Final stretch to Christleton

We’d estimated another three hours boating from the Shady Oak to Christleton and wanted to arrive at around ten, so we got going just after seven, or rather Sheila did whilst I ate breakfast. She’d rather drawn the short straw again for her day to steer, as it rained fairly steadily for much of the time. Clad in her rain suit, they weren't impossible conditions, just soggy. I fear the forecast for the next couple of weeks looks to be much the same as we’ve been having for the last few days – occasional spells of bright and warm weather interspersed with varying amounts of rain.

A chunk of the trip was spent plodding past what must now be around two miles worth of offline mooring at Golden Nook farm. It’s always hard to remember over the gaps of four or five years at a time, but we’re sure that there are more boats there every time, making a nonsense of the CRT plan to reduce online moorings.

Despite all that, we made good time. It seems likely that this stretch has been dredged recently as Sanity Again was charging along at over 3.5 mph when it was possible to open the throttle to 1200 rpm. As a result, we arrived just after half nine, having only just finished the wash load. Since we had a good bit of time in hand, and as the rain seemed mostly to have cleared away, we decided to have an early coffee then walk down into Chester, shop at the new Waitrose and get a sandwich lunch there, then mooch about Chester for a bit before taking a bus back.

Mostly, this went to plan. The new Waitrose is very handy, towpath side with dedicated shopping moorings not long after the last lock, Hoole Lane. We’d checked the numbers of the buses to catch back and only had to find a stop in town at which to catch one. Sadly, Chester doesn't do much in the way of helpful maps in the centre to assist with this process. There are quite a few fancy map displays, but they are all concerned with the various cycle routes around the place.

We finally found a more general one and, with the aid of that and some advice from a council staff person we spotted in the street, finally got to what Chester rather grandiloquently calls the Chester Bus Interchange or CBI, what the rest of us would usually refer to as a bus station. The 41, 41A and C56 all leave from Stand C there (this year at least) and make their way out of town along the A41 that passes the Jolly Trooper Harvester pub where you can hop off and access the towpath.

CRT are doing a bit of towpath improvement near there, right opposite the winding hole we plan to use tomorrow. We’ll just have to hope that the workboats tied to the towpath alongside don’t stop us from getting 70’ round…

Location:Christleton

Down to the Shady

We’d estimated the run from Calveley to the Shady Oak pub at around three hours, and would have been about right except for the interesting folk that we met on the way. In particular, we found ourselves sharing down most of the locks with an engaging family on a hire boat, Dad and three young daughters having three days boating for the first time. Sheila did a fair bit of teaching about lock working to the girls to help out.

It was all good fun and, given that the weather was calm, warm and sunny, not a great hassle. When we got to Beeston Iron lock, which can’t be shared because the sides have distorted, they went on ahead and must have found another partner down Wharton’s, the last lock we will be working towards Chester. We were at Beeston for some time as there was another boat ahead of us when we arrived and one came up before it was our turn to go down.

Having set off at half seven, it was gone eleven by the time we arrived at the Shady where there was, as always, loads of room on the VMs. Sheila had been told by another boater that the pub is having one of its good times at the moment (it’s been up and down several times over the years), so we decided to try their Sunday lunch. A phone call established that Bill and Eileen were up for it too and a merry meeting ensued. The food was indeed just fine and reasonably priced and there was a good selection of beer on offer – Sheila and I both had the Cambrian Gold summer ale.

Bill and Eileen came back to the boat for coffee afterwards so it was a great session of chat, cross talk humour and reminiscence.

We’ve been quiet since they left, as may be expected. Tomorrow, a straightforward run to Christleton where we’ll probably stay for a couple of days.

Location:Tiverton

Fun and games on the Chester cut

We were last on this bit of the cut in August 2012, the only other time we’ve been here in Sanity Again. I don't know why we don't visit the Chester canal more often, it’s a very pleasant stretch of water. This is only the fourth time we’ve been here since moving on board, and on one of those, the last time we were here on Sanity, we only came as far as the top of the Bunbury staircase, winded and came back. We were regular visitors in the days when we had shares in two boats based at Acton Bridge, so perhaps we felt we’d seen enough of the place then and never got back into the habit of going straight on at Barbridge Junction as we did today.

It made for a very pleasant morning’s cruise, though there was a bit of a scrum at the service wharf here at Calveley, something to do with it being Saturday. In addition, there are very few water points between here and Chester. There are some at the Anglo-Welsh yard at the foot of the staircase, but they charge £2 a tank to use them and they aren't available on turn round days like today. The next chance to water, unless you go into the marina at Tatenhall, is beyond the winding hole at Christleton.

So there was nothing for it but to breast up alongside the boat that was already watering and wait our turn. There are two taps there and by the time we’d finished there were a total of five boats either filling their tanks or waiting to do so.

