The Odyssey 2009: Day 39

Sunday 23rd August

Barbridge to Beeston

View back to the Barbridge Inn

Aha, I’ve managed to wrest the keyboard off Sue so it’s me on the blog today.

The brilliant plan was to have Sunday and Monday on the boat, work Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday and then go up the Manchester Ship Canal on Friday. Unfortunately neither of us have done enough work, so cruising on Monday is out but we still needed to be on the boat on Sunday for the surveyor to come round. Surveyor, what for you ask? Well, to go up the Manchester Ship Canal you need to have a survey, the only time we could get in done was Sunday morning so I went up to the boat by train via Crewe leaving Sue to her long-overdue work.

The train is very convenient, very fast and you can get some work done! The taxi from Crewe to Barbridge seemed quite expensive – on the way back I used JM Cars 01270 528006 who are efficient and seem cheaper but is a bit hard to be certain when the journeys are different. We had left the boat near Bridge 100 which was good for Neil Coventry for servicing the engine but meant that we had to use pins for mooring. Chains or mooring rings would be so much better but on the Shroppie the best places seem to be 48 hour only, no good for us.  With our recent history and Bruce’s dire warnings I wondered if the boat would still be there but it was fine, hadn’t moved an inch.

Barbridge Junction

We had wanted Neil Coventry (Mobile 07960 454492) to look at our engine. He was the original installer so knows it better than anyone else; we think he is really good and there were a few things which no one seems able to sort. I do most of the servicing but every so often I get someone more expert to do it, but I have not been too happy with the results. We still had some minor diesel leaks (one of which was my fault), the engine seems more noisy etc. Getting Neil in was great – lots of little issues sorted, for example he’s fitted new olives on some of diesel lines, the leaks have stopped. I had been previously told that the wobbly bit in the exhaust was how it was meant to be, Neil says “No, that’s broken”, and fixed it. He has also done the tappets and the engine feels noticeably smoother, well did it ’til I got stuff round the prop. 😦

The Surveyor (Brian Taylor: 01606 836689) was booked to come round at 10am which I thought would give me plenty of time for a lie in after a very pleasant steak, and a half (or so), in the Barbridge Inn the night before. After all, I could not miss the Barbridge Inn, simply because the last time we were there was in nb Dragonfly and we got somewhat merry with the crew of nb Meridian. At 9:15 (considerably better then last time if memory serves) I was vaguely in the land of the living, having just decided that the water would have to be warm enough for my monthly shower, when Brian rang to say he was just approaching the bridge – he had strict instructions to ring so we could introduce him to the dogs off the boat. Just as well, the dogs weren’t there but at leastit gave me 30 seconds to get dressed and welcome him on board for the survey. We have a new-ish boat, the RCD is still valid so once he had seen that, it went fairly quickly; Roof not under water – tick, got an anchor – tick, navigation lights – tick, VHF radio – tick, cold beer in the fridge – tick, fire extinguishers – tick. Well actually, it was not that quick as he was a mine of useful information, hints and tips. It also turns out that our RCD and boat manual is based word for word on something that he had originally written, small world.

Calveley Services

Brian had initially gone up the towpath to survey nb “Here Again”, he found the boat, knocked on the side to be told “No we have not ordered a survey”. As it happens there were two nbs called “Here Again” parked within 50 metres of each other and he had gone to the wrong one. The right “Here Again” found him on our boat, that meant some more chatting time before he went to survey their boat afterwards.

I eventually got going at 10:30 with the intention of trying to do a little bit to make the end of the week easier; but only a bit as I still had two radiators to fit at home. I stopped at Calveley  for a pump out and water tank fill. Very good pump out machine with clear instructions on how much time you have got, water pressure not so good.

