 

A helpful chap closed the gate after me and was obviously following us down. After a while he caught us up and was obviously in a hurry. Maybe he had an 'itinerary' too! He was behind us all the way into Rugeley where we had a small break for a trip to Morrisons. He must have been so frustrated because there was a huge fishing competition going on before Rugeley and we passed about 80+ fishermen all strung out at regular intervals along the bank. You have to slow down even more as you pass them.

We were amazed at the amount of equipment they had.

After Rugeley we saw another 80+ men all fishing so although the chasing boat had passed us he hadn't managed to go any faster!

We passed some tree felling on the bank and the guy offered us a log - sorry Jon we politely refused.

So onwards to Fradley. Luck was definitely on our side. All locks set for us and usually someone just coming out to leave the gates open. We are moored just above Bagnall lock and are visiting the Indian restaurant about which we have had very good reports. As usual Alrewas moorings are full so we are lucky to have this spot. Two boats have moored behind us with stakes but we have managed to use D rings. The rain never came and we should be back in the marina tomorrow.

Friday 23rd August 2013

After our guests left Graham and I set off on the journey home. It was a warm day with only a few spots of rain until we moored for the night. At one point we were going faster than the M6 motorway which was running along side us. Whatever our speed we certainly couldn't match the Virgin train.

I liked this reflection of a swan near Tixall Wide.

This stretch looks lovely and would be great to moor at on a beautiful evening. I think that you have to get here early though as every inch of space was taken. A bit like finding somewhere to sit on Bournmouth beach on a sunny day!

We turned right at Haywood junction and were lucky to get a mooring spot just before the lock in Great Haywood.

After a quick visit to the shop and a look around the churchyard we returned to the boat as the rain started and it was set in for the next few hours. In the midst of all the rain we realised that there was a man in a canoe and 3 girls on the bank trying to entice the swan and cygnet into the lock. Apparently the mother has a fishing hook in her mouth and they were trying to catch her in order to remove it.

The swans won and the rescuers will have to try a different tactic tomorrow.

Thursday 22nd August 2013

Chris and Alan walked from our mooring to buy the newspapers at a near-by Spar shop and then we sailed down to Autherley junction. Quite a queue of boats for the lock and we witnessed a good example of canal rage when one boater incorrectly accused another of mooring at the water point. Shouts of ' You should have gone to Specsavers' could be heard!

Chris coped well with the 6" difference in the Stop Lock. You can see how relaxed she looks.

The narrows near bridge 68 on the Staffs and Worcester canal lived up to their description.

We cruised under the M54 for the second time.

We popped into the round shop at Gailey Wharf.

Alan was very keen to be seen to have worked the deep locks between Gailey and Penkridge!

The smiles show that both Chris and Alan have passed 'Canal cruising holiday' Level 2.

We moored at Penkridge and ate in 'The Boat '

Wednesday 21st August 2013

The village of Wheaton Aston was our first stop. We looked around the church which was busy with an Internet cafe taking place and people stopping for coffee. The garage was a scene of a by gone age except for the price of the fuel. Worth noting is that it seems to have a red diesel outlet on the canal too.

While we were moored a grass cutter came along the bank so it was time to put the guests to work brushing the grass cuttings off the boat!

The canal crosses Watling Street (A5) via an impressive aqueduct although a coat of paint wouldn't come amiss.

A walk around the cemetery at Brewood church would have been enhanced had we known that there was a guide about the historical graves in the church but we did see Speedwell Castle in the market square. Built around 1740 it is said to have been designed by an apothecary using his winnings from a horse called Speedwell. We found it hard to decide if it is now lived in.

Continuing further south we passed under the ornate Avenue Bridge which is linked to Chillington Hall home of the local landowners.

Tuesday 20th August 2013

Last evening in 'The Anchor' was interesting. The pub consists of the two front rooms of the landlady's home. The only beer on draught is Wadworth's 6X which is, of course, brewed in Devizes. We were in the room with 2 large settles and Mal Edwards MBE,and proficient fender maker,provided songs on the guitar. Each room only held about 10 people but there were more people there than in the larger pubs which we have passed. 