Once done, we just ambled through the bridge and found plenty of room to tie on the moorings on the other side. The only other boat actually on the 48 hour section was an Aqua boat we didn't know, Althea by name. We didn't have a chance to chat to them as they set off by the time we’d finished eating lunch.

We’ve had a walk up to the Bunbury locks to watch the happy hirers getting ready to start their holidays – it’s very good to see so many folk visiting the canals. When we got back, I finally got round to sorting the bow fender, which has developed a habit of sliding round off the stem post when up against a lock gate. I’d expected to have to replace shackles and stuff, but for once it turned out more straightforward than that. Shortening one side by one link of chain looks to have got it back tight again.

I also took the chance to partly sever one side of a link on each side, using the new bolt cutters. This is a safety measure – if the fender hangs on the gate when rising in the lock, the links will part rather than force the bow underwater.

Tomorrow, we plan to go on to the Shady Oak where we hope to meet our good friends Bill and Eileen, former Braidbar Owners now living in Nantwich when not gallivanting about the world in their camper van.

Location:Calveley

To Nantwich

It’s very much been a day of two halves. We set off as planned just after eight and boated merrily on to Hack Green, where we had to wait a little for the boat ahead to go down and a hire boat to come up. The wait was enlivened by making the acquaintance of the crew of Waka Huia, two couples from New Zealand including fellow blogger Marilyn.

Once down, it was another good run to Nantwich, arriving there a bit before ten. We found a neat 70’ space in the first stretch of visitor moorings on the embankment and had an early cup of coffee before setting off to do some shopping. Sheila has been wanting to get an unusual size of circular needle to make the knitting of the Guernsey sleeves easier and she recalled that there was a wool shop in one of the side streets here. She did a bit of Googling and soon found it, discovering a shorter walking route to town from here in the process.

Rather than trekking all round the outside of the houses, you can cut through the middle on Millfields to come out by the park. It’s then a pleasant walk to cross the river and go up the side street we wanted. Sadly, the wool shop was a pale shadow of its former self, mainly being concerned with selling miscellaneous fancy DIY stuff and doubling as a coffee shop. Sheila will have to wait until we get to Poynton and a usable address to order the needle online. Apart from this disappointment, we were able to get everything else, including some meat and pies for lunch from that excellent establishment, Clewlows.

Even with our new shortcut, it was a good walk back to the boat, including that final little pull up onto the embankment, so we felt well exercised and ready for lunch. This is just as well, as it’s been raining quite hard for most of the afternoon and activities have been confined to the boat.

The forecast looks a lot better tomorrow, so we’ll press on to Calveley and have a break from the traffic on the Four Counties for a bit.

Location:Nantwich

Another two days in one

The plan for today was to set off in good time and boat through to the top of Audlem before it started raining at ten. If there were no moorings left there, we would slog on down the flight and carry on to the SUCS moorings at Coole Pilate. Accordingly, Sheila got us going just after half six (it was her day to steer anyway) and I ate breakfast whilst she took us through the various visitor moorings of Market Drayton. It meant that when I took over I had a brief bit of quicker boating before we got to the last stretch of offside moorings before Betton Wood.

It’s not the most atmospheric of the Shroppie cuttings but is supposed to be haunted by a shrieking ghost, though that may well be confusion with another Betton Wood which features in a Gothic poem. Sheila took the tiller back in good time for the Adderley flight. The weather continued pleasantly warm and calm as we worked down, meeting several boats coming up. Their crews reported that Audlem was already pretty crowded with boats ready for the Festival of Transport on Sunday and that the visitor moorings were now suspended through the village.

This led to a bit of a rethink about the plan as clearly the situation was not going to improve tomorrow. Accordingly, we decided to adopt plan B regardless of the situation at Audlem Top. Since I’d already worked five locks, Sheila said she’d do the first five at Audlem and we’d work our usual five and five about that we use for long flights.

We could have found room to tie either above the top lock or in our preferred spot two locks down, as it happened. On we went down – we’d not long changed over again at lock six when it started to rain in earnest, about 15 minutes early according to the Met Office. In fact, it fairly bucketed down for the next hour. Things went pretty smoothly, nonetheless, though there were indeed a lot of very trad type boats tied on the moorings below 12 and again below 13, mostly breasted up. The only real problem I had was tucking onto the water point by the Shroppie Fly to allow a boat to come up 13.

We crossed with boats at almost every one of the 15 locks in the flight but almost all were well mannered and no one attempted to turn a lock in front of us. It was just after eleven when we finally emerged from the bottom lock. The rain had already moderated a bit and it pretty well stopped altogether by the time we got to Coole Pilate. There’s plenty of room here and we’ve had a reasonably peaceful afternoon, though a strong wind has given the passing boats a bit of bother.

There have been a fair few more ex-working boats going up, at least one with a proper Bolinder engine. They are unmistakable because of the hit-and-miss regulator that gives the engine note a strikingly uneven beat – pomp-pomp-pom-pom-pom- -pomp-pomp and so on.

