The Final Countdown: Day 5

A beautiful sunny morning, although pretty chilly.  We set off at 9, and immediately got lovely sun and bridge combinations.

Going along the Sheldon Embankment, the sun was straight ahead and it was impossible to see anything.

After Shebdon Wharf, there are lines and lines of boats on offside moorings.  Just when you think you’re done, there’s another lot.  At least the scenery was nice.

One boat had tyres out as protection, which gave the ducks somewhere to stand.  And at High Offley, a heron had taken up prime position.

On the approach to Norbury Junction there was a Let’s Fish event, with lots of people under instruction.  Every person had their own instructor; I guess it was staffed by a local fishing club.  Norbury Wharf looked lovely in the sunshine, although it was a bit of a slalom course because of all the moored boats in the basin.

I had to keep giving a blast of reverse to clear leaves off the prop.  It always seemed worse after each spell on tickover past moored boats; maybe the leaves stick easier when we’re going slowly.  It took about 3 hours to get to Gnosall, where there were masses of moorings available.  One of the houses opposite looks as though it’s not just having an extension, it’s being completely rebuilt.

This afternoon, Adrian has been doing work in his charity role.  I have made a cake to take with us as we’re out this evening.  We’ve been invited round to Sharon and John’s.  We shared Hatton Locks with them ten years ago, and have kept in touch.  There have been a few blustery showers, but it’s now brightened up again.

The latest Water Road podcast is out today, about the Ponty Aqueduct.  I reckon it’s a good one, so give it a listen by clicking here.

7 miles, 0 locks.  (27 miles, 27 locks)

Wending to Wales: Day 23

Yesterday, the forecast for today was dire, with heavy rain and strong winds; by this morning it had improved — and in fact it hasn’t been as bad even as that.  We were up and about quite early, so as it wasn’t raining set off at 7.45, completing the final two locks in the Audlem flight.

It’s then not far to the five locks at Adderley, when all but the top one was full.  In Betton Woods, at least three kingfishers kept darting along the side of the boat.  When we got to Market Drayton, we stopped on the water point to fill up, and get some washing on.  We tend to start the machine while on a water point, because we have to use the TravelPower and the wash part of the cycle, when the water is being heated, needs about 1600 revs on the engine, and we never do that while travelling.

The ‘slipping belts’ noise which started the other day has been there to a greater or lesser degree ever since, in spite of the RCR man tightening things up, and the belts being cleaned of grease and having talcum powder put on them (thank you to the commenter who suggested that).  Anyway, once the tank was full, we set off for the Tyrley Locks.  We had a little wait as a boat was going up ahead, and as the washing had finished, Adrian turned off the engine to switch everything back over again.  The problem was that the engine didn’t want to start again for the first few tries.  But when it did start, the noise was gone!  We’ve checked everything, and it’s all working ok — so we are a bit mystified.

But back to the locks, which were quite busy with people up and down.  The character at the bottom that’s made out of a tree stump seems to get more elaborate each time we pass, and the bywashes are just as fierce as ever.

For some reason we often seemed to end up in the same pound at the boat ahead, so as they went up the penultimate lock, I went and set the top one for them; very kindly they returned the favour after they were up.

It had rained as we did the locks, which made the Woodseaves Cutting look even more lush and green than usual.

After that, the Shroppie consists of many miles of moored boats, which seem to take an interminable time to pass.  Each time you think you’re at the end of them, there’s another stretch.  At least you get nice views of the Wrekin.

At Grub Street Cutting, it’s compulsory to take a photo of the bridge with the telegraph pole.

We slipped through Norbury Junction and carried on for another hour or so to Gnosall, mooring up just before 5pm.  It’s been a long day, very blustery at times, but not really rainy at all.  Looking back on the blog, this is a normal day over this stretch — this is the fourth time we’ve done Coxbank to Gnosall in a day.

19 miles, 12 locks.  (280 miles, 180 locks)

Repatriation: Day 2

We travelled the Shropshire Union lots when Debdale was based at Norbury Junction, but this is the third time we’ve done it on this boat — always in this direction.  In both 2013 and 2017 we did exactly this day’s journey, from Coxbank to Gnosall.  In 2017 it was a misty start, but today we had sunshine from the word go.  We left at 8 and did the top two Audlem locks.

Above the locks we crossed into Shropshire, (only for a few miles, before Staffordshire cropped up) with a scene that could hardly be more English.

At Adderly Locks, what usually happens is that we have to turn every lock then at least two boats arrive to come down as we get to the top.  Today we had to turn every lock, and we passed three boats heading towards the locks within half a mile of leaving the top lock.  It’s another pretty flight, and all five took us just under 45 minutes.

We went through Market Drayton.  Below Tyrley Locks, a tree trunk that just used to have a face on it, has had lots of additions.

We had better luck at Tyrley Locks, where all five were in our favour, thanks to boats coming down.  The cottages at the top lock had an interesting plaque.

The house at the top lock is for sale for £385,000.  The garden looks huge, and there’s a mooring.

Woodseaves was our first cutting of the day.  You are asked to go slowly through here because of the instability of the banks.  Sure enough, shortly after the high bridge there has been a rock fall onto the towpath, with lots more big rocks looking rather precarious higher up.

