While we were having breakfast this morning, a stoppage notice came through saying there was a tree blocking the canal at Brewood. We decided we’d set off anyway, so Adrian went to open the stop lock at the junction, while I brought the boat round.
The lock theoretically takes the level down by four inches; today it seemed more like two. I always have trouble even telling which side it’s level with. We went a hundred yards to the water point, and got the washing machine going with the bedding; we’re hoping that with it being so warm at the moment, everything will dry fairly easily. We then carried on to the moorings between Bridges 7 and 8, which are some of those provided by the Shropshire Union Canal Society (SUCS). We were all moored up by 10am!
I decided to walk up and have a look at the tree to see how bad it was. It took a good half an hour to get there, and it was quite a big willow which had cracked and fallen over from the towpath side.
One boat was already there, struggling to get anywhere near the bank, and a few more have gone past since. As I walked back, I thought I’d have a closer look at some of the bridges. Bridge 10 carries what the Pearson guide book calls the ‘carriageway to Chillington Hall’, which explains why it has such elaborate balustrades. The overgrown footpath I found going over it was something of a disappointment!
After lunch, we washed the towpath side of the boat, which badly needed doing. It’s been very warm, but cloudy rather than sunny today. Just before 3pm an update to the stoppage notice came through, to say contractors would arrive at Brewood between 5 and 6pm, and the navigation should be open by the end of the day. That meant we wouldn’t be going on today, and we were glad we’d stopped in a nice spot, rather than having to moor in the deep cuttings between here and the stoppage.
3 miles, 1 lock. (76 miles, 107 locks)
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