Sunday 21st August 2016

After a lovely meal at The Bridge at Branston Water Park last night we returned to the Marina today. It was a very easy run of about 3 hours passing an unusual black swan on the way.

We spent the afternoon cleaning the outside of the boat including the roof as can be seen from this silhouette of Graham.

Although the sky looks sunny the clouds rolled in and we have just had a very large rain storm. We will finish sorting out the inside tomorrow and head home.

A few statistics for those interested. 

Nights on the boat 41

Approximate Mileage 277

Hours of travel 161

Number of locks 224

And finally... We have had a wonderful time visiting some very interesting places and spending time with friends and family along the way. The weather has generally been excellent with only 2 very heavy downpours. We are thinking that we may have to squeeze in another short trip maybe in October as we enjoy it so much!

Not sure why my feet don't look browner as I have been in the sun just as much as Graham!

12th July 2016

21st August

Watch out for next year's blog!

Saturday 20th August 2016

A later start today as we watched the tense Ladies Olympic Hockey Final last night. With 3 volunteer lock keepers on duty the journey through Fradley was very straightforward. The canals have been very quiet all summer and now that one of the hire companies which used to have lots of boats on this section has gone out of business, it is always much quieter compared with a couple of years ago.

At least the graffiti on the approach to Alrewas is quite cleverly done.

We stopped here for lunch then headed for Branston Water Park where we had booked a table at 'The Bridge' as an end of holiday celebration. I noticed these bridges with the very slanted old design and behind it the newer straight bridge.

Tatenhill lock always has a restored work boat moored outside the lock house. Here is Graham in the lock with the work boat behind.

We have just returned from dinner and are pleased to say that the food is still lovely at 'The Bridge' It is really an Italian Restaurant rather than a pub. I guess that you could just have a drink outside, if the weather was good enough, as there is no room inside. It was a good job that we booked as there was a large party in and they were turning people away. We'll be back in the marina tomorrow.

Friday 19th August 2016

What a difference 12 hours makes. We woke to torrential rain and after donning wet weather gear we left Tixall Wide to join the Trent and Mersey canal at Great Haywood and turn right towards our home mooring at Willington. As we reached Rugeley the rain stopped so we replenished supplies at Tesco where we were trapped for a while as the rain came down again!

Rugeley has an old mill which is ripe for development. It sold once but the development didn't happen so it is on the market again.

Then it was past the power station.

There is a narrow section to pass through and some strange characters on the towpath.

Luckily, in another very narrow section, we didn't meet anything in the tunnel.

Wood End Lock is very pretty and this photo shows how narrow the bridges can be.

Finally as we moored at Fradley we were treated to another rain shower and an impressive rainbow.

Thursday 18th August 2016

A day of cruising as we head back to our base in Derbyshire. Readers may recall that we had a problem with the alternator 9 days ago and called out RCR ( River Canal Rescue). They got us on our way but Graham was not altogether happy with the way the batteries were charging. Suddenly as we passed through Baswich near Stafford Graham spotted the head office at the side of the canal. He popped in and came back with the engineer who had taught Graham how to service the boat when we first bought it! Some adjustments were made and we are much happier. 

We hoped to moor at Tixall Wide which is an area where the canal expends into a lake. It has always been full on past journeys and as we were not running late we thoroughly expected it to be full again. 

First we had to go through Tixall Lock with its attractive cottage.

The sign is in miles and furlongs!

We reached Tixall at 4.45 and there was one space left with an excellent view of the old gatehouse.

Time for the last BBQ of the holiday.

Wednesday 17th August 2016

As we sailed through Gailey and filled with water the boatyard was getting its diesel delivered. Glad he brought the stepladder.

Set off this morning for Penkridge with a queue at every lock. Ah well - at least it is very warm and sunny.

Penkridge was a very useful town. Lots of good shops and being Wednesday an excellent market. The bakers was superb and apparently lorry drivers divert from the motorway to pick up sandwiches. The pastry on the pork pies would have sent Mary Berry into raptures!

We passed under the concrete M6 bridge

and then just round the corner was this very pretty bridge. Round every bend on a canal journey you never know what you are going to find.

As we cruised past a boatyard we came across this boat with straps under it connected to a crane. Narrow boats have flat bottoms so big straps can be put underneath to lift them out of the water. What drew our attention was the Kennet and Avon written on the side of the boat which is the canal nearest to our home.

