North again: Day 18

The moorings at Fradley Junction are nice, even though the access lane to the pub runs alongside, but my goodness things get going early there!  A delivery lorry reversed up to the cafe opposite at about 6.30, and before 7.30 at least four or five boats had gone past.  We were just ready to push over to the water point when another boat stopped there, so we waited for them to fill their tank  and then took their place.  We got the washing machine going and started topping up, but the tap is a really slow one; we eventually got bored with waiting, and Adrian reckoned (not entirely jokingly) that we probably ended up with less water in the tank than we’d started with!  I walked up to set Junction Lock, and found a volunteer lock keeper on duty.  He closed up so I could walk ahead to Middle Lock, past The Swan.

At Middle Lock, a boat which had turned out from the Coventry Canal was going up, and there was one to come down, so there was a little wait before we could come in.

The lock keepers were radioing each other, so Shadehouse Lock was ready for us when we got there.  Then there was the run to Woodend Lock, which needed emptying.

We’re now retracing some miles we did on our original trip north in April, but some things have changed,  through the woods, the rhododendrons are out.

We plodded through Handsacre to Armitage, where I always take pretty much the same picture of the Armitage Shanks factory.

There seemed to be far more toilets and basins on pallets waiting to go on lorries than there were a couple of months ago though.  At the narrow former tunnel, Adrian got off to see if anything was coming and a boat appeared almost straight away.  It was clear after that though and we could go through.  The road bridge over the first part of the cutting has almost made it a tunnel again.

We stopped at the water point at the end of the moorings there to fill the tank; this was a much faster tap, and it didn’t take too long.  Once we set off again we had lunch on the move.  Next stop was Rugeley for shopping.  Adrian went to Morrison’s to pick up a prescription from the pharmacy there, while I went and started the shopping in Tesco.  We needed a complete restock, as both the fridge and freezer were pretty empty.  I made a return trip to stock up on wine, which was well as being discounted had an extra 25 per cent off.  We decided we’d move out of town, and planned to go just to the outskirts, where there are decent moorings.  One of the gardens is mad, with not only all the mannequins at the front, but more on various levels behind.  At least they’re all supporting the Fund Britain’s Waterways campaign.

It was a lovely afternoon though, so we decided to go a little further out into the countryside.  We moored for the night just before Taft Bridge.

9 miles, 4 locks.  (119 miles, 76 locks)