It actually looks a bit like Summer. We thought we’d move off before Monday as the floating market traders should be packing and going then. Meanwhile, we had some morning visitors…
Day 38 – things on sticks
Market Drayton
Got a bit bored and it was a bit shallow here – the boat bumps and the wee doggie da nae like it! And with the forecast of rain coming we pushed on just a short distance to Goldstone Wharf – managed to get in, just. This would mean our cruising time on the wet day was short.
👋 Big wave to all our readers! New hello to Tim & Heather 👋
The next day saw us chugging through Woodseaves Cutting – again our Mr Telford had got his navvies to cut thru the sandstone – this is an infamous couple of miles, shallow & narrow with the sides sometimes reaching 100 feet.
Well, that was the wet Thursday which lead to an even wetter Friday. Steve cycled to Morrisons to shop – inspired to make his own Jambalaya! Saturday & Sunday sees the Floating Market come to town – a dozen or so trading boats display their bunting and wares . . .
The day was rounded off with a swim in the river for Toby and a “wet” for us two, back in the Red Lion – to try their seasonal keg beer IPA! Nice. Off tomorrow . . . heading for Audlem and lots of locks.
Somewhere Quiet – Bridge 47
Rain’s coming Wednesday, so time to move on. There was a big Canal Festival at Norbury over the weekend, so we’ve waited until that was over first.
Our fellow Yelvertoft friends, David & Sarah on Hodmadod were also leaving – aiming to get to Gloucester for the Tall Ships festival 
Yes, Norbury was very busy. Met the coal barge & it’s towed boat right at the narrowest point 
Very slow going 
Here’s one for Gail – a boat called Jess 
Unique bridges and yes, there’s a boat coming 
And here’s one for Lucia – another bridge 42. We followed this day boat on tick over – it’s engine was governed and couldn’t go any faster! 
Lots of these chaps around 
The old warehouse – used to be run by Cadbury’s, to ship their chocolate 
We’re aiming for bridge 47 . . so nearly there 
Nantwich is just about as far as we go on the Shroppie, so getting closer 
Final spot. Been here before. A nice quiet mooring with rings – bridge 47 or Black Flat bridge.
A Little Stroll
Toby hasn’t had much in the way of walks – not long walks, anyway. So, it being Bank Holiday Monday, we thought we’d avoid the town & crowds and head off down the disused Stafford-Shrewsbury railway. This was a bit boring, well, it was a long and mainly very straight path but we met a local who suggested a detour – a loop around the Windmill hill.
Day 32 – Gnosall
Had our fill of Wheaton Aston – pubs with mediocre beer – one that let dogs in but didn’t open until the afternoon and didn’t do food and t’other that did do food but was dog unfriendly. And it rained and it was cold! Fire back on then. Time to move on. There’s a big canal festival at Norbury, so we’ll avoid that – there’s no moorings as they are all taken up by trading boats. Two hours to Gnosall – a good spot (see blog passim) with a good micro pub and a water point.
This the canalside pub – Jennings Sneck lifter plus a good menu 
But, having to eat outside as there’s No Dogs inside 
Our spot – pretty noisy as there’s a lot of traffic, both boats and walkers plus all the permie boats seem to run their diesel engines for hours every day – solar panels guys?? Give it a miss in future. 
Ducks ain’t stupid! They know who’s got the food and they knock on the window for more 
Nice spot, early in the morning, before the rush. 
An unusual sign but quite necessary 
Steve often gets into his Victor Meldrew mode when he sees yet another No Name boat! So here’s the CRT official terms & conditions that we boaters all signed up to when licencing our boats – updated April 2019
Well Telford was a “modern” canal builder, so he didn’t meander around hills or valleys but went over them in huge embankments or deep cuttings – straighter meant a shorter route and time was money. Here’s one of the cuttings. 
Not quite the scorching May of last year 
They do try at keeping the village looking good (Gnosall – like Knows All) 
Our spot 
I really do think these two have followed us along the canal – breakfast time. 
Just down from the Navigation pub are two water points and a community herb garden 
Also moored here – Neil on Jonorolo – the plant boat – seen him a few times (Brewood 2 yrs ago) – bought Viv a nice lavender plant plus some strawberry mint.
Probably off tomorrow, Tuesday – beyond Norbury and to Black Flat bridge – a good spot (see blog 2 years ago – first time we saw Neville on the Bond boat)
Day 28 – Kingfishers
Did we stay at this nice quiet and rural spot? No. There was a bird scarer nearby and it made quite a bang – Toby no like. So we pushed on to Brewood. But this was a bit dark and nowhere nice to moor, so we pushed on again to Wheaton Ashton (2 pubs, shops, Indian and cheap diesel).
Bridge No 10 – the Giffards of Chillington Hall insisted on this ornate bridge 
Hmm, these typical deep cuttings on the Shroppie lend themselves to a certain, hard to see, gone in a blue flash bird . . .
And here he (or she) is. 
And on the next section . . . another one 
Who landed on the front of a moored boat 
Viv now uses her “burst” mode on the ickle Panasonic camera to take 5 images a second 
And got these wonderful shots . . .
Wheaton Ashton lock – looking back. A “down” lock at last! 
Very nice facilities here – 4, yes 4 water points, waste disposal and a toilet (all well kept) 
We went thru the next bridge to take on fuel at Turner’s garage – famous for supplying the canal trade from what is a roadside garage and the cheapest too at 70.9p a litre ! And then we reversed back, to take up a mooring 4th, on the left. 
We’ve met Neville on “the name’s Bond” boat – recognised the sheep! Behind him is Anne & Ian on Eclipse and ‘clips she does too, for she is a mobile hairdresser! Contact us if you want her details. 
The famous Turner’s garage.
