Deepest rural Wolverhampton

A narrow part of the canal - single track with passing places

Below Wightwick Mill Lock - 2.5 miles from the centre of Wolverhampton

One of the many joys of travelling the canals is the journey into major cities. Often the scenary is remarkably attractive with minimal instrusion from the noise and hustle of the outside world. Todays journey was a perfect example of this as we travelled through the suburbs of Wolverhampton.

Unfortunately Orange seems to have been affected - the best connection I have been able to get this evening is a painfully slow zero-bar GPRS link. Usually, even in the depths of the countryside, we are able to get a 3G connection. Despite today's problem I must admit it's not bad for £5/month.

Back to the journey. We started at 9am. An hour or so later we were delighted to see a familiar boat moored by the towpath - Greenfinch owned by permanent live-aboarders Barry & Tracy who we met a year ago at Wigan on the Leeds & Liverpool canal. After a happy hour over a cup of tea chatting about our adventures during the past year we waved goodbye and set off again.

The canal went through a very narrow single boat-width section with only a couple of passing places. Of course we met a couple of narrowboats going in the opposite direction, it really was a very tight squeeze to get by. It seems that Brindley decided to minimise his costs on this section as it required expensive cutting through hard rock.

Soon after we moored for lunch and a quarter mile walk to the local Morrisons. The logistics of ensuring we always have sufficient groceries can be difficult as we have no transport and must carry all our purchases back to the boat so we take the opportunity to shop at supermarkets close to the canal whenever possible.

After stocking up we moved off again past the major canal junctions at Autherley and Aldersley and have moored in the outskirts of Wightwick, a suburb of Wolverhampton. There is an attractive pub nearby where we plan to eat this evening - my first chance not to cook!