Tomorrow, we’ll carry on to Nantwich. We’re now four days ahead of ourselves so may take an extra day there, depending a bit on the weather forecast.

Location:Coole Pilate

Sitting out the rain

It did indeed rain a great deal this morning, so we did well to stay put. We pottered about in the boat until half eleven, by which time the rain had largely cleared away, when we set out and walked to Morrisons via the town centre. There was a street market in progress, but our main interest was the chocolate shop which had sadly disappeared, boo.

We had lunch at Morrisons, thereby both giving me a break from cooking tonight and us a respite before shopping and walking back.

It’s been a quiet afternoon, so there’s not a lot more to say. One of the things I did this morning was a piece about judging the riskiness of moorings spots, stimulated by a thread on the subject over on CWDF. I’ll include it here so that you all don't feel too short changed today ;)

Nowhere is completely safe, of course, odd things have happened in even the most secluded spots, but there are undoubtedly safer and less safe places to tie up. In addition, a place that is ok for a quick shopping stop may not be good for leaving your precious craft unattended for a week. It’s important not to get hung up on these issues or boating will cease to be a pleasure – in addition, attitudes to risk vary from person to person and those who are of a robust mentality should not decry those of us of a more nervous disposition, nor should we who show wise caution in our choices of overnight mooring deride those for whom being untied is all part of the challenge of boating.

Even in the riskiest locations, chances are that a night can be spent unmolested – there’s probably never more than a 5% chance of trouble in any but the dodgiest spots. In addition, these things go in bursts and the dangers of a location change from year to year, partly with shifting fashions amongst the local youth and partly as a result of campaigns to improve safety such as Canal Watch or just extra police or navigation authority attention.

Danger signs to watch for are (in no particular order)

Graffiti
No other boats moored nearby
Moored boats but with protective covers over the windows
Litter, especially drinks cans or syringes
Local knowledge that the location is on a walking route to and from the town centre or local pubs and clubs
Large housing estates alongside the water or close by

Finally, perception is everything. A bad experience in a spot may be enough to persuade you to avoid it in future. There is nothing worse than fretfully lying in bed in the small hours listening for suspicious sounds outside.

Location:Market Drayton

A long morning's cruise

We started a bit later this morning – it was 6.45 before Sheila started off. I’m not sure quite why we felt more relaxed about it, as we knew that, if anything, we had rather more to do to get to Market Drayton. As it happened, it was quite a bit more to do, for two reasons. The first was that curse of the Shroppie, the online mooring. I manage to forget in between times just how frustrating the endless lines of offside boats are.

I know boating isn't about dashing around, far from it, but passing mile after mile of usually rather boring looking boats at 2 mph is just plain dull. It doesn't help that the long straights which Telford’s cut and fill techniques made possible make it a much less interesting canal to steer, just as motorways are inherently less interesting than winding country roads (and are built with those selfsame cut and fill techniques, of course).

The deep cuttings are the only relief from the boredom, frankly. The spectacular embankments must have been too, once upon a time, but are now so tree shrouded you need the map in front of you to remind you that you are up to 80 feet in the air.

The other source of delay came right at the end of the morning in the shape of Tyrley locks. We were pleasantly surprised not to find a queue at the top, but there was sufficient traffic up and down to make everything a bit slow, so that we took well over an hour for five locks. There was one volockie on, but he was staying at the second lock down, presumably because its top gate was leaking like a sieve. I’m not altogether sorry he stayed there – he was a bit gung ho winding the bottom paddles and certainly didn’t check with me as steerer before he did so. In a 70’ boat, that’s not good practice.

We finally got moored on the aqueduct VMs a little before one and flung ourselves on our lunch. Having rested and recovered a bit, we made an expedition to the Aldi that I recalled not far from the Morrisons. Actually, it turned out to be a Lidl, but as we said, aldigether it makes lidl difference.

Apparently, there’s a canal festival in Audlem this coming weekend and the moorings are already filling with ex-working boats, steamers and the like, so we need to think about cruising strategy when we leave here. We’re staying put for tomorrow, anyway, whilst the storm blows through.

Location:Market Drayton

A cunning change to the cunning plan

One minor mystery of the cut – how come you can moor apparently in the middle of nowhere, like where we were last night, and, all day and all evening, joggers come pounding past? I mean, obviously, there must be housing nearer than you think, but it’s really quite unusual not to see joggers and dog walkers, wherever you tie.

Ah well, no matter. We had a very peaceful night and woke in good time this morning, such that we were on our way by 7.45. It had stopped raining, but was still very windy, something that’s going to be an issue for a couple of weeks, seemingly. Sheila steered and reported that the wind was tedious but not impossible, especially as it was on the bow for much of the time. We had a good run to Wheaton Aston, locked down and went on the water point.

