Down we go

After last night's indulgence, I'm surprised we've not sunk, but in fact we've just started the descent towards the Cheshire Plain. Considering that this canal is now called the Shropshire Union, remarkably little of it is actually in Shropshire. We've not long left Staffordshire (for the second time) and will shortly be in Cheshire. The reason is, of course, that this is actually the Birmingham and Liverpool Junction Canal and was just one component, albeit the principal one, of the amalgamation of canals, including the Welsh Canal and the Chester Canal, which were collectively called the Shropshire Union.

Come to think of it, the "Birmingham and Liverpool Junction Canal" doesn't actually reach either Birmingham or Liverpool...

I'm probably rambling on like this because I'm still digesting last night's grub. We had a very good evening in the Wharf Tavern, excellent beer including Joule's Pale Ale and their Green Monkey lager which was good enough for Sheila to guess that it was a continental beer. The food was indeed freshly cooked and the banana split would have done the two of us, though Sheila's sundae looked like it would have too.

(John C, if you are passing that way, you will particularly like the quality of service we received.)

An eight o'clock start saw us soon chugging through Woodseaves cutting, the most dramatic on the route, indeed probably one of the most dramatic on the system, steep sided and narrow. CRT have done some sterling work with gabions and concrete filled sandbags to make it more secure and Sheila had little trouble steering through, though the northern half, which bends, always causes anxiety, there being little room to pass another boat.

This is a good reason to do it first thing, before the boats which have moored overnight in Market Drayton have made it up Tyrley Locks. We followed a boat down Tyrley and crossed with boats coming up for the last two. There was plenty of room here at Drayton when we arrived just after ten, though it's all filled up now.

After coffee, we staggered down the road as far as what used to be the Netto and is now a small Asda. Not our favourite store, but the others are much further away, so it had to do. We'll get some more supplies in Audlem the day after tomorrow, and then probably a trip to Morrisons in Nantwich in due course.

Tomorrow, the plan is a half seven start, down Adderley and the top two of Audlem.

 

There's not an Offley lot...

... of mobile signal at Offley, hence no blog yesterday. We'd had a good run there from Little Onn after a very quiet night – once the farmer had stopped driving large bits of plant about. We managed to get enough connection to let the family know we were virtually off grid and had an exchange of texts with them.

We tried a little walk along the towpath and back across the fields, but the footpath for the second half had disappeared, necessitating a return along the canal. No matter, we rewarded ourselves with a drink at The Anchor. It's no longer true that you can't get food at the Anchor. There's a little sign up that says "Sandwiches" – but the beer still comes in a jug and was very good. They even do lager, as long as it's Carling.

After another peaceful night, we set out at eight this morning and had a good run to Goldstone Wharf, taking just a couple of hours. We know that the Wharf Inn here does food so we're going to eat out tonight. This afternoon, we sussed out another possible walk which we actually managed to find. I have the OS app on the iPad now which works well in these situations. It's only 79p to download a 1:50,000 tile, the scale of the red covered Explorer maps.

The start of the path took a bit of hunting for, but then it was quite well way marked. The last bit, into Cheswardine village, went along the road. We'd had thoughts about returning to Goldstone on this road, but our brief exposure to rural driving Shropshire style persuaded us that our chances of survival would be much better back across the fields.

Since then we've been having a quiet afternoon, letting our feet cool down. It's the longest walk Sheila's done since her op. It's not so much the op site recovering now, although her foot still gets a bit swollen, it's about regaining general fitness after reduced exercise for half the summer.

Tomorrow, on through Woodseaves cutting, down Tyrley locks and into Market Drayton for some serious restocking. We're over half way to Nantwich here, so just a few more days will see us off the Shroppie.