Leaving Bunbury Staircase Locks

The first set of locks was the staircase at Bunbury. There was a boat waiting there just setting the locks as I turned up. I was a bit concerned to start with as this was a guy by himself so it meant two soloists going the staircase and I have never done a broad lock single handed …. I should not have worried at all as the guy from Morning Star knew exactly what to do and put it across so well. His plan was to tie his centre rope to my boat and I drive the two boats through whilst he operated the locks. Simplicity itself, very very easy and as there was a boat about to come up plenty of helpful crew. Only issue was getting past the Anglo Welsh boats blocking the canal below the locks ..

I came round the corner before the next lock just in time to see a boat entering the lock, “great”, I thought, someone to share with; except they started to close the gates as I got close. They had not realised that two boats could share the lock, but they relented as I came towards them and explained my intentions. I worked my side of the lock whilst they worked theirs. It worked well ’til right at the end when I left the boat untied whilst I opened the lock gates. Indigo Dream went back as they went forward, straight into the cascade from the leaky gates … Hmm must get better at this single handed work. (Sue: Leave him to have that much fun on his own – no chance!)

Busy, busy, busy

It took me 10 minutes or so to get the last dregs of water out of the engine compartment, by which time the other boat was halfway down the next lock. It gave me the opportunity to work the next lock completely by myself, which went better, albeit a bit slowly. I then moored on the rings (hooray!) just between the 48 hour moorings and the lock moorings above Beeston Iron Lock and duly ordered my taxi back to Crewe. They suggested a pick up point outside of Chas Hardern’s yard in 20 minutes time, just enough time to sort myself and get to there. Unbeknownst to me, the taxi had turned up seconds before me and gone straight into the yard; 10 minutes or so later my phone rang and it was the exceedingly pleasant Chas Hardern trying to talk to me on my no bars of signal phone. We somehow managed to work out that I was outside whilst the taxi was inside …

Beeston Steel Lock: Almost got the Cruiser ...

The trip back was nice and easy on the Virgin Pendolino. Verdict on single handed cruising through broad locks: It’s ok, I just need to do better!

The Odyssey 2009: Day 38

Sunday 9th August

Audlem to Barbridge

These cabins are a feature of the Audlem Locks - so tiny but they still fitted in a fireplace!

We had a quiet night at Audlem and although we thought we’d set out early (8.20am!), several boats had already passed by and there was a lively traffic through the locks. We passed through Lock 12 to the famous waterscape of the Shroppie Fly pub with it’s antique waterside crane. Interestingly, there are 5-day moorings on the offside above lock 13, though the towpath moorings are 48-hour. We also noticed mooring rings between locks 13 and 14 and sheet piling by bridge 80 and again by bridge 92.

Past Audlem, the canal continues its peaceful journey through this much loved landscape of golden fields. There are particularly well-appointed visitor moorings (48-hour) at Coole Pilate, with a wide mown verge, picnic tables and even special stands for disposable barbecues, all provided by the Shropshire Union Canal Society.

Fine old wharf at the bottom of the Audlem flight

A little further on there’s the excitement of the Hack Green locks and the BIG sign for the “secret nuclear bunker” – it’s well worth a visit if you have the time. We didn’t stop there this time but we did go round it a few years ago when we were on the Dragonfly. The sign makes you laugh but there’s nothing funny about the intent – it’s a grim reminder of a terrible threat, whether you thought is was real or just political paranoia.

As we got past Bridge 89 we noticed a few red ‘arrows’ (signs, that is, not the famous aeroplanes!), crossing the landscape in straight lines showing the passage of a buried what? One was a gas pipe for certain, the other might have carried fuel oil. Were they to do with the Hack Green Secret bunker – who knows?

Now, with most of the Shroppie towpath in appalling condition (and a distinct lack of road access), we’ve seen very few walkers and cyclists on this canal. It was a bit of a shocker to arrive in Nantwich to see throngs of people on the towpath and even more boats passing along the canal. Now Nantwich is a fine boating town but it felt unpleasantly busy after the miles of rural cruising we’ve enjoyed since

Another iconic feature on the Shroppie

leaving, well, since leaving Kidderminster really.