Whilst the tank was filling, only moderately quickly, we considered our options in the light of the forecast for a storm on Wednesday with the high winds continuing into Thursday. We were running two days ahead of the draft cruising schedule, which only estimates two hours cruising per day. If we carried on to Gnosall today and to Market Drayton tomorrow (the last really fine day this month, it seems) we’d be able to take a couple of days out at Drayton and still be ahead of schedule.

So that was decided upon, as Stanley Holloway would say. We made it to Gnosall just on noon and found a good spot on the first visitor moorings after the tunnel, just a bit before the road bridge. As regular readers will recall, Gnosall is short for Gnosignall, though there’s now a decent 3 connection but still no Vodafone.

We’ve walked up into the village to get some supplies, partly to make sure we’ve got enough for lunch tomorrow and partly just to top up, the Co-op here being nearer (and a downhill walk back to the boat) than Morrisons in Drayton. Obviously, we’ll do some serious shopping there over the next couple of days as well.

Location:Gnosall

Through Cut End and up the Shroppie

As planned, we made an early start this morning, though since it was Sunday, we didn't actually start boating until 6.30. It’s another situation where for one reason we want to get away early and for another want to time our arrival at the planned stop for mid-morning. In the event, it all worked out well. Sheila steered at first whilst I got some breakfast, then I took over and did the rest of the trick.

The weather wasn't much to write home about, raining softly from time to time but not very windy. We got through Pendeford Rockin’ without meeting anyone coming the other way and similarly had no difficulty at Autherley stop lock. The main challenge is the turn from the southbound Staffs and Worcs onto the northbound Shroppie. As usual, I didn't quite achieve a contactless turn, laying the starboard side on the fendering on the towpath capping and motoring her round.

It’s a very shallow stop lock, one of the smallest on the system – I suppose the main justification for leaving it in place is the sheer length of the pound leading away from it in all three directions. We didn't see any problem children, not that we expected to at that time in the morning, but there were just one or two boats starting to move as we headed along the wide and deep channel of the Shroppie.

Arriving at the moorings beyond Bridge 7 a bit after half nine, we were pleased to see that there was plenty of room, though there were quite a few boats here. One of them was Timewarp and we’ve had another natter with Tony this afternoon. That was while we were washing the roof, which badly needed doing, still being covered with dirty smuts from the winter in Mercia, exacerbated by material washed down off the trees during the recent rain storms.

Before that, we’d given the boat another quick sweep through, so we are once more filled with a sense of virtue.

And cream crackered.

It’s a lovely, peaceful mooring here, far enough away from the M54 not to be troubled by it but with decent mooring rings and Armco piling. Tomorrow, we’ll carry on to Wheaton Aston, or perhaps a little beyond. As usual on the Shroppie, there’s no guarantee that we’ll have a usable data signal every day, so don't be surprised if the occasional blog post doesn't get made…

Location:Brewood

Curvily to Coven

I’ve not got a huge amount to report today, which has gone pretty much according to plan. We’d estimated 2 hours from Gailey to Coven, so left just before eight, expecting to need to give time for people to leave the moorings by the Fox and Anchor before we got there. It’s one of those sections that’s hard work for the steerer, being very curvy, but the crew has little more to do than hang about in the well deck, spotting oncoming boats.

Mostly this worked out alright, though some of the aforesaid boats were less considerate about sharing the width of the available channel than they might have been. We just managed to fit a wash load in as in the event we made it in a bit under the two hours. There were very few boats on these moorings, interestingly, though it was still before ten o’clock. Admittedly, those heading south might well have done what we intend to do tomorrow, that is leave very early so as to get through the Rockin’ in good time and pass through the dodgy area around Autherley Junction whilst the little horrors who throw stuff at you from the bridges are all still in bed.

We’ve walked into the village and got a good selection of meat from the butcher. On our return, we found an ex-OwnerShips boat, Hawksmoor, tied just in front of us and had a good old natter with her steerer about the joys of shared ownership and like topics.

It’s been a quiet afternoon. We’ve been able to sit outside in the well deck for some of the time, though an occasional shower drove us indoors in the end. Tomorrow, round onto the Shroppie and on to the moorings at Bridge 7.

Location:Coven

A quiet day indoors

It has indeed been a rather grotty sort of day, windy and damp, though not as damp as it was 46 years ago in Aberdeen. On our wedding photos you can see Sheila’s footprints in the red carpet as she walked into Kings College Chapel…

We never make a big deal of anniversaries, except for the milestone ones, and today has been no exception. In any event, we’ve tried the pub here and weren't impressed. We will have a meal out at some point, when we get to a pub we like, probably on the Shroppie.

As planned, we’ve had a quiet day staying put in the wind and rain. There have been a good few boats back and forth, including the hire boats turning round at the yard. We’ve caught up with both desk work and cleaning and tidying jobs, so are feeling quite virtuous. The boat looks clean and tidy and clothes have been sorted in the drawers.

Tomorrow, we’ll amble round the summit pound to Coven for the night.

