From Barbridge junction to Great Haywood - 8.9.14

The Shropshire Union Canal and the Staffs & Worcs Canal

Barbridge Junction to Great Haywood .... on our way South

We did the sharp left turn and we were on the Shroppie.... 8.9.14

Arriving on the Shropshire Union Canal at Barbridge Junction

We made our way south towards Hurleston Junction....

The Shropshire Union canal is wide and deep here. There's lots of boats moored up so slowly we made our way the short distance to Hurleston Junction where the Llangollen canal goes off to the right.

Turn right for Llangollen, but we'd been there and done that one!

A boat enters the first of 4 locks at Hurleston Junction

Past the junction we went, twisting and turning the three miles to Nantwich.

We pass Linda King on nb Kanbedun.... again

We paused for a while to chat with our friend Linda King, the lady we moored up with last winter in Braunston, lovely to see her again! 

Many trees need chopping down, this one made navigating this bend difficult

Into Nantwich we went, there was a dredger digging at the bridge hole in Nantwich so we had to pull over for 20 minutes.

A digger/dredger clears the shallow bridge hole as we come into Nantwich

They eventually moved the dredger and we carried on looking for a place to stop.

Just over this road aqueduct we go....

All the spaces were taken tho, so we continued over the road aqueduct and pulled over on the Permit Holders Only mooring behind a row of moored boats. 

.... to find a nice spot on the embankment in Nantwich

We found out that these moorings were no longer Permit Holder Only moorings and all the boats here were visitors like us.

We had a visitor too, Linda King from nb Kanbedun Again came on her bike to see us. We drank tea and ate the cookies she bought with her! After a good old catch up she went and we went off to find a field to walk Jack, not very successful really, but Jack seemed happy. On our way back to the boat we chatted to two more people we met earlier this year on nb Ellie May. We came up the Anderton lift with them before we went off to Liverpool!

Paul went off on his bike to get some fish and chips from town, they were delicious! Weary and tired we had an early night and slept soundly.

Linda brings her boat to Nantwich, just as we are leaving!

Tuesday 9th September was a sunny day. We trudged the mile long walk to town and filled up our cupboards with lots of goodies from Morrisons. We were all done by 12.30 so we set off out of Nantwich in search for somewhere new.

We'd only got two locks today, the Hack Green Locks

The sun was shining, the canal was still and calm, there were a few boats on the move as we slowly went past all the moored boats and onto our first of two locks for the day.

Lock 2, and as we approach there's plenty of people about....

.... and there's time to relax too!

We were in luck, as we approached both locks a boat was coming out so we were soon in and out in no time and on our way into the sunshine.

As you can see, we've completed 3 more miles... and another 36 miles before we leave the canal

We soon pulled into some lovely 48hr moorings with picnic benches and a beautiful mown grassy towpath, the sun was shining and it was a beautiful afternoon.

A lovely mooring and picnic spot... 

.... and the sun was out, we loved it here!

It's peaceful and quiet here, a few put-putters chugged past, plenty of boats moored up. After our dog walk over lovely grassy fields we sat out and enjoyed the sunshine.

It's a very popular spot with boats and geese!

We decided to stop here an extra day to get on with some jobs, no. 1 job was to do some washing. Paul rigged up a washing line and by the end of the day the washing was dry!

Paul rigs up a washing line and I get washing our undies! 

This little field vole was swimming frantically across the canal....

... he came up to the boat, exhausted and ready to give up with no way out of the canal...

... so I scooped him out, dried him off and let him scamper free in the fields

On Thursday 11th September we woke early in the misty grey morning and had left by 7am.

A lone swan cruises on through the mist on the water

We went on a couple of miles until we got to the 15 Audlem locks. 

Audlem Locks

Paul gets the locks ready while I get the boat in....

They were nearly all against us and it turned out we were following a boat up the locks. We'd filled up with water on the way up and were soon at the top.

The side weirs were quite a force pushing the boat about on entering the locks

The locks were all small, easy to operate and as I closed all the gates behind us, Paul was getting the next lock ready.

Next were Adderley Locks...

Another 2 miles and we got to our next set of 5 locks, the Adderly locks. This set of locks was busy with boats coming down so most of the lock gates were left open for us to go straight in. 

...with more water coming down the side weirs making little challenges along the way

All 20 locks had strong side weirs coming out below the entrance just to make it tricky to get in smoothly, but with skill and experience I managed to glide the boat in without hitting any lock walls!

We'd done 20 locks and were now on our way to Market Drayton

We had done the 20 locks planned for the day, now to cruise the remaining 3 miles to Market Drayton to finish a long and busy day.

Happy Daze moored up on a sunny late afternoon in Market Drayton

We pulled into the 48hr moorings along the straight section of the canal near to the town by 12.30pm, it had been a lovely day's cruise, we'd enjoyed every minute of it!