But Nantwich is making the most of its heritage, with a well-maintained towpath and wooden sculptures dotted around – most looked like lumps of wood to our unartistic eyes, but there’s no mistaking the life-size wooden horse by Bridge 92.

There is a busy service point here; we stopped for water. For reference, there is room for two boats to moor at the services, though there’s only one waterpoint.

It was very busy through Nantwich – understandable really – it’s not far from the big junctions at Hurleston and Barbridge so there’s traffic from the Llangollen as well as boaters doing the four counties ring.

Nantwich (with the sculpted horse by the bridge)

Although we soon left the suburbs of Nantwich behind, the canal doesn’t quite regain the peace of it’s southern reaches. Nevertheless, Hurleston Junction is very pleasant with its high reservoir banks dominating the canal – interestingly, the giant reservoir doesn’t feed the canal – it’s drinking (and washing!) water. A little further along, there are some very attractive houses coming up to Barbridge.

We’d booked an engine service with Neil Coventry, the engineer who’d originally installed our engine. He’d suggested that we moor by Bridge 100 which has good road access and parking, as well as being secure and 14- day. We arrived early afternoon and the towpath looked to be in good condition so a pin mooring seemed feasible. There was a working pair moored nearby, selling fancy canal goods and a few more practical items. We bought some more mooring pins and tied Indigo Dream on five pins – two each fore and aft and one in the centre just in case. There’s an infernal ledge here and the boat got bumped unpleasantly every time another boat passed (and there were lots). We tried some cunning work by sinking our fat fenders between the boat and the ledge, but to no avail. Never mind, we weren’t staying the night.

Distant view of the top of the Hay Tower - clever stuff

Richard went off to get the car – he took a minicab this time, it would have taken too much time to cycle all the way back to Audlem. I did the usual domestics and Blue and Lou stretched out, it was too hot for rummaging and they were hiding out from the numerous wasps swarming around the boat. Does anyone know what wasps are for, apart from being a damn nuisance?

It took a long while for Richard to get the car, and by the time we’d done our usual faffing around (we always find it so hard to leave Indigo Dream) it was quite late. Not too late for us to admire the ‘Hay Tower’ nearby – an amazing structure made of hay bales – this time the Westminster Tower complete with a working clock face. Apparently they change it every year and it’s a big visitor attraction (or is it the associated ice-cream factory that’s the big draw – sadly just closing as we drove past).

Hurleston Junction

We got home late (after our usual stop at the Cherwell Valley services) but it’s been a great weekend’s cruising for a change with proper summer sunshine.

Now we have the big dilemma of where to go next. We have some visitors from Australia coming on board. We were planning to visit Chester (then across the Manchester Ship Canal to the Weaver) but we’ve bumped into a boater who’s had trouble there – ropes being untied, objects being thrown; another local told us that it can be a bit rough there during the school holidays. Now, our visitors haven’t travelled thousands of miles just to have stones thrown at them by a few morons, so we’re now wondering whether to go up the Llangollen instead. I swore I’d never do the Llangollen at the busiest time of the year, but you can’t deny that Pontcysyllte would be a great experience for our visitors. Or do we just give up and go along the Middlewich branch and up heartbreak hill – another great canal experience (though maybe not as scenic). It’s an important choice – we’ve decided to spend the winter in London so we only have a few more weekends of cruising up here before we have to turn south to dodge the winter stoppages.

Photoblog:

Ducks enjoying the bywash

Poor old Lou's tired already, well, she has been up for half an hour....

Spring 2010 may be a bit optimistic......

You lookin' at me?

Rare sight of a village...

Lou having yet another rest - once she'd got settled in this shady spot she wasn't at all keen to catch up with the boat....

This sofa ain't big enough for both of us.....

Long way from home - wouldn't it be good if the Glamorgan canals were still open...

