Densie goes home

Densie at home in the marina

The time has finally come, our trip is over. Our longest and furthest trip ever on the canals.

We left our countryside moorings early at 8:10 as there was no point in hanging around and we needed to leave plenty of time for packing and shopping for our first day back home. Densie cruised into the marina at 10:50 after a trip of 7 miles. We moored at our pontoon after a quick pump-out.

Clearing and cleaning the boat took another 1.5 hours and after lunch on board we stopped by at the local Waitrose to buy some food to last us until we did our major shopping over the weekend. And then back to the house which fortunately was still there although the wisteria was clearly trying to hide it.

Some basic statistics.....

We have been away for 78 days covering 391 miles, 333 locks, and 47 lift/swing bridges. Our time on the move amounted to 254 hours. We didn't measure the inches of rain!

Finally we should award some Oscars.....

Favourite moorings: Summit of the Leeds & Liverpool near Nuttleber Dyke
Runner Up: Bugsworth Basin
Favourite Canal: They were all wonderful in their own way!!!
Favourite City: Manchester
Favourite town/village: Hebdon Bridge
Runner Up: Skipton
Favourite restaurant: Red'n'Hot Szechuan restaurant in Manchester Chinatown
BW personality of the trip: Rob, the Tuell Lane lock keeper

and special thanks to Claymore Navigation for providing us with electricity and a mooring when our domestic power failed.

This is the final blog entry until our next trip later in the year. Thanks for viewing!!

Shugborough Hall - Trent & Mersey again

Shugborough Hall

Today we planned to visit Shugborough Hall, the residence for 450 years of the Anson family who became the Earls of Litchfield. We left Tixall Wide at 9:30, joined the Trent & Mersey Canal at Great Heywood Junction and moored up at 10:00.

Our first task was to visit the local farm shop, a favourite of ours ever since we moved to the area. There we bought a steak pie for this evening's dinner and some raspberries and cream for pud. Having dropped these at the boat, we went on t0 Shugborough Hall.

This is now owned by the National Trust, although the Litchfield family still live in a part of the Hall. The public rooms are well worth visiting containing much furniture and other pieces collected by the family over the past 250 years, although much was lost when the first Earl had to sell most of his possessions to cover gambling debts.

Two aspects of the Hall particularly impressed me. One was the guides positioned in each major room who greeted each visitor and explained in detail the key points of their room. The other was an exhibition of photographs taken by the 5th Earl (Patrick Litchfield) who died in 2005. Many of the photographs were of the swinging 60's including Mick Jagger, Oliver Reed, and a young Joanna Lumley. Other themes were racing cars and their drivers and his family (he was the Queen's cousin).

Also of interest were memorabilia of Admiral George Anson who led a 4 year round the world voyage in the 1740's in the course of which he captured a Spanish treasure ship, his share forming the basis of the family fortune. The exhibits included some "pieces of eight" from that prize.

Cannock Chase across the Trent valley from the canal

After leaving Shugborough we had lunch on the boat and travelled down the canal for an hour and moored to spend the last night of our journey out in the country.

Penkridge and Tixall Wide

Rodbaston Lock next to the M6

Tixall Wide

On the move again down the Staffs & Worcester Canal. We set off from Gailey at 8:40. By 10:30 after 2.5 miles and 5 locks we reached Penkridge, a large village where we shopped for necessities and 2 chocolate and cream eclairs.

After filling up with water we set off again and after passing beneath the M6 stopped out in the country for lunch. Half an hour later we were moving again, the final destination being Tixall Wide where the canal has formed an attractive reed-fringed lake, a favourite spot for boaters. In all today we have travelled for 6.5 hours covering 12 miles and 11 locks, one of our longest days for some time.

As I write, the sun is shining, great crested grebes are swimming near the boat, and the countryside looks beautiful - what more can one want??

Goodbye Shroppie - Hello Staffs and Worcester

We now feel we are on the homeward trek so we wanted to get a move on. Unfortunately it was raining first thing in the morning, so we waited. Fortunately by 9:15 the rain had stopped and we set off. Shortly after, the rain started again, but not too bad.

By 10:30 we had reached Autherley Junction where the Shroppie meets the Staffs and Worcester Canal. It was raining heavily so we decided to give up for a while. After lunch the rain had stopped so we moved off via the 1 foot stop lock that prevented the upstart Shroppie from stealing water from the old S&W.

The S&W is very different to the Shroppie. It was built around 1770 by Brindley and was one of the very early canals, some 60 years older than the Shroppie. It is a contour canal snaking around the slightest hills and valleys, at one point executing a hairpin turn. However compared to the Shroppie it is wide and deep, with moorer friendly sides.

After a fairly dry trip we reached Gailey, a small canal centre, at around 17:00 and spent the next hour looking for somewhere to moor, all the visitor mooring spaces being full. We eventually had to go down a lock and found plentiful mooring slots there in reasonable countryside. Then the rain started again, but it didnt matter!

More good weather - Brewood

Cowley Cutting

Aqueduct over the A5 (road also built by Telford)

A day of pootling down the Shroppie as the fine weather continues. We started at 8:45 and filled up with water. By 12:30 we had reached Brewood (pronounced "brood"), a large village by the canal. We had lunch on board and then spent an hour looking round the few shops and the interesting church whose highpoint was a set of alabaster tombs of the Gifford family dating from the 16th and 17th centuries.

We decided to staythe night out in the country and so we cruised for a further 45 minutes south of Brewood where we are now moored.

Making the most of the good weather

High Bridge in the Grub Street Cutting - note the telegraph pole!

No Blog yesterday because we didnt do much really. Just pumped-out, filled up with water, shopped for 4 days groceries and stayed moored at Market Drayton as it rained most of the day.

Today is different. We awoke to sunshine and some light clouds. Denise put some sealant around the panels and windows in the wooden doors to stop rain seepage and the resultant discolouration of the wood.

When this was completed at 9:40 we set off. We quickly reached the very attractive Tyrley locks - a flight of 5 mainly in a wooded cutting. Our only problem there was that some of the by-washes, whereby water is diverted around each lock, were ferocious. As soon as the bow of the boat reaches such a by-wash it is pushed across in the flow turning the boat on one direction. This is reversed when the by-wash meets the rear of the boat. So one's careful aim towards the open lock is thrown off-course and the boat hits the lock entrance with an embarrassing bang.

After the Tyrley locks, the Shropshire Union is lock free for the remaining 24 miles. All hills and valleys are crossed by Telford's massive embankments and deep cuttings. We stopped for an hour for lunch out in the countryside and then moved on intending to moor at Norbury Junction, a well known canal location with plentiful moorings.

Unfortunately these plentiful moorings were all taken. Stopping outside the official moorings is difficult on the Shropshire Union because of a ledge a foot or two below the water level along the canal side. This creates a worrying grating sound as a moored boat moves in the wind, or as other boats pass. So we had to carry on an extra 2 miles to Gnossall, making the journey a total of 13 miles in 6.5 hours.

Angler in Woodseaves Cutting

Our speed down the canal was greatly restricted as we hit a major fishing competition. There were apparently 480 anglers sat along 4 miles of canal. The rods used are very long, stretching the width of the canal, presumably as the best fish are always furthest from the anglers. As we motored along slowly and steadily each angler in turn had to raise his rod high in the air to let us pass. We felt like guests of honour at a military parade.