I absolutely love these Mandarin ducks, such lovely colours. 

Jack pauses to wait for mum and dad...

We went into town to get Paul some interview clothes and managed to find a shirt and pair of trousers. There were great dog walks here, we'd discovered them on our stop over earlier in the year, Jack had a lovely time racing around in the maize field, he even caught a rabbit but it was riddled with mixey!

.... just ready for his catch of the day... such a pity it had mixxy!

It was quiet here considering we were on the edge of town!

Leaving Market Drayton we set off early

On Friday we left early again, we had a mile or so to do before the 5 Tyreley locks. These locks were cut out from the rocky hillside and had high red sandstone as the walls and the dreaded strong side weirs coming from the bottom of the locks.

Tyrley Locks, 5 in a row

It's getting a bit autumnal now, especially in the lock cutting

Tall rock walls tower over us as I enter the lock ahead

We made our way up the locks...

But we went up steadily and soon we were at the top only taking us an hour to do the mile and five locks. We were going to stop for breakfast at the top but the mooring spaces were all taken, so we ate breakfast on the move.

..... pretty cottages with lovely gardens at the top lock

Beware falling rocks - signs warn you of dangers ahead

... and you can see why the signs are up, not that you can move out the way very fast!

The canal goes into a deep cutting now, tall rocky sides with even taller trees battling for the light, it's damp and cold, but beautiful.

Tall bridges ahead show you how deep the cutting is

The bridges are all up high over our heads, the narrow rocky channel of the canal makes it tricky to pass any boats coming our way.

Its narrow here with the growth from trees blocking the way

We pull over in a particularly narrow section...

.... and let nb Inyanga go past without having to go into the trees

Long, straight and deep channels of the canal, still very narrow

Sections of dark, damp canal that rarely see the sunlight

'Who turned the lights out?' 

We even had to pull over and hold the boat against the bank to let three boats pass us as there wasn't enough room!

Back in busy open canal now, the boat on the right of the picture was grounded and several boats came to the rescue

Bridge after bridge, but not quite so tall now...

Moored up at Shebdon Bridge.... a quiet and peaceful spot for the night

We made it to our chosen mooring spot for the night at Shebdon bridge, out in the middle of the rural countryside after travelling 12 miles and 5 locks, it was still only 12.30 so after lunch we went off on our dog walk.

Jack wasn't a happy boy, he was covered in spiky burrs and knew what was coming next...

Jack disappeared off into the hedge somewhere but a minute or so later he emerged covered in barbed spikey seeds all over his body. They took hours to get out, but at least he got a good brushing!

This double bridge has a telegraph pole in the middle of it! Why?

Saturday 13th September we left later than usual, it was about 9.50am.

Norbury Wharf... a busy little place

We'd managed to get a place to moor while we visited the Wharf but it's very busy here

We cruised on 3 miles till we got to Norbury junction and pulled over for a visit to the Chandlers here. But they didn't have what we wanted, so we were soon on our way.

Leaving Norbury the sun came out between the trees

Arriving in Gnosall....

And its a very tidy and well looked after village

Even the boats have made an effort to be green!

Cruising over high embankments and in deep cuttings for 2 &1/2 miles we arrived in Gnosall.

We pulled over before this short tunnel to let a couple of boats through... makes life easier!

Cowley Tunnel, crudely cut out of the rocks, we're still in a deep cutting

After a short wait at Cowley Tunnel for a couple of boats to come through we set off again along the narrow cutting in the rocks, only meeting one boat coming towards us.

A small day hire boat zig zags its way along the straight channel towards us

It was a day hire boat zig zagging all over the place, he ended up in the trees while we slowly made our way past him! Out of the cutting we were in wide open countryside again, green fields stretching across the landscape for miles.

Boats meet at the bridge we've just come through

Arriving at the garage to fill up.... but no one told us it was closed on a Saturday afternoon!

We arrived in Wheaton Aston by 2.15pm, pulled up on the platform beside the diesel pump that came from the garage up beside the road bridge. Diesel was cheap here, 70.9ppl, so we had purposefully not filled up for ages, running on fumes as they say! I tied the boat up while Paul went to see the proprietor of the garage. But it wasn't to be! They closed Saturday afternoons from 2pm and didn't open again until Monday morning at 7.30!

We pushed the boat over the other side of the canal and waited till Monday morning

The only thing to do was wait till Monday so we pushed the boat across to the other side of the canal and moored up. It wasn't a planned stop, but it was a nice little place to stop.

It wasnt a bad place to stop, view from the road bridge

After lunch we took Jack out over the fields and meadows of Wheaton Aston and got back to the boat.

Sunday was a jobs day, we sorted and cleaned and walked. We went to the Hartley Arms for a Sunday roast, a mountain of delicious food for only £6.45 each!

The Hartley Arms, good pub grub....