Day boat at Nantwich - get those legs back in the boat....

Fellow bloggers Bendigedig - alas the crew wasn't around

Richard took great delight in taking this photo - this is the place where I took my one and only accidental bath in the canal on our first cruise ever on hire boat Silver Saturn

Attractive moorings and housing on the approach to Barbridge

The Odyssey 2009: Day 37

Saturday 8th August

Gnosall to Audlem

Fishermen as far as they eye can see (and the competition's not due to start for another 90 minutes!)

Gnosall was a great mooring but with the fishing competition looming we decided to make an early start; though we did stop for water just after Bridge 35.

As we moved off, we noticed that the fishermen were already getting into place – they told us that the competition started at 11am but by 9.30am many were already set up and waiting. We chatted to the fishermen as we went along, wishing them luck and asking them whether anyone ever cheated by trying to sneak an early fish into their keepnets. They were surprisingly cheerful and friendly – I wondered whether they’d feel the same once the competition had started in earnest 🙂

We had a very pleasant run up to Norbury Junction in wonderfully fair weather; the canal was busy and the Norbury visitor moorings were jam-packed. This is a handy stop though – there’s a large car park (where Richard had left the car overnight), a boatyard and shop – no wonder it’s popular. I’ve only just twigged that this is Debdale’s new home – I’m afraid that I didn’t look out for her. Richard left me here to take the car to the next rendezvous and I took the boat on.

Canal life at Norbury Junction

Contrary to what I was told yesterday, the fishing competition occupied the canal right up to Bridge 41. So I crawled along, exchanging friendly banter with the fishermen and marvelling at their sheer numbers, with more arriving by the minute. We’ve had the opportunity to talk to more fishermen than usual today so here’s what we found out about fishing:

• Some pitches are better than others but as fishermen were coming from all over the country they had no way of knowing how good their pitch was until they started!
• Competition fishermen seem mainly to be men and they carry a serious amount of gear, none of which seemed to include a really comfortable chair.
• Competition fishermen focus their attention on the bank opposite the towpath so it’s best to cruise in the middle when passing by (this can be awkward when two boats pass on a narrow canal).

That was enough fishing knowledge for one day and I was relieved to get past them all before the competition started.

Iconic Bridge 41 with its telegraph pole

For reference: There’s some sheet piling (on an apparently 14 day stretch) just past Bridge 41.

Once I got past the fishermen I’d hoped to put just a few more revs on, but I carried on in tickover behind a very slow boat and past what seemed like miles of online moorings. I can hardly blame people for wanting to moor here – the countryside views are stunning. I also enjoyed the view of nb The Shrew’s artwork – very nice.

The dogs had been agitating for a pit stop for a while, but there was no question of pulling in where the fishermen were setting up – I’m not even sure whether there was a 60ft gap between the pitches! By Shebdon Wharf the dogs were desperate so I pulled into the very fine 48-hour moorings just after the bridge to give them a quick walk. There were two lurchers nearby, but their owners kept them away from our two – has Blue and Lou’s reputation travelled that far already?! With the necessary done, I piled the dogs back on board and set off again, though not before Blue had had a rummage with a black labrador (Lou was on board by then).

The former Cadbury Wharf with its sheltered accommodation!

After our little pit stop I had the canal to myself for a long while. I enjoyed the view to the right – a distinctive conical hill visible for miles. Some locals told me that it’s the Wrekin, which passed in and out of view as Indigo Dream cruised through a varied canalscape of  cuttings, woodlands, embankments and tall hedgerows.

It was good to see the old Cadbury Wharf still intact and apparently working. There were several old boats moored there under the covered loading bay, including one from the Stewarts and Lloyds Tube Works – that means so much more to me now having passed their derelict works on the Dudley No 2 canal. I thought wryly that this spot was literally ‘sheltered accommodation’ for these old ladies of the waterways 🙂

There are lovely 48-hour moorings just past Bridge 48. I picked Richard up shortly afterwards, just in time for him to enjoy the amazing views up to Bridge 49. It was so beautiful that we moored for lunch here – there were smaller ledges here so we could moor tidily and appreciate the silence.

