Heading North on the Shroppie

25th & 26th February

We got away by nine on a cool, misty, murky day yesterday, cruising the best bit of the northern section of the Staffs and Worcs, the summit from Gailey to Pendeford Rockin'. In typical fashion, we met nothing moving until we approached the Rockin', whereupon an OwnerShips, Spring Dew, appeared just as we were lining up.

In the absence of any wind, it was no big deal to wait for them to emerge: they told us that there were two boats ahead of us. We had been aware of one, as Epinone, a Louis and Joshua, had passed us whilst we were eating breakfast.

I'm pleased to say that I managed the rather tricky turn into the Shroppie at Autherley, or Cut End as the old boaters called it, without touching the sides. It's a very acute turn coming from the North, as the Shroppie runs almost parallel to the Staffs and Worcs for the first couple of miles.

Through the stop lock it was another challenge to get past all the Napton Narrowboats tied just beyond. The next bit of cut was lined with fishermen, but they seemed a relatively cheerful bunch, and several exchanged a few words with us as we went by.

There's this big variation in the anglers you pass; I'm always ready with a smile or nod, or to try to take whatever line they signal they'd prefer, but sometimes they just don't look at you. It can be hard to guess just where they've prepared their swim – when in doubt, take the centre, but always be ready to move to one side or the other. I've even known one ask me to send a bit of prop wash into where he's fishing, if he wants the water a bit murkier than it is.

On the way up the Shroppie, we spotted a group of 14 herons all standing around in a field – most unusual for the UK, though presumably the term heronry implies that they make a habit of it somewhere or sometime.

We tied between Bridges 7 and 8 just in nice time for lunch, to the sound of a skylark calling; Sheila managed to spot it, but I was too busy navigating to be able to take the time needed to do so. After lunch, we identified three geocaches nearby, one to the north and two to the south, so we popped out and found the southern ones. It wasn't a mega haul like the other day, but still a very pleasant stroll on a cool early Spring day.

Back at the boat I did some internet work, then Sheila took over whilst I showered. We didn't need any heat in the boat during the day, but I relit the stove and ran the Eberspacher as things cooled down in the late afternoon.

It has been much cooler again today, with a sharp wind blowing from the West. Sheila had soon steered us to Wheaton Aston, where we worked down the lock and stopped at Turners for diesel. He's currently charging 48.9 pence per litre at domestic rate, and will take any split you want to declare. We're now running at 20% propulsion, having been down on 10% whilst hanging around for the last month.

Note that even if you declare the "standard" 60/40 split, that still works out at less than 75 ppl overall, so I don't understand anyone who prefers to collect white diesel at around 99 ppl from the local supermarket.

Refuelled, we went on to Gnosall; not being sure that we'd get there in time to shop for lunch, I made some bread from a kit as we boated along. We've tied on the visitor moorings just through the tunnel, not far from where we took part in our little bit of real life Casualty drama last year.

The Vodafone connection is pretty poor here, but the T-mobile internet is not bad. After walking into the village to shop, we came back and watched a DVD, the copy of St Trinians that Elanor lent us before we left Alrewas.

Tomorrow, we'll go on to Norbury to water and visit the chandlery, then finish at Market Drayton to do a supermarket session.