Thursday 13th October
Have you missed me then? What do you mean, not really? Apart from last Saturday, when I was engrossed in TV all evening, a very unusual occurrence for a Saturday, I have been unable to get a sustainable internet signal and have thus been unable to keep you up to date with our progress. As you can see we are currently just outside Brewood, nearly at the end of the Shroppie.
Saturday 8th October
Since I last wrote we have been to Shebdon Wharf and now have a fully functioning cratch cover, complete with new zip and 3 patches, hurrah! While we were waiting we decided to take George to the Wharf Inn which is just up the road under the canal from Shebdon Wharf. However when we arrived there we found it was shut, even though it was a Saturday! The only lunchtime they did open was Sunday. So we had to take himself back to the boat and then we walked up to the Anchor at High Offley which is about a mile along the canal. Luckily they haven’t gone on to their Winter opening hours yet so they were open.
When we returned the cover was done and jolly pleased we are with it too. As our cratch board is a bit dodgy and the cover is not the best we made enquiries about a whole new cratch board and cover and found it would be about £1,000 so we’ll soldier on with what we’ve got for the time being! By this time the moorings opposite the wharf, which we had hoped to get in to, had filled up so we had to travel up to High Offley to find a mooring for the night.
Sunday 9th October
Sunday we travelled 2.5 miles from High Offley to Norbury Junction. We moored before the junction and took George to the pub. It was quite a pleasant day actually. After the pub we took George back to the boat then we went to the chandlery for a light to put in the cratch and a few other bits. I’m afraid we succumbed to the lure of the tea room and had tea and a huge slice of bakewell tart as well!
Monday 10th October
Monday we moved all of about quarter of a mile to the other side of the junction. We stopped at the wharf first for diesel (73.9p/litre), coal and water. It was really windy again so we didn’t venture much further and moored up just past the 5 day moorings. We were at a gap in the hedge and the wind was horrendous. We had to tie the parasol base with the satellite dish in to the top of the boat to stop us from taking off! When we took George to the pub we thought we could take him in but apparently not. However we found a nice sheltered table outside and it was ok. I didn’t sleep much Sunday night because of the strong winds buffeting the boat and although I knew the satellite dish was safe, I still had one ear open listening for the crash!
Tuesday 11th October
Tuesday the wind had dropped a bit and we moved on 7.5 miles to Wheaton Aston. As there were no locks for me to do I did a bit of interior cleaning on the way. We took George to the Hartley Arms before going to the local shop for a few things. Here we got a bus timetable and decided to go to Stafford on Wednesday. In the evening, much to his delight, Ken caught some very good fish.
Wednesday 12th October
Wednesday we went to Stafford on the bus (a whopping £5-20 for me!) which took about 40 minutes. We got talking to a lovely lady at the (non) bus stop, outside the shop, who said that although the bus wasn’t officially supposed to stop there she usually threw herself in the road and it did! Stafford is a nice town with all the usual shops, including Sport’s Direct where I got a very heavily discounted pair of golfer’s waterproof trousers, so it will not rain again in the foreseeable future! Ken went in Edinburgh Woolen Mill and got a very fetching flat cap, it really suits him. There is also a Wetherspoon’s (of course) which used to be a cinema, as a few of them used to be, Market Drayton and Rugeley to name two I know. This particular one is the most still like a cinema of the ones we have been in though. We also had a walk in the park and alongside the River Sow. In the park there is a collection of different sorts of pheasants which is interesting, I didn’t realise there were so many. Some of them are very glamorous looking! More fishing in the evening produced more good fish for himself.
Thursday 13th October
And so to today where we have travelled 5 miles and 1 lock from Wheaton Aston to just outside Brewood. We are on the lovely moorings at Bridge 7. We stopped in Brewood and went to the Coop for a few things. It’s amazing how many times we have to go to the shops for a ‘few things’! After which we took George to the Bridge Inn. We fooled him into going a slightly longer way round which included some rather steep steps, bless. He was pleased to actually go in the pub because just lately we have had to sit outside and he doesn’t really consider that as going to the pub I don’t think. He had a bit of fuss from a nice gentleman in there and laid right in the middle of the floor tripping up all who tried to pass him!
This afternoon we have moved on a couple of miles to the rural moorings. We got attacked by a hire boat as they reversed back into the space in front of us and two boats further on there was a bit of a dog altercation going on but apart from that it is really peaceful here. The fishing is proving fruitful too (3.5 lb carp amongst other things) so himself is a happy bunny!
What of B and B I hear you cry? Well they have had a new inverter fitted so their 240v electrics work again now but their batteries are still crap I think. Last I heard (Monday) they were at Branston so they are miles in front of us now.