Woodseaves Cutting - our photos don't do it justice!

Richard was a bit out of sorts, having had a difficult cycle ride along the terrible towpaths.  The worst bits were definitely in the Woodseaves Cutting where it was so wet, muddy and, in some places, collapsed, that it didn’t deserve to be called a towpath. After his front tyre went down deep holes twice, he thought he had better walk rather than risk flying over the handlebars. It’s ironic, but there’s a sign warning walkers not to stray onto the embankment – it’s dangerous; the towpath didn’t look that safe either! The cutting itself is narrow, though two boats can just about pass in most places with a bit of co-operation.

Woodseaves cutting is a unique stretch of waterway – it’s a prehistoric landscape of deep shade, mud slides and dripping ferns. I wouldn’t have been at all surprised if a dinosaur had roared at us from the undergrowth. There’s a strange smell here – made up of sewage and rotting vegetation – the sky’s barely visible as the high embankment seems to close in above you. There’s nowhere quite like it!

Looking back to Tyrley bottom lock - the photo doesn't capture the half of it- you just have to go there....

The Tyrley locks were a welcome diversion after miles of lock-free cruising. There’s a good range of services at the top lock, though they share the lock moorings, making it difficult to tell who was waiting to lock down and who was using the services. As it happens, there wasn’t a queue so on we went. The Tyrley locks are particularly pretty and we benefited from near perfect synchronisation with the four boats coming up the flight. There were a few gongoozlers here, including one family whose two young boys set up tiny folding chairs at each lock to witness the boat moving in before walking to the next lock and repeating the process. Blue and Lou had a fine rummage here, though we did lose Blue in an adjacent field – he was very distressed when he got back to the towpath and found that the boat wasn’t where he’d left it. When he spotted us further down he raced down the towpath at top speed, evidently relieved to be back with the pack.

The stretch just below the bottom lock at Tyrley is, arguably, one of the most beautiful places on the whole canal network.

Market Drayton making the best of its waterfront

The next bit of civilisation was Market Drayton. Richard left me here to do the next stage of the car shuffle and I moved on, past some fine permanent moorings surrounded by neat new housing. There are decent visitor moorings (sheet piling) just outside the town (after the main road bridge) but they’re only 5-day.

The next stretch was very slow past long lines of moored boats. But who cares, I was surrounded by lush fields of maize and by that silence that belongs only to the most rural of farmed landscapes. At times the canal passed through shallow cuttings, just enough to cut me off from the world and surround me with total peace. There’s sheet piling along this stretch, up to Bridge 66, with 14 day moorings, but the towpath’s in very poor condition and there just aren’t any roads!

I caught up with Richard at Adderley Top Lock – another scenic, but this time, largely deserted, lock flight. The dogs had a wonderful time here – they decided to have a mad greyhound chase with Lou racing after Blue back and forth at top speed between the bridge and the top lock. After a few passes they were done and leapt back onto the boat for a rest.

Indigo Dream at the Adderley Locks

Note: the boat coming up just below Bridge 70 says that the bywash below the lock creates an undertow which pulls the boat away from the lock moorings across the canal. At least that’s the husband’s charitable explanation of why his wife had the boat broadside to the lock gate when I was bringing Indigo Dream out!

Ooh, we passed nb Shropshire Lass today – a fellow participant in the BCN Challenge.

We weren’t sure whether we’d reach the Audlem flight, but we got there in good time. Having cycled up the flight, Richard assured me that there were lots of places to moor between locks but his view from the towpath was a tad optimistic! There are good moorings above the top lock, then there are more between lock 2 and 3 (not marked but there were boats moored there) then there aren’t any more until you get to the stretch between locks 11 and 12. Because of this we had a much later finish than we’d originally hoped for.