... and a fantastic Sunday roast!

Monday we intended to get up early and walk Jack and get our diesel. But it didn't work out like that! We woke late, walked Jack and by the time we'd had breakfast there was a queue for diesel. Boats were everywhere, some in line, some holding off on the side. We waited for the queue to go but more boats kept coming. So we moved from across the other side and joined the queue. 

Beware... you're being watched!

Three boats in front of us but it didn't take too long, we needed 146 litres in total to fill up! It had been a while!

Finally on Monday morning we got to fill up with diesel!

As soon as we had done we went under the bridge and moored up on the 48 hr moorings. Paul had a job interview and needed to be near a road bridge for the taxi, it was a great place to be with boats coming and going all day.

We moved to the other side of the bridge, three boats up!

And we were moored in front of the nb Chocanon! Home made chocolates made on a butty, towed by a narrow boat. It would have been rude not to have some, so we treated ourselves to a tray of 12, 6 each, all different flavours. And they were delicious!

Nb Chocanon and chocolate kitchen butty, my kinda boat!

They tasted as delicious as they looked!

We found a Spar shop in the village so we managed to get a few basics, we had great walks across massive stubble fields, Jack was in his element! 
Tuesday Paul went off for his job interview, he got a taxi to Penkeridge and two trains later he was in New Buckby, his mum met him and took him to Corby. He stayed the night at his brothers and he did the return journey on Wednesday. He was back on the boat by 10.30am, so we decided as it was a beautiful day we'd set off and get to a new spot. We had already been here 48hrs and our time was up!

About to leave Wheaton Aston, but first a water point to fill up the tank

It was a beautiful sunny day and after a stop off to fill up with water we went through Wheaton Aston lock and were on our way. 

Passing a small boat yard we stopped to chat to some old friends working on nb Daedalas who we met last year!

Tree growth on the off side blocks our view around most corners making the canal narrow in places, rocky banks cause obstacles under water.

The canal is straight and overgrown in alot of places

Be scared, be very scared! Jaws.... is coming to get you

Damp and dark cuttings take us on to Brewood (pronounced Brude)

Ornate bridges cross the canal, this one leads to a beautiful woodland

But were loving it, cruising on through the tall cuttings in Brewood, high bridges and dark soggy towpaths where the sun never shines, we make our way back into the open fields, stopping at the 48hr moorings where we stopped on our way up all those months ago.

We stop at the 48 hr moorings just outside Brewood, its a popular stopping point

The sun was still shining, it was a popular spot with a lovely wide towpath to sit out in the sunshine! We knew the walks were good, so off we went with Jack across stubble fields and grassy meadows.

A bit of a grey day as we leave our overnight mooring spot

Thursday 18th September was damp and drizzly, we had left our little spot by 8.45 along the final 3 mile of the Shroppie towards Autherly junction where we meet the Staffs & Worcs.

Sign says..... we've made it to Autherley Junction, now onto the Staffs & Worcs canal

We arrived at the little 3" stop lock at Autherly junction taking minutes to get through and pulled over on the junction on the 48hr moorings.

We pulled over here for a quick visit to Morrisons to stock up the fridge

A ten minute walk to Morrisons and we were stocking up on goodies and it wasn't long before we were back on the boat and away again, this time going up the Staffs & Worcs canal towards Great Haywood.
We'd only gone a short way and we had a mile of very narrow canal with the odd passing place, but there were no boats coming so we cruised through with no interruptions.

The canal narrows up straight away so we take it carefully as there's not many places to pass here

Here's a passing spot, one of only 3 in a mile long stretch

Go for it! Its even narrower here but we were lucky nothing was coming!

We cruised on several miles of twisty bendy canal through Coven Heath and Cross Green and out into wonderful countryside once again. We passed our little mooring spot we stopped in earlier in the year and pulled over a little further on between bridges 73 & 74. It was a very remote place, quiet and peaceful and by then the sun was lovely and warm.

We walked Jack over familiar fields, he scampered in the fields of maize growing tall and strong and went exploring in the muddiest pond ever!

Jack stinks! We had to get him in the canal to wash him off! But he didn't care!

We picked blackberries on our walk and when we got back I made a blackberry and apple crumble, it was delicious! With no one about it was a dark peaceful night. 
Another drizzly grey start to the next day, it seemed we had a poorly dog too. He couldn't stop scratching, the flappy bit of his ear was swollen and red, felt so hot to touch. A decision was made to get him to the nearest vets which was in Penkeridge near to Gailey, so Paul walked him the three miles to Gailey. We couldn't leave him in the boat as he was scratching so furiously at his ear. 

We turned left, as it says.... Right turn takes you to a small marina on the unrestored Wyrelley & Essington canal

I took the boat onwards to Gailey and after an hour we arrived at the 48hr moorings under the trees. It was dark and dingy but we had a place to stop.