Location:Gailey

Getting to Gailey

Looking at the weather forecast for the next couple of days suggested that Friday might not be a very good day for boating in this part of the world. Not much in the way of rain, but winds in the high teens gusting up to nearly 30 mph. We’d planned to stop below Gailey today and work up tomorrow, getting a pump out and diesel from the ABC yard above. But if we didn't move tomorrow, that would mean looking for these services from a busy hire yard on a Saturday.

Also, today’s forecast was for heavy rain first thing followed by slowly improving conditions, making the early start and breakfast on the waterpoint plan less than optimal. So we changed it, making a leisurely start then setting off at around half eight. It was, in fact, still raining, but with a fine mizzly rain. I togged up in a waterproof top and shorts (skin dries faster than trousers) and off we went, not stopping to water.

There was a steady amount of traffic about, so Sheila had help at every lock of the eight we had to do today, at the cost of me hanging about below hanging onto Sanity Again. Things went pretty smoothly except that my radio died. Knowing that they were coming up for a change of batteries, I swapped it for the spare in my pocket, but that died too. I got Sheila to take over steering whilst I did an all round battery swap, but it didn't help. It seemed likely that the fine rain was defeating the damp protection of the loudspeakers, so I gave both the problem radios to Sheila to put in the airing cupboard and we managed with hand signals for the rest of the trip.

We’d remembered Gailey as being a good place to get services, but were rather deceived in that. We got a very basic pump out for £18 and filled with just under 110 litres of diesel. The yard only offers a 60 propulsion/40 domestic split unless you are prepared to claim 100% domestic, something you should only do if moored on a residential mooring nearby. On the other hand, their base price for domestic was 64 ppl, so declaring 60/40 rather than my usual 40/60 probably worked out much the same as it would have at a yard charging around 75 ppl base price.

Nonetheless, we’ll try and avoid the place in future. The thing is, the next yard on our direct route is Napton Narrowboats at Autherley who are no better. Our alternative, since the toilet tank probably wouldn't have lasted to Brewood, would have been to go on to Oxley Marine beyond the junction, then wind at Aldersley Junction to come back to Autherley.

After all this, we pushed across to the water point to fill that tank which was getting very low. It’s a slow tap there and, as it was now past twelve o’clock, we ended up lunching rather than breakfasting on the water point. Once all done, we chugged along to the 48 hour visitor moorings at the other end of the straight. We’ve found a nice spot, peaceful (apart from the other boats mostly tanking past) and not too shady or under a tree.

We’ll sit tight here tomorrow, catching up with some jobs inside the boat that have been getting neglected with all this charging about. The good news is, the radios have fully recovered, showing the benefit of having an airing cupboard that gets properly hot thanks to that bit of finrad in the engine coolant return from the calorifier.

Location:Gailey

Pottering at Penkridge

Despite the comparative proximity of the M6, it’s always very peaceful when tied above Deptmore Lock and last night was no exception. We even overslept very slightly, but since there was plenty of time for matutinal coffee drinking whilst boating to the first lock, this was of no consequence. It proved to be another very pleasant couple of hours’ boating through Shutt Hill, Park Gate and Longford Locks to tie in our usual spot opposite the park homes of Penkridge.

We were all sorted by ten and had another coffee before setting out to visit the village centre. After a call at the bank, we explored the Wednesday Market, but didn't buy anything. It’s a fairly average sort of weekly market and well patronised by the locals. Visits to Sainsbury’s and the Co-op met our shopping needs, plus a call into the pharmacy actually found some moleskin.

It’s interesting that in the course of a phone call from son Graeme last night, he’d agreed that moleskin wasn't often available these days, the more modern Compeed products being preferred. Soldiers, of course, are experts in the care of the feet and the management of new boots, so I’ve no doubt he is right. Apparently, the squaddies use plain zinc oxide plaster as a prophylactic against sore feet.

So, the great moleskin hunt is over. Can't seem to find Chinese leaf anywhere, though…

We’ve been loafing in the boat during the afternoon, rather, reading and doing puzzles and Sheila advanced my Guernsey a little further. The weather has been ok so far, but looks rather threatening now – I shouldn’t be surprised if we have some heavy showers in the next few hours. Hopefully, such rain will reduce the number of small flies plaguing us here. We’ve had to rig the fly screens in all the hatches for the first time this summer.

We need to fill the water tank, so plan to lock up onto the service point first thing tomorrow and eat breakfast whilst the tank is filling, as we did last time we were here in April.

Location:Penkridge

Up to Deptmore

I’ve probably remarked before that the first part of the Staffs and Worcs is a mixed bag, scenery-wise. You start off with one of the more lyrical sections before and after Tixall Lock, including the mysterious mansion with immaculately tended grounds on the offside immediately after the lock and before the right angled bend onto the Sow Aqueduct. Is it a private house, belonging to some millionaire? Is it a very upmarket care home? A small hotel, ditto?