Note: The footbridge attached to the bottom gates at lock 4 is quite unstable.

Looking back from Audlem top lock

We had a slow transit down the locks – there was a rather inefficient hire boat in front of us and despite our attempts to hang back we kept catching up with them. Richard tried to help them but that didn’t seem to work either. I felt a bit sorry for them – I remember only too well what it’s like to be on your first hire trip and to feel pressured by more experienced boaters when you just want to take your time and learn for yourself. However I also now know what it is to be an experienced boater wanting to get on and wanting to get down the flight before the pubs shut 🙂 Richard was frustrated, especially when they failed to close the bottom paddles properly, leaving us grounded in the pound above until Richard had gone back to the lock above and sent some water down.

Blue and Lou had recovered by now and had yet another rummage along the Audlem flight, hopping on and off as it suited them. Blue was very jealous of large german shepherd dog carrying a fat rabbit down the towpath. He’d been walking with his somewhat embarrassed owner along path marked ‘private’ by lock 8 – Blue tried his best to get into the rabbit fields but it was securely fenced off, much to his dismay.

Lou wanting to get back to her bed....

By the time we’d toiled our way down to lock 11 we were exhausted and I was grumpy. I was so relieved to find a mooring here – it’s a popular spot and there were only a couple of spaces left.

By now it was gone 8pm and I was almost too tired to eat. But the Bridge Inn, just by lock 12, is dog-friendly and it was too good an opportunity to miss. The famous Shroppie Fly pub below the lock was also a contender but we thought we’d try somewhere different. The Bridge Inn is apparently known for the fine food in its restaurant but we were confined to the rather plain bar with the dogs. It didn’t matter – the menu was the same and we ate very well here. We also got chatting to a solitary man sitting with a superbly obedient black labrador. He seemed a little odd, but I think he was trying not to roll his eyes at how spoilt our greyhounds are; he trains gundogs for a living and the pampered life of the retired hound was obviously a complete mystery to him. Blue and Lou, comfortably stretched out on their sheepskins and scoffing sausages, treated him with the disdain he deserved!

Photoblog – more views…..

What a fine day....

Days gone by -traditional English farmland

View of the Wrekin in the distance where we stopped for lunch

Lou enjoying the soft grass (1)

Lou enjoying the soft grass (2)

Lou enjoying the soft grass (3)

The Wrekin looming darkly over the golden hay fields

This duckweed-filled pond is what passes for towpath in the Woodseaves Cutting

Fine development opportunity or route to bankruptcy???

The Odyssey 2009: Day 36

Friday 7th August

One bent pin with it's 'hook' missing

Bridge 11 (Shropshire Union) to Gnosall

If you’ve read the last post then you’ll know I was speculating on how awful it would be to arrive back at your mooring and find that your boat had disappeared. Well, that’s exactly what happened to us!

We decided to drive up to the boat after work on Thursday so that we could have a full long weekend’s cruising. After a wearying journey through torrential rain and spray we arrived at Bridge 11 at 11pm. We tottered carefully down the slick steps to the towpath, walked under the bridge and I said to Richard “Ah, so you moored her further down the towpath”……. then the heartsink answer “No, I left her here”.

Except she wasn’t here! We only had a small torch on us and as we shone it up and down the canal there was no sign of her, apart from maybe a little glint of a reflection further up the canal. We waded through the ankle-deep mud towards our glimmer of hope and there she was – Indigo Dream, tied on two pins and a bit of rope that someone had managed to get through the solid steel section fixed to the concrete edge. What a relief!

Crossing over Watling Street - an ancient Roman road

We found out more of the story on Friday. Some boaters had found her adrift and kindly made a herculean effort to bring her back to the bank and re-tie her. We met both of the boats involved in the rescue as we worked our way along so here’s big THANK YOU to the crews of nb Summer Wine and nb Hobgoblin.