Graham and I continued on down the Shropshire Union canal passing under the well known double arched High Bridge with the mini telegraph pole in the middle!

On to Norbury Junction which was a scene of high activity - good priced Diesel too!

At Gnosall we picked up Chris and Alan and moored for the night south of bridge 21. The weather was lovely and we were able to sit out for the G and T 's.

Monday 19th August 2013

A trip into Market Drayton to buy The Times and to finalise the crossword iin the Library before we sent it in. We had thought about getting a pump-out here but the facility seems to be closed. We'll have more success at Norbury Junction as I have already phoned to check! We filled with water-one of the slowest taps we have come across, and set off about 1pm.

The Tyrley flights were all set in our favour but there were still very strong streams of water coming down the by-ways. One lady-boater ended up in the trees while her friends on the bank helpfully shouted "We did warn you!" Very useful to hear when you are struggling to get away from the trees.

Woodseaves  Cutting is 100ft. deep in places and has two enormous arches. A very damp place and I doubt whether it ever dries out.

We passed an old Cadbury Wharf which had an adjoining factory to process the milk from the hinterland of the Shropshire Union Canal. It was mixed with cocoa and sugar to make raw chocolate which returned by boat to Bourneville for refining. The factory, now owned by Premier Foods, makes dried products.

We are now moored outside the Anchor Inn near High Offley. The book describes it as a genuine boaters pub because the front door faces the canal. It is supposed to sell Wadworth's 6X which is no treat for Graham as it is brewed in Devizes but we shall visit for a look around.

Sunday 18th August 2013

Today was certainly better! We woke to sunshine and it stayed that way all day. Having completed the Audlem flight yesterday we only had 5 locks at Adderley and an easy run into Market Drayton. Most of the locks were set for us so we made good time and moored about noon just before Bridge 63. 

The intrepid boaters

At the top lock of the Adderley flight there is a farm shop stall with an honesty box. Graham was delighted to see that there was homemade cherry pie!

Chris and Tim left in a taxi back to Whitchurch to pick up their car and Graham and I walked into town to buy a paper before spending a very pleasant few hours reading.

The forecast for the week ahead is good. What a marvellous summer we are having.

Saturday 17th August 2013

No rain at the beginning of the day but lots of lock practice for Chris and Tim. The flight of 16 locks does have some mooring in between some of the locks which allowed a trip into the village to buy the newspaper and a visit to the excellent craft shop on the wharf. 

One thing which surprised us was the speed and ferocity of the water coming down the by-pass by each lock. It really pushed the boat to the side. The weather was mixed. sunny, cloudy, spitting with rain, a bit heavier and that was within half an hour.

Tim keeping an eye on Chris.

Chris working hard.

Tim had others duties including swabbing the deck!

The hotel boat caught up with us as we were having lunch so we walked up to watch it going through a lock. The 'hotel' is actually 2 boats and the latter 'butty' has no motor. It needs to be bow hauled through the locks. This man was certainly putting his back into it.

Then the rain came! One minute we were sitting outside eating ice creams paid for in an honesty box and taken from the freezer. The next minute there was torrential rain. 

Let's hope tomorrow is better!

Friday 16th August 2013

After torrential rain all through the night we were pleased to realise that the rain had stopped by 7am and it warmed up during the morning. After filling with water and turning the boat we re-moored at the aqueduct and went into Nantwich to do the shopping and to meet Chris and Tim. As we passed the church the bride was just arriving for her wedding. The bells were peeling, the sun was shining and it was a lovely scene as she arrived in an Austin 6.

We found a most unusual coffee shop and delicatessen. Part of it was a museum displaying old grocery items. We could have spent ages there looking at all the items and seeing which we could recognise. 

We went to the station to meet our friends and as they fancied a coffee we went back to the same shop!

We were soon underway and passed through two locks before mooring just before the Audlem flight. We walked around the village and stopped for a drink at the Shroppie Fly pub. This is famous in boating circles as a stop for the fast boats which plied the canals in the heyday of freight travel. There were very few customers, which is not how we remember the place from previous visits.