Anyway, once over the Sow, things begin to become more robust, with the West Coast Mainline hanging menacingly above you and then the run of moorings at Milford. Milford village has a claim to fame beyond being a handy access point for Cannock Chase – it still has the first ever Wimpy hamburger bar in the country.

There follows the rather utilitarian stretch around Stafford with the park home estate replacing the railway line, the industrial estate that's home to RCR, then Radford Bank (where there were a number of Mercian boats tied up) and finally the greener section towards Stafford Boat Club. After that, things become much more rural again until Deptmore Lock is reached, incredibly deep just as Tixall is incredibly shallow.

By starting before eight, we managed most of this without meeting too many other boats, though we had one close encounter at a bridge, contact only being avoided thanks to Sheila’s warning from the bow and a hoot from our klaxon. This canal does specialise in bridges on blind bends and it’s a very good idea to ease off before each on the assumption that you may have to stop. Sanity Again has a well set up prop and good swims, of course, but her 23 tonnes takes a bit of slowing down, even from 2 mph.

We’ve tied in our usual spot just beyond the lock. It’s turned very breezy, though the sun is still beaming down. We’d run a wash load on the way (there’s just nice time for it if you start it at Milford), but there was no question of rigging the whirligig. However, it being very warm, dry and sunny, Sheila put most of the stuff on hangers in the engine room and the rest on the sock dryer. By leaving the slide, both Houdinis and the bow doors open, we’ve had a very pleasant breeze through the boat, keeping us cool and drying the clothes in double quick time.

Tomorrow, a few more locks, possibly in the rain, past Acton Trussell and on to Penkridge.

Location:Deptmore

Colwich to Haywood to Tixall

We were very pleased with last night’s mooring, far enough out of Rugeley to be very peaceful, despite the occasional train on the West Coast Mainline, and just short of Bridge 69, so not within range of the agricultural smells of the pig farm. After a good night’s kip, we made the planned early start at half seven and had a good run through to Wolseley Bridge and so on to Colwich. Sheila steered and I did lookout – there wasn't a lot of traffic.

Colwich lock was with us and on we went to Great Haywood without incident, getting there just after nine. Here, the lock was against us but with no boat in sight I started to turn it. No sooner had I drawn a bottom paddle than a boat appeared coming round the corner, so I dropped the paddle I’d just raised and refilled the lock. They were ever so grateful, though I’d given Sheila quite a bit of hassle as she’d got Sanity Again lined up on the lock and now had to back off onto the lock landing.

Once we were up, I set off to walk to the junction to see her through, but got waylaid by Ivor Bachelor who was standing by their boat Lepus, displaying Mel’s decorated canal ware, and who wanted a good old natter. (No change there, then.) I managed to get away just in time to check for boats approaching along the Staffs and Worcs as Sheila started the turn.

Plenty of room here on our favourite moorings, Tixall Wide, I’m pleased to say. After we’d tied and had coffee we set off to do some shopping. Dave on Anon was tied just before the water point, having his fuel polished, so after a fruitless hunt for Chinese leaf in the Farm Shop, we stopped to buy Sheila a new belt. He really is very good value. A belt with her choice of buckle and chosen from a selection of decorative styles, made to measure by fitting the buckle after she’d chosen the belt, cost just £16.

We wanted to continue the search for moleskin in the pharmacy at the other end of the village, so stopped on the way for a further and better natter with Ivor. He warned us that the little general store next to the pharmacy has closed, but we carried on in that direction anyway. No moleskin, perhaps not surprising as that pharmacy is managed by the same people as the Alrewas one.

On we went up the village to the other store where we got a few bits and pieces and headed back to the boat. All this had taken long enough that it was now lunchtime, since when we’ve been taking it pretty easy in the warm sun.

It’s been a bit of a birdy day. I heard a yaffle (green woodpecker) yakking at me as we passed the woods by Wolseley Bridge and then spotted a buzzard sitting hunched on a power line pole. Shortly after that, the electric blue flash of a kingfisher was seen flying across the cut towards the river.

Tomorrow, a lazier start heading for Deptmore Lock.

Location:Tixall Wide

Ruggedly through Rugeley

When we were boating earlier in the year, the weather tended to be fine in the morning and any rain fell in the afternoon, which was largely the right way round. This month, it seems to be the reverse, with damp mornings and dry afternoons. It mizzled down most of the time I was steering today, though it only got serious towards the end. (I’m not sure if mizzled is a verb in a meteorological context, though I’m sure you all know what I mean. Its other use is a piece of thieves cant from between the World Wars, meaning to abscond, vide the Doctor Thorndyke stories of R Austin Freeman.)

Anyway, off we went just on half eight and had a pleasant trip past the thrills of the Armitage Shanks plumbers porcelain factory and the gothic romance of Spode House and Hawksyard Priory, Staffordshire’s miniature Gormenghast. (Q: What does the Armitage factory have in common with the Palace of Westminster? A: you can get promoted in both for making a right bog of your job.)