Subsequent investigation showed that it wasn’t the soft ground that was to blame this time – one of our mooring ropes had been snapped in half, one of the ‘hooks’ on our mooring pin had been ripped off and the rest of the pin had nigh on been bent in half. We suspect one serious speeder, a succession of lesser speeders, a collision or possibly all three – what else could bend a mooring pin so badly out of shape?

Having found the boat, we fell into bed exhausted and a little anxious – would we last the night on the mooring and could we find a better 14-day mooring at the end of the weekend?

The fine aqueduct over Watling Street

Despite Bruce’s caution not to rely on pins when leaving the boat unattended, I’m afraid that we don’t always have much choice. The Shropshire Union has excellent 48-hour ring moorings, and where there’s sheet piling (for attaching clips or chains) the moorings are either restricted by a 5-day limit or by the infernal concrete ledges beneath the waterline. The 14-day moorings seem to be reserved for the softest, mushiest bits of towpath. As I’ve been cruising along I’ve been trying to keep notes on potential 14-day moorings along the length of the canal. I’ve put these notes at the end.

It’s such a shame that there are so few reliable 14-day moorings here as this is a truly beautiful waterway. If you’re able to keep moving and just use the generous lengths of 48-hour moorings then I’d recommend this canal as an ideal place to recharge body and soul.

The best diesel in the west!

Because the Shroppie’s so rural, Richard wanted to do a frequent car shuffle as there are no trains (and barely any roads!) round here to help us get back to Bridge 11. So he set off in the car and I cruised up the canal, surveying potential 14-day mooring spots for future reference.

I stayed anxious for a while – not helped by the man walking down the towpath at Brewood carrying a rifle (presumably an air rifle) with a telescopic sight. As I passed he clicked the rifle barrel into place – the noise made me jump! I wonder what he was going to shoot?

After that, I tried my best not to like the canal – but it’s impossible – the Shroppie is fantastic, with unrivalled scenery, an exceptionally friendly boating community and, of course, reputably the cheapest diesel on the network! This may explain why it was so busy…..

A typically Shroppie view - it's a beautiful canal

The first sight of my cruising day was the aqueduct crossing the Roman Road of Watling Street. The canal’s straight here, as is the road, there’s something about the geometry which makes it a perfect crossing of the ways. The cars beeped and waved as we went over – the road slopes steeply upwards to the left of the canal so that the boat must be virtually at eye level for the drivers.

I’m so pleased that we have the blog. As I’ve mentioned before, Dragonfly’s log book stayed with her, so we don’t have a record of our last trip up the Shroppie and it’s amazing how little we remember. Well, apart from the fact that we had a good evening doing the quiz at the ‘Shroppie Fly’ pub!

The next bit of action came at Wheaton Aston – a thriving boating stop with good 48-hour moorings. This is the famous location of the cheap diesel – a road garage on the left just after Bridge 19 below the lock. It has a diesel point on the towpath – just moor up and walk up the steep slope to find someone. The routine is that the man turns the pump on, you fill with diesel yourself then go up to the shop to pay. The shop’s got a useful range of boat, cycle and auto supplies – we bought some new moorings pins and some mudguards for

Big stop gate at Bridge 21 - these are a common feature at many of the bridges

Richard’s bike (definitely needed on this canal – the towpath varies from poor to atrocious). Don’t stop here if you’re in a hurry – the service isn’t fast; but with a low starting price and a very relaxed attitude to the self-declaration requirements it’s well worth it.

You won’t be left short of water in Wheaton Aston either – there are good services with a long line of water points – no queuing here!

Richard took the car for the next leg, leaving me to ‘chwarae meddyliai” (literally ‘playing with thoughts’) as the day warmed up and I let the welcome sunshine soak my bones. Being busy at the helm, my notebook only has a random impressions, scribbled in haste as I tried to keep Indigo Dream on a straight course.

