Wednesday 18th August
At last an internet signal! This canal is so internet unfriendly. It is probably something to do with the fact that most of the moorings are in cuttings or surrounded by trees! It is a very attractive canal though alternating thus far between dark, tunnel like cuttings and high embankments. So what have we been up to I hear you cry? Well ………..
Sunday 15th August
We didn’t do much today really. We moved the boat, 1 and a half miles (which it had been quicker to walk the day before!) up to Brewood village moorings in the morning so our aged dog could get to the pub at lunchtime! It was a lovely day although the moorings, which were, as is normal on here, in a tree lined cutting, were somewhat dark.
Monday 16th August
We thought we’d better move on a bit today as we were going so slowly round this system we were in danger of being charged mooring fees! We managed 3 miles and 1 lock to Wheaton Aston. We had intended to go a bit further after lunch but on the way back from the pub we met Jim on ‘Arlanza’. He was moored up in front of us and by the time we had had a chat with him, then gone to the shop it was getting on a bit so we decided to stay.
Tuesday 17th August
We have come a whopping 7 and a half miles today! We stopped off in Gnosall and went to the shop for a paper. We popped into the butchers as well for some sausages but he had only got frozen ones so he broke off a lump of sausages and charged us £3. When we counted them we had 15 and they weighed 2lb, not bad for £3! By this time the pub was not open yet so we moved on to Norbury Junction.
This is a busy place for mooring with a chandlery, pub, tea room, boat yard and sanitary station so it was quite crowded. We ran the gauntlet of several dogs to get George to the Junction Inn and found a covered area to sit in as it was, of course, going to rain! We got chatting to a chap there who’s boat is called ‘Shotley Shuffle’ but I don’t think it has anything to do with the Shotley we know.
Ken went over to the shop to order a paper for tomorrow and came back and told me about the lovely cakes he had seen in the tearoom on the way past! …………….. I womanfully avoided the tearoom and had a cup of tea and a digestive back at the boat!
Wednasday 18th August
We have come 5 miles today. We started off by going to the shop and picking up our paper and a couple of things from the chandlery. We are having a bit of trouble with our (second) water pump. It keeps coming on even when we aren’t using the taps. Usually this can mean a leak but we can’t find one. We asked for some advice about checking the accumulator pressure and after checking it and finding it ok we ended up buying a new pump! Ken is going to fit it tomorrow and hopefully the problem will be solved. If not …………… aaargh!
After all this excitement we went off to The Anchor Inn in High Offley. This is a very famous canal pub where they only sell one type of beer, Wadsworth’s 6X and a lager. There used to be no pumps and the old girl had to go down the cellar for the beer but there is a pump now. They don’t do any food and it’s hard to see how they manage to make any money. There were only 4 of us there today, but it is a lovely quaint pub. It’s probably busier in the evenings or at the weekends. We had a nice chat with the chap behind the bar after we were driven inside by a shower. It is tiny in the bar and George did a certain amount of furniture moving!
After this we moved to Knighton where we are a bit more out in the open, thus I can get this updated. We were hoping for a bit of seclusion after all the busy moorings we have been in lately but there are 2 other boats here now. We will probably stay here tomorrow and do a bit of maintenance (in my case hoovering and ironing!) and move on to Market Drayton on Friday. It may be days before you find out!