We got to the shopping moorings by Bridge 66 just on half ten, so a pretty accurate estimation of travel time. We’ve done a successful bit of shopping, though for some reason Dr. Scholl’s moleskin for sore spots on your feet is no longer available anywhere we try. Very odd.

Off we went again just after eleven. The original plan had been to stop on the Brindley Bank visitor moorings, but they were very busy and we had some time in hand, so we’ve come on closer to the Taft Wharf moorings, stopping on a handy bit of Armco just short of the pig farm. It means that we’ll get to Colwich Lock even earlier than planned tomorrow morning, always a good thing when the cut is as busy as it is today. Naturally, once we’d committed to going on, the rain started in earnest.

Humorous wildlife note: ravens may be incredibly intelligent according to a recent report, but pigeons are definitely much less so. We saw a pair billing and cooing near the power station today, one each side of a two metre high mesh fence…

Location:Rugeley

Handily to Handsacre

Alrewas to Handsacre is a longish day by our standards and we knew that, it being a Saturday in July, Fradley would get pretty frantic later in the day. Accordingly, we set off not long after seven having eaten breakfast but not had a coffee. It was Sheila’s turn to steer and mine to lock, so I walked through the village (now totally chock-a-block with boats) to Bagnall Lock. A boat had come past the other way as were setting off and sure enough the lock was empty and open and there was a space on the towpath above.

All I had to do was hang around until Sheila arrived in Sanity Again having crept past all the other boats. We made good time to Common Lock, crossing with Crafty Foxes out of Mercia on the way. In theory this meant that Common should be with us, but we could see that there was at least some water in there as it was draining through the mitre of the bottom gates. Sheila dropped me on the lock landing and I found that the top gate was leaking so badly through one of the upper boards that the lock had half filled.

It’s a pretty shallow lock, of course, so it didn't take long to drain it down again and on we went, your correspondent walking from there on to the top of Fradley. Here, things were rather busier, starting with an odd sort of bloke in a very small splitter GRP cruiser who emerged single handed from Keepers as I got to Hunts. This last was completely empty and Sanity Again was not far away, though now creeping past the boats on the long term moorings below the lock, so I didn't try to turn it and he had to wait for us to work up.

He didn't seem to mind, though seemed very vague about where he was or where the next lock was. I did my best to explain, whereupon he said he was on his way to Leicester “through Nottingham”. He knew that he had to turn right when he got to the Trent, though, so I said, yes, that’s right. It was only later that it occurred to me that if he turns right immediately on joining the Trent, that is, below Derwent Mouth lock, he’ll find himself going upstream back to Shardlow, but I expect someone will sort him out when he gets there.

Meantime, we carried on up the locks, waiting for just a little below Junction for a minor traffic jam to sort itself, and were soon rising in Shade House. As soon as we were clear of that, I nipped below and got a wash load running – I’m sure regular readers will be relieved to hear that…

There wasn't a lot to do apart from making coffee once we were above Woodend. I spent a bit of the time pondering what a loss it will be when the classic mixed English wood that gives the lock its name has been raped by HS2. It’s not an important or specially significant wood, as far as I know, just a typical mixture of oak and ash with a bit of beech and holly, providing accommodation for a broad assortment of native animals and insects.

Mind you, just as I thought these very words, I realised I was staring at a huge bank of rhododendrons…

We got to Handsacre just after eleven and had no trouble finding a towpath mooring a bit beyond the winding hole. Things have filled up now, though there’s still space opposite the pub. We’ve been taking it easy this afternoon, apart from when we were taking a stroll. Lots and lots of boats have gone by, mostly well behaved, though one seniors booze cruise tested the quality of our moorings quite ferociously. No hire boats have been seen today – it’s probably turn round day for most of them.

Tomorrow, a later start as we want to do a bit of shopping in Rugeley and the supermarkets won’t open until ten.

Location:Handsacre

And it's Alrewas Again

We’ve had a very pleasant day of it, despite the weather being much cooler. In fact I actually wore a fleece whilst steering, the first time I’ve had one on for several weeks. Expecting to take three hours to get to Alrewas, we set off in very good time, so that we were locking up Tatenhill by eight o’clock. As it was, there was a certain amount of traffic about, though we didn't have to queue for a lock until the last one, the Alrewas river lock.

In this case, Sheila doing look out in the bow saw a boat leave the lock as we came round the bend by the weir, but by the time we got to the second bend onto the final straight a boater was turning the lock and I had to pull onto the lock landing and wait. Sheila was muttering a bit since she reckoned we were visible by the time he was drawing the top paddles, but it wasn't worth making a fuss.

As it was, we’d made good time and it was not yet half ten. The moorings immediately above the lock were almost empty, with just the one boat at the far end, so we tied bow to bow with them. They’ve proved to be a very pleasant South African couple who spend a few months of the year over here boating. Needless to say, the moorings have all filled up now (5 o’clock), pretty well the whole length through the village.

