Saturday 16th October
We were really useful this morning. Before we left Wheaton Aston we cleaned the outside of the boat. And not before time I must say! When I say we cleaned the outside of the boat, of course I mean we cleaned the front, back and the side on the towpath. Having said that Ken did do the bit along the roof beside the handrail on the water side. This was because our chimney has, for whatever reason, deposited a load of rusty stuff on to the roof and this has proceeded to run all the way to the back of the boat! In the process of cleaning this off the roof of course Ken made that side of the boat worse! We will be moored on the other side at Tixall so we will be able to clean it then.
After this flurry of activity we set off for Brewood. This is only 3 miles and 1 lock from Wheaton Aston but we decided to have a shorter day today. We moored in the cutting and went to the Bridge Inn. At first we sat outside as it was sunny but it soon clouded up so when this chap with a whippet vacated the bar we went in.
While we were sitting outside though we met the oldest bell ringer in the country, so he told us. He is 98 and used to ring the Angelus at the church at 9am, 12pm and 6pm. Now he just does the 12pm one and only if the weather is ok. He walks 1 mile to the church and 1 mile back home again to do this as well! A lady pulled up in a car and offered him a lift but he said he wanted to walk. Marvellous!
After a couple of pints of Cocker Hoop we moved on to the nice rural moorings about a mile outside Brewood, so we have come about 4 miles today. We were moored up here exactly 9 weeks ago on our way up, time flies. Tomorrow we will be leaving the Shroppie and going back on to the Staffs and Worcester.