Cool green cuttings....

The towpath’s a bit better maintained past Wheaton Aston – as was obvious from the two BW men mowing. Interestingly, they stopped mowing as I approached and started again after I’d gone past. I wondered whether it was because of the risk of stones flying out of the mowers and damaging the boat, as happened to nb Eastlands on the Oxford earlier this year.

Villages are few and far between on the pastoral Shroppie. It’s a wonderfully silent canal – apart from the noise of oncoming boats and the odd combine harvester. Unlike the normal dusty smell of chaff though, this year’s crop filled the air with a musty mildewed smell of a wet summer.

Many of the bridges here have large stop lock gates – I guess that’s essential in such a long lock-free pound. Adam on Debdale has since reported a breach – so the stop gates at each bridge are definitely essential or there’s be 23-odd miles worth of water pouring away!

The elegant sweeping arms of Bridge 26

There are wonderful views on the Shroppie – the trees form a green tunnel after Bridge 23 then the view opens out towards Bridge 24. There were some men walking along the towpath near Bridge 24, looking very serious as they took measurements and made notes. I was nosy enough to interrupt them and I found that they were pegging out pitches for a fishing match tomorrow. It was a big job – they were expecting over 700 competitors! I also found out that it would occupy the towpath right up Norbury Junction so that was a real incentive to press on and get out of their way.

There’s a fantastic house just before Bridge 25 – I wonder whether it had been an old wharf – it had a fine mooring and the owners looked very contented as they enjoyed a cup of tea on their terrace. Bridge 26 had the sweeping arms reminiscent of a turnover bridge – a grand remnant of the canal’s industrial past.

Rolling green fields...

Richard caught up with me later in the afternoon, having parked the car at Norbury Wharf. That was our target for the day’s cruising, but after our late (and somewhat distressing) night on Thursday we plumped for an early finish. We tied up at the 48-hour moorings between Cowley Tunnel and Bridge 34,  in a convenient spot near the village of  Gnosall. There was plenty of room at the moorings though they did fill up later on.

Gnosall was fine stop – there was a bit of secure woodland adjacent to the mooring where the dogs could have a good rummage. Sadly Blue had been spooked by a backfiring car earlier so he didn’t take advantage of the facilities though Lou had a good look around.

The Boat Inn, on the other side of the Boat Inn Bridge was dog friendly and had good food at a reasonable cost – I ate the best rib-eye steak ever -perfect.

We were well content when we got back to the boat and enjoyed a silent night.

Mooring Notes (Around Brewood):

Bridge 10 – 12: Soft towpath; no sheet piling; permit holder moorings by the bridge (rings) – unsuitable for 14 days.

Bridge 12 – 13: Firm towpath; no sheet piling; BIG rough ledges below the waterline – unsuitable for 14 days

Bridge 13 – 14: Mooring rings; good mooring BUT only 48 hour

Bridge 14 – 15: Firm towpath; some sheet piling in wooded sections; smaller ledges – suitable for 14 days

Bridge 15 – 17: Soft towpath in poor condition; small ledges – not suitable for 14 days

Technical:

Apologies to followers of  ‘Indigo Dream’s rough guide to moorings’ (by far the most popular page on the blog). I haven’t been able to update it for a while because some setting in WordPress has changed and it wasn’t letting me import the table properly from Word. The problem’s now solved, using Windows Live Writer as an intermediary and using Border = “2” in the HTML code to get a proper border. Drop us a comment if you want more specifics.

The good news is that the guide to moorings and 2009 index are now up to date!

Photoblog – some more views:

Bridge 28

Deep cuttings and high bridges

Entrance to the Cowley Tunnel

Looking back at the Cowley Tunnel - gives you an idea of the sheer effort expended to cut this canal from the rock

Fine 48-hours moorings at Gnosall

Blue and Lou at the Boat Inn

And their reward for being so good.....