Having crawled through the cutting, we came across a fishing match.  It lasted two miles, so progress was slow — although there are also long lines of moored boats on the offside, so it would always be fairly slow. The former Cadbury loading dock at Knighton used to have quite a nice selection of old boats under its canopy; now there’s a wet dock there.

An unusual boat passed us at High Offley, then we were into Grub Street Cutting, where we took the obligatory photo of the double arched bridge with the telegraph pole.

As we passed the line moored boats before Norbury Junction, one of the permanent moorers said we were the slowest of the many boats that had been past during the day.  We took that a a compliment!  Norbury Junction was its usual cheerful self, although most of the hire boats were still in.

We carried on to Gnosall, arriving at 5pm.  One of the houses opposite has a rather interesting display on its mooring.

19 miles, 12 locks.  (26 miles, 27 locks)

North West Passage: Day 25

We had a real treat last night. At 7.30, we were picked up from the bridge just behind our mooring by Bill and Sheila Saner from the Nantwich Canal Centre, and taken to a newly reopened pub where we had a great meal. Excellent company and very good food -- all four of us had something different and we each enjoyed it, and the sharing dessert platter was something else. We can heartily recommend The Boar's Head, even if we don't know exactly where it is (somewhere near Nantwich!)

This morning was very misty, but it didn't stop anyone boating -- three went past before we'd even had breakfast. We set off just after eight, to complete the last two locks of the Audlem flight.

The cottage by the top lock is having a big extension built, which ruins the symetry of the building. How it got planning I have no idea. We carried on through the gloom, with our tunnel light on in case any boats came the other way. Very soon after the top lock we crossed into Shropshire (ten miles later we were through the other side, into Staffordshire; not much of the Shroppie is in Shropshire). It was still very gloomy as we did the five locks of the Adderley flight. At the top lock there's a farm shop stall, from which we bought a pork pie, an apple pie, and some chocolate flapjack. They also sell useful stuff such as milk.

Market Drayton came next, and the little mooring basin has been greatly improved, with new jetties and power columns. Soon after is the flight of five Tyrley Locks. The by-washes here are aways fierce, but today they seemed particularly bad. A boat coming out of the bottom lock was pushed up against the rock on the offside, and our bow was shoved over there too.

It was a similar story at the second lock, where a downhill boat was pushed straight into the trees. It had been murky when we went into the cutting containing the two bottom locks, but the third lock is in the open and the weather had changed dramatically.

We'd met several boats coming the other way at this flight and the top lock should have been with us too. However, a boat had turned the lock by the time I got up there -- but even when the lock was open and ready for them, the boat was still on the water point with the hose attached. I suggested that as they'd set the lock and we were waiting below, they'd better get on and use it. At least the cottages at the top look better now they're not defaced by anti-EU slogans.

We stopped on the water point and got the washing machine going. The water pressure is terrible, and we got bored before the tank was full, so we set off through the dramatic Woodseaves Cutting, with its high bridges and rock sides.

The Shropshire Union is very familiar because Debdale was based here for a few years, and the long lines of boats moored on the offside haven't changed. But there are fantastic views in the open sections, particularly towards The Wrekin. We stopped at Norbury Wharf for diesel, and put in 114 litres at 59p basic; Norbury Wharf was very good to the Debdale syndicate when OwnerShips collapsed, so we don't mind spending money with them. We also got some engine oil, a bag of coal, and a couple of ice creams. There's no internet or phone at Norbury Junction (still) so we carried on to Gnosal.

19 miles, 12 locks. (308 miles, 172 locks)

Big Trip - Day 23

After a few short days, we've put in a much longer journey today.  We had breakfast in Cheshire, travelled through Shropshire, and have ended in Staffordshire.

When we left our mooring at just before 8am, we could see both ends of a rainbow, but the middle was missing because the sky was blue.  As we climbed the final two locks of the Audlem flight, it was both sunny and raining.

At the Adderley flight of five locks, the first was almost empty, but the rest were full, as we were following someone up.  At the top lock, the cake stall was empty; apparently it was too early.

When we reached Market Drayton, Adrian walked into town to the shops, and found the market in full swing.  He said the whole town felt quite vibrant.  At the same time, I filled the water tank and ran a wash load.  Several boats passed us while we were on the water point, so when we reached the foot of the Tyrley flight we found a queue.  I think it's the first time we've had to queue for a lock since Braunston on Day 2 of the Big Trip.

Woodseaves Cutting follows the flight, and it's both deep and narrow.  I loitered in a slightly wider part while a boat came the other way.

As we crossed from Shropshire into Staffordshire, there were fantastic views of The Wrekin in the distance.

It's been nice being back on these very familiar waters.  We've reminisced about various trips we had on Debdale when she was based at Norbury, such as the New Year's Eve at Market Drayton with Adrian's mum, when the canal froze; or stopping at the Wharf Inn  at Shebdon Wharf on the first day of a trip up the Llangollen.  Grub Street Cutting usually marked the end of a holiday; today we could carry on.  But the obligatory photo of the double arched bridge with the telegraph pole had to be taken.

We stopped at Norbury Junction for a gas bottle, and also topped up with diesel while we were there.  We also chatted to Simon, who looked after the Debdale syndicate pretty well when OwnerShips collapsed.

It was perhaps the sunniest it had been all day, so we carried on to Gnosall, somewhere we haven't moored before.  We're in a shallow cutting, but's it's rather pleasant.

18 miles, 12 locks.  (275 miles, 164 locks)