The forecast for tomorrow is not good but we do aim to provide the full boating experience so rain may  well be part of it!

Thursday 15th August 2013

In true boating fashion we woke this morning and changed our ideas for the day! We sailed down to the 'Secret Nuclear Bunker' instead of walking. It would have taken us quite a while and in one place the towpath looked very muddy- strange as we had no idea where the water was coming from. After turning the boat we moored up and the Bunker was only a short distance away. This building started life as a World War II radar station. It was then altered in 1982 (at a cost of £32million) in order to become a Regional Government Headquarters in the event of a nuclear attack. It was interesting to see how old all the equipment looked and rather scary to realise that these buildings were all round the country when we were getting on with our everyday lives. Graham felt a suitably officious portrait was needed!

I thought that this milepost certainly provided lots of information for the canal traveller.

It also confirmed that we were right to sail down as the round walking trip would have been 6 miles!

I know that this tree is dead but it did look rather dramatic standing all alone

So we returned to Nantwich, now facing the wrong direction, and went into the town. Loved the church in the centre which was being decorated for 3 weddings this weekend, and also the museum had an interesting film about Cheshire Cheese making. The town looked to have a huge variety of all kinds of shops and we may return another year for a longer browse. Most impressive were their floral displays. They were everywhere.

The rain started about 6pm and seems set for the night. Hoping it clears up tomorrow as Chris and Tim arrive then.

Wednesday 14th August 2013

The Steak and Ale Pies which we had last night lived up to their reputation as they were excellent. This morning we woke to some condensation on the roof. This is the first we have had this holiday so the nights must be getting colder. We sailed to Hurleston Junction where the Llangollen canal begins its journey into Wales. We moored just passed the junction and walked up passed the locks to the A51, along about a quarter of a mile and arrived here.

This is a famous ice cream parlour ( although I cannot say that we really knew about it until we saw an article in the newspaper a few weeks ago.) Nearly every year they create a huge straw model and this year it is.....

The head of the dalek moves and talks. Quite ingenious. We then visited the ice cream parlour and there were dozens of flavours to chose from. Graham finally settled on lemon meringue and damson/sloe gin while I chose tropical coconut and cherry. The dalek wafers are sold for charity. 

There was a pleasant walk through the fields back to the canal tow path.

After sailing to Nantwich we realised what a popular place it is for mooring. Finally got a space and will remain here until Chris and Tim join us on Friday. Going to look round the town tomorrow and will also walk to a Nuclear Bunker if the weather is good.

Tuesday 13th August 2013

The day of the queue! Everything started off well this morning and we were underway by 8.45am. We passed some canal workmen repairing a bridge and stopped for coffee by a little gift shop. Nothing caught my eye but the garden was lovely.

At one point a hired boat came up behind us and asked to pass. This was rather a surprise as we were not going that slowly. I asked if they were due back at a hire base. The reply was "No, but we have an itinerary" I didn't realise that you could work to a timetable when cruising on a narrowboat but we let them pass and the man on the tiller made a real mess of it! 

A short while later we arrived at a lock and the boat which had passed us was only 2 ahead and there were TEN in the queue! We have never seen so many boats before this year and apparently it was very unusual. We had to wait for 2 hours to get through. Good job it was lunch time. This is the photo from the lock. We are the second boat in the queue and you can just see Graham holding the boat on the mid rope. 

We had an idea of where we would like to get to tonight ( but not an itinerary) however after chatting at the locks we decided to change our plans and are eating at 'Ye Olde Barbridge Inn' tonight. The planned meal will be deferred. 

As we moored a little earlier than expected I decided to clean the ventilation mushrooms on the roof. (this is partly because Alan and Chris are coming again and they did them last year and I'm embarrassed to say I haven't done them since.) I was advised to use Bar Keepers friend. Well they look exactly the same as they did before and not at all totally clean and shiny. I think that they had gone too long in the first place - at least that is my excuse!