As some of you will have seen, our neighbours tonight are cows. They were all lying down at the far end of the field when we moored but soon wandered over for a look!

Tuesday 16th August 2016

Headed up to Coven to shop and then to Gailey with its lovely round tower canal shop. It was once a toll office for the canal. Graham knows someone who does Fire and Water training courses here so although he was on holiday we went to talk to the office and bought oil for an oil change which we did when we returned to the boat. Not many pictures today. An intricate pipe bridge over the canal to a chemical works,a sideways sign and of course the Gailey tower selfie!

Monday 16th August 2016

An early start as we left at 7.30am. The run to the top of the flight was straightforward although we certainly got the message that uninvited guests were not wanted at this factory.

The flight was in good condition and workmen were tarmacing and pebble dashing the towpath. This will be a great surprise to Chris and Alan as when they were with us we saw men being paid to gather up the pebbles as they were a health hazard!

At every lock when you are going down you have to be careful not to get the stern of the boat caught on the cill as the boat will tip and sink. This photo shows the cill clearly. Often they are difficult to see due to the leaking gates spraying water everywhere.

We cleared the flight in under 4 hours and turned north onto the Staffs and Worcs. canal. There is a very picturesque but narrow section.

Finally after 5 weeks on the boat, we have the weather, the place and the time for a Pimms and BBQ. Cheers!

Saturday 13th / Sunday 14th August 2016

We spent 2 lovely days looking round The Black Country Living Museum at Dudley. Too many photos for a blog so here is just a taster of an attraction which is well worth a visit.

The Black Country was the heart of the industrial revolution in terms of the iron it produced and made into nails, anchors, chains etc. in fact anything which was made from iron. It also mined vast quantities of coal and limestone.

Chain making.

Not all the exhibits are from the 18th century. Here Graham is at the hardware store looking for 'Fork Handles'

Of course Bovril was a popular nutritional drink so I thought that I should try a cup.

A 1930's funfair is also here.

and what better way to travel than on a Trolley Bus.

Where else should you buy the petrol.

This is a small part of the site which we could see from our boat mooring, taken after the museum had closed for the day.

You can also take a trip into the Dudley canal tunnel to see the vast caverns and to have a try at "legging" your way through.

On Sunday evening we visited Mad O' Rourkes Pie Factory, about a 10 minute walk away.

We have filled with water and are ready for an early start and the 21 locks of the Wolverhampton flight.

Friday 12th August 2016

Awoke to glorious sunshine and we had moved across to fill with water and have a cup of coffee to support the Bumble Hole Nature reserve and to look at the photographs on display showing how the anchor for the Titanic was made nearby. The swan family also came for breakfast.

Now we headed into the tunnel. Amazingly it was perfectly straight and you could see the other end as you entered. It took us about 45-50 mins. to pass through.

Just as we were leaving a trip boat was entering full of excited passengers. Luckily the tunnel is wide enough for two boats and has a towpath on each side although you would have needed wellington's today if you were walking through.

Then we turned onto the Birmingham New Main Line and dropped Chris and Alan at Dudley Port Station. 

We climbed three more locks and encountered some repair work on the bank.

We are now moored near the Dudley Black Country museum which we intend to explore tomorrow.

Thursday 11th August 2016

A few more locks and then we turned right and headed round Brierley Hill and tackled the 8 lock Delph locks. Again we saw no boats and were up the flight very quickly. It rises 85' and here are the views from the bottom and then looking back down.

I was steering the boat and each lock had an incredible amount of plant growth. It looked like torn velvet curtains.

Suddenly after the top we rounded a bend and there was an enormous shopping complex - Merry Hill.

We ate lunch, had a quick look around and stocked up the fridge before travelling on to Park Head junction where the Dudley tunnel opening is. We are travelling to the Black Country museum at the exit of the tunnel but have to take a detour and pass under the hill through a different tunnel as diesel powered craft are not allowed through the Dudley tunnel and the roof height is very low. 

This sign caught my eye.

Effort is always needed when closing lock gates - although these last few days we have had some of the best gates we have ever had to work.

We moored for the night at Bumblehole Bridge near Netherton and ate in a local hostelry previously known as Ma Pardoes but now renamed The Old Swan. A very quiet mooring and it is hard to believe how close we are to the second major city in the country and in an area where coal mines proliferated and the air was black with dust from the steel foundries.