Monday 7 August 2017

Sunday 6th August 2017

For the first time in weeks we have not had a single drop of rain all day! We filled with water and bought gas at Great Haywood. We bought a bottle of gas here last year too. The large signpost at the junction disappeared for a while but is now back.


There was a queue to get through the Great Haywood Lock. Everyone was on the move. At the next lock, Colwich Lock, there was another queue but this time 3 CRT ( Canal and River Trust ) men were there trying to sort out a problem. A boat had rammed into a shut lock gate and the wooden footbridge was hanging off as the metal supports had been bent. Discussions were taking place and then one boat was allowed through. They worked on the lock and then let another boat through and so on. The bent brackets can be seen here.


One solution to try to straighten the left hand side bracket was to put some wood under it, stand on the other end and hammer the bracket!


Now to sort out the other bracket. 


We were then allowed to go through. The plan was to take the bracket back to the workshop for repair. There is a footbridge at the other lock gates so the lock can still be used. 

After we had passed through we found the men now trying to repair the metal running rail.


One could say that they were 'lying down on the job' but actually they were working quite hard.

We continued to Rugeley and passed the Armitage Shanks factory. It has been built on a curve and the noise indicated that it was working on a Sunday afternoon.


There are normally hundreds of toilets stacked up outside but not this time. There must have been a rush ( or flush) on them!

There is a very narrow point on the canal here.


The final lock of the day always looks very small with the bridge immediately after it.


We are now at Fradley moored in an identical spot to last year. Off to Branston Water Park mooring tomorrow night with a visit to a favourite Italian restaurant on the cards.









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