Into the Shroppie
We could have stayed put but it looked a bit grey and there was rain forecast, so we fired up the Isuzu and cruised the last bit of the Staff & Worcs canal to Autherley junction and into the Shroppie. On the way we went through the Pendeford Rockin – a weird narrow & shallow bit where James Bridley had to get his navvies to cut the canal through rock. As luck would have it the gas ran out just as Steve was making some tea and so we called in at the boat yard (Napton Boats, Autherley jn) and a very nice chap, James wheeled out a new gas cylinder plus Viv bought a duffel coat! She just needs a red hat to complete the Paddington Bear look.
Pendeford Rockin – luckily there are passing places but we didn’t meet anyone 
Or touch the rocky sides 
Ah, haven’t seen many of these 
And up into the Shroppie (looking back towards the junction) 
Nantwich is just about as far as we go on this canal before taking a left turn into the Llangollen 
There seems to be a lot of this about . . . 
Final spot for today – less then 3 hrs chugging 
Between bridge 7 & 8 – been here before. Nice mooring on rings. PLenty of water. Quiet. 
It may say 18/4 but we have taken 27 days to get here
Day 27?
Oops. Getting too narrowboaty. Forgetting to do the blog or even recall what day it is. This is one reason for doing all this – so that when we are in our dotage (or more in our dotage . . ), we can use it to recall things. For example we met up with nb Rosie – I didn’t remember the boat or the people until Viv said, you know, they were the boat we teamed up with to enter Liverpool docks – the nice Welsh couple! And yes, I do now. Chris & Lesley, continuous cruisers for some 16 years, there’s lovely! It was great to see them again and have a natter. So, where are we? And where have we been ? Well, down by there and now, down by ‘ere!
Leaving Tixall early Sunday morning 
Five locks, heading forever upwards 
Over the river Sow 
A turnover bridge – horse enters the ramp on the left and spirals up and over the bridge, down to the right and back on the towpath with no need to unhook the tow rope 
Viv drives the first few locks – Toby supervises 
Acton Trussel – posh moat house restaurant here – Brindley included the moat in his canal – saved a few pennies 
What we didn’t know, was that it was a big fishing competition – 100’s of JR Hartleys! Slow progress. 
A longish day for us – nearly 6 hours but we reach Penkridge and stay put in the sunshine for 2 nights. Off to the Boat Inn for a pint (then another in the Littleton Arms!)
With the thought of not mooring close to the M6, we pressed on through 5 locks to Penkridge. Lots of interesting shops here, including a big Co-op. Big on the outside but oddly small in its offering inside.
Monday afternoon and a pint (3rd pub here!) at the Cross Keys 
Viv shows off her new earrings
We had planned to stay here but fancied moving on – an afternoon cruise. So we chugged on the next five locks (still going uphill) for a few hours, again, avoiding mooring too near the M6 or any form of habitation – we like it quiet.
Viv drives all the locks today & Steve does the winding 
Very pleasant locks and the occasional dog walker 
It looks charming but the M6 is nor far away 
Looks like we’re heading in the right direction – Wales! 
Viv does a great job 
These locks are quite deep and only an inch either side to spare 
View from . . . above 
Boggs lock with . . . 
Our Boggle 
Viv steams effortlessly in 
Last lock for today at Gailey 
Famous for a hire base and its roundhouse 
BIG chemical works next and ominous signs saying – do not stop, do not moor, even if you hear an alarm! 
We didn’t. 
Is it a real one or plastic? Well, it did move, a bit!
Enough for one day – moored up after bridge 74. Nice quiet spot.
Storm Hannah
They were right. Heavy rain and blustery winds of > 40 mph ! Perhaps not the best place to moor – on an open landscape, on a vast open expanse of water – Napoleonic weather = we’re all gettin Blown-apart (geddit?). Serendipitously, there’s a superb farm shop back at the Great Haywood junction, so Steven strolled off, all togged up in his Gill Ocean sailing rig and a big bag to glean some goodies from the shop – 3 sorts of black pudding (one in fact a white pudding), bread from their bakery and dry cured, double smoked bacon plus local honey and other “essentials”. I was chatting to a lady from the boat “Old English” who keeps bees and has her own honey – might be worth a visit later. There is a small glimmer of sushine, so the batteries make get some comfort.
Day 22 – Pun Day
Well, the forecast gets worse. Rain later, then gales on Saturday with almost constant rain. Time to move and move early (for us) – off by 0820! No time to shave or eat (and that’s just Viv 🙂 ). Beautiful morning and this first stretch of the T&M is wonderful – I saw our first Kingfisher – a flash of brilliant blue and then he was gone. Pun Day? Well, we went thru Armitage and Rugeley – can’t say we’re hugeley Rugeley fans, then our final destination was Tixall Wide, a lovely wide expanse, probably made to give the landed gentry a better view but for us, it Tixall the boxes!!
An amazing early morning stretch 
Kingfishers flew here 
Armitage – the first of two narrows 
Yes, Armitage of the Shanks fame 
And the second of the two narrows – a notice advises to send a crew member ahead to check . . . 
Looks dodgy – rock against steel 
As Tim West would say, I think we came through that OK 
And over the Trent on Brindley’s aqueduct 
the first of two locks – Colwich 
And under the listed iron bridge, to help the Anson family get to church 
a deft left turn and we’re on to the Staffs & Worcs canal 1772 
our final spot – in the wide 
opposite the remaining Elizabethan gatehouse of Tixall 
now owned by the Landmark Trust (£100+ a night) 
We seem to be 10 days adrift but then we did have 28 days “adrift” planned in to the itinerary!
Oh, and Viv reminded me there was a third Pun. Our compatriots for the day were on a boat called Paradigm. They were occupying the water point at Armitage but they were about to leave so I called out, come on Paradigm, Shift. Well, I thought it funny.