Gailey Lock Visitor Moorings... 48hrs

Our vets appointment was at 2.10pm so we phoned up for a taxi to pick us up and take us the 3-4 miles to Penkeridge.

The vets were stumped as to what was wrong with Jack, but the place was lovely... 

After a good check-over the vet was stumped! He was clutching at straws really, prescribed antibiotics, steroid cream and Stronghold, like Frontline but better apparently  and £97 later we left. As the taxi was nearly £10 we decided to walk back along the towpath to Gailey saving us a little bit!

Looking back at the gap to get through, luckily this boat waited till I'd gone through before he tried it!

When we got back we moved the boat to below Gailey lock. The rows of Viking Afloat Hire fleet were, as usual, making the channel narrow, and yep, I met a hire boat coming towards me! But slowly we passed in the only passing spot and into the open lock I went.

Leaving Gailey Lock, and Gailey Bridge... we moored just the other side

We moored up just below the lock and liked our spot here. Paul fished, Jack and I cosied up for the night after I lit a lovely fire.

Couldn't resist taking this picture, looks like pearls on the front window but its just dew on cobwebs!

It was drizzle and damp in the morning of Saturday 20th September. We didn't move early but as the day brightened up we decided to get off and head through Penkeridge.

On our way to Penkeridge... the motorway is just the other side of the trees

It got a bit busy now the rain had stopped and boats were coming thick and fast.

.... and a gap in the trees shows it|! Lorries and cars desperate to get somewhere while we're just pootling along!

We went through a couple of locks and then we got to the section where the M6 motorway runs parallel with the canal. But luckily for us there was a traffic jam, roadworks and 50 mph speed limit so it wasn't too noisy!

The lovely old locks and bridges, this one is typical of many on the Staffs & Worcs

Trees shield the motorway in some parts, and when you couldn't hear it you'de never know it was there really!

As the water is let out of the lock, some gets trapped in the old walls, and has to come out somewhere!
Boaters term for this problem is a p**s hole!

The last lock in Penkeridge, the tunnel used to take the horses down to meet the boat leaving the lock

We got to Penkeridge and went through the three locks in the town and moored up just the other side. Houses overlooked us on one side and on the other were park homes galore!

Moored up but not really happy about being here in such a built up area.....

So after tying up the boat and walking round the corner to have a look we decided to move the boat. It was less built up, there were other boats here too and we preferred the surroundings! But we were near to the M6! But the constant noise of traffic seemed to fade in the background and surprisingly it didn't bother us!

.... this is much better, and although we can see the motorway, we can't really hear it!

We struggled to find a decent walk tho but managed to get into a vacant cow field but it really wasn't Jacks day.... he was zapped by an electric fence, gave an almighty yelp!

Along with the fact he now wasn't eating, he'd been sick too, the first ever time in his life, he also now was lathargic and dopey and covered in bites or lumps of some kind.

Its a grey and misty early morning...

.... but it soon clears to leave a bright and lovely day

Sunday 21st September and Jack's still poorly. We can't leave him alone now, he's scratching so much he's losing chunks of hair from his little body. He's got socks on his back legs so his nails don't make his skin bleed and he's still not eating. He's being sick still and wont take his tablets; were really worried about him but the vet said to give it a week and see how he is. So we decide to cruise the 10 miles and 6 locks to Shrugborough. Paul stayed in the boat with Jack most of the way, he wasn't up to walking much.

Going past a big hotel which backs on to the canal at Acton Trussell

The gardens are lovely here, especially if you've got one of these moored at the end!

We cruised through the posh town of Acton Trussel and finally left the noise of the motorway behind.

So colourful, most people make such an effort to brighten up the place

This canal is so narrow in places, time to breath in!

Just about made it! But there's no room for error here!

Now the busy railway line takes over where the motor way was...

Instead of the motorway right beside us we now had the busy trainline. We went round  the towns of Baswick and Milford, through overgrown sections and narrow bits, over river and road aqueducts till we reached Tixhall Lock.

Aqueduct over the river Trent

Arriving at Tixhall Lock, pretty here, and very isolated

A new sign but the measurements in miles and furlongs! We're heading for Haywood Junction...

After Tixhall lock we slowly made our way past a huge row of moored boats at Tixhall Wides, a wide open part of the canal, a favourite spot for many.

Leaving the lock at Tixhall, on our way to Tixhall 'wides' ....

.... a popular spot for boaters, but we're going on to Shrugborough, we like it there better!

We reached Great Haywood junction, the Trent & Mersey canal crosses right in front of us...

We continued the next couple of miles until we got to the junction at Great Haywood where the Trent & Mersey canal meets with the Staffs & Worcs and turned a sharp right turn to head south wards down the Trent & Mersey canal.

.... and we're on the Trent & Mersey canal... looking back at where we came under the bridge to the left of the picture