After a quick coffee, we made a shopping expedition to the butcher and the Co-op, treating ourselves to pasties for lunch. I’m having a lazy day of it since we plan to get some fish and chips for dinner, the Alrewas Fryer being one of the better chip shops round here.

Two other bits of good news – my fix behind the rev counter seems to have worked and indeed the engine heater plugs are performing slightly better as a result. They’d started to drop off a bit, needing eight seconds preheat to get a start on the first turn, but just five seconds today did the job. Since the repair included the negative from the heater plugs relay, they must have been being starved a bit.

Even better, Sheila has just had an excellent dry trim from Ann Sutton of Haircuts Afloat on NB Eclipse – and for only a tenner at that. They are presently on their way up the T&M to Etruria, but are thinking of coming into Mercia for the winter having just had a good couple of days there. I’m sure there would be plenty of demand around the marina if they do so… Meantime, if you are the Stone/Stoke on Trent area over the next couple of weeks and need a haircut, you could do worse than ring Ann on 07900 146042.

Location:Alrewas

Busily to Branston

It’s always a bit noisy on the Willington visitor moorings, what with the railway to one side and the traffic on Findern Lane on the other. Findern Lane is a bit busier than it used to be, of course, owing to this successful tourist “destination” just the other side of the level crossing. ;) Nonetheless, we managed a reasonable night’s sleep and woke in good time this morning. My appointment at the surgery was for 9.30, so it was a leisurely start before ambling down there.

Sheila took the opportunity to visit the Co-op for some last minute supplies whilst I was out. I was seen ten minutes early and Wendy the phlebotomist made short work of extracting 5ml of blood from me, so it was not long after half nine that we were setting off, most of our fellow moorers having already left. I feared that this would mean queues at the locks but, although there was a fair amount of traffic, we only had to wait a short while at both Dallow Lane and Branston. We will adopt our early start, early finish tactics from here on in – if it’s this busy down here, it’s going to be pretty brisk on the approach to Great Haywood and then round the Four Counties.

We got to the Branston VMs at half twelve to find no-one else here, though a couple of boats have since tied in front of us. Construction work proceeds apace on the new road, bridge, school and 2,500 houses they are building. Sheila got chatting to a local towpath walker as we were tying up and was told that the presently closed approach road is scheduled to reopen at the beginning of next month. The Bridge Inn is pretty fed up with it all. There is a diversion in place to reach it, but it’s six miles round over Henhurst Ridge, so not encouraging for people in Branston village thinking of a night out, especially in view of all the other pubs they would drive past to get there.

It’s hard to believe that a better solution couldn't be found. We can understand the need to replace the old bridge, which was seriously weight-restricted and couldn't have taken the school buses, but that sort of situation is almost routine, surely? It’s a tough enough life trying to run a food pub these days without suddenly finding yourself isolated at the end of an extra six mile drive.

We’ve had a quiet afternoon, though I did take some time to investigate the cause of the rev counter needle bouncing around again. When I discussed its foibles with Peter Mason during the Crick Show, he’d advised checking out the earth wiring and, sure enough, a gentle tug on one of the black leads pulled it out of its spade terminal. I’ve remade the joint with the aid of my terminal crimper and we’ll see if that’s turned the trick tomorrow, when the plan is to go on to Alrewas on what’s forecast to be a breezy day.

Location:Branston

Getting ready to go again

We’ve moved back onto the boat over the last couple of days after a very pleasant stay in the lodge. This was characterised by a family event, namely the visit of my sister from the States and a family day on the Sunday. Graeme, Cathy and the grandsons came over from Lincolnshire and Elanor and Sally joined us for the day.

Some of the rest of the time has been spent at Elanor’s new bungalow, helping get it ready for her occupation. It’s benefited from some building work and general repairs and will amply repay the effort and expense she’s put into it.

I’m booked to have a (hopefully) routine blood test first thing on Thursday, so we’ll leave the marina tomorrow and tie on the towpath in Willington. After I’ve been to the surgery, we’ll set off for Branston.

The cruising plan is to head clockwise round the Four Counties ring, with a side trip towards Chester, probably stopping at Christleton as we’ve done in the past, rather than working all the way down into the town. Returning from there, we’ll carry on round the Four Counties, climbing the Cheshire Locks to Red Bull and turning off onto the Macc as so often before. We aim to get to Poynton towards the end of August, have a couple of jobs done to Sanity Again and then take part in the Braidbar Owners’ Weekend and Open Day over the 9th and 10th of September.

Sheila did the regular announcement of that on Sunday – we already have most of twenty people and four or five boats booked in, so it looks like it’s going to be as popular as ever.

I won’t blog again tomorrow, there won’t be much to say, but after that will get back into the swing of reporting on our boating each afternoon.

Location:Mercia