Another good day.

We had a drop of rain overnight, and a sprinkle later this morning, but apart from that it’s been fine and warm.

We got off a little earlier than is customary, on the move by soon after half-nine.

Around the corner is the Stafford Boat Club headquarters and moorings, and it looks like they’re playing host to the Autotrail Owners Club this week.

Pleasant but a little overgrown…


We passed the moorings at Radford Bridge, the closest you can moor to Stafford, then had a bit of hanging back to do as boats going in opposite directions met at Meadow Bridge.

The canal swings around in an arc to the east around the rising ground of Weeping Cross and Baswich, and on the curve is where the Stafford Branch or River Sow Navigation left the main Staffs and Worcs.
Constructed as a private project funded by Lord Stafford it dropped down from here to the River Sow, which was made navigable into the town where the navigation terminated at a basin and wharf. Opened in 1816 it served the town until the 1920s when it fell into disuse.


A project to re-open the waterway, under the name Stafford Riverway Link, will see a slight change to the canal link to the river, but the river will still take the navigation into the centre of Stafford. it’ll be handy if it comes off.

Heading east now, the canal runs between the river valley on the left and the railway on the right, with ahead the bulk of Cannock Chase on the horizon.

The towpath changes sides at Milford Bridge, then the canal follows a dogleg to cross over the Sow on a substantial stone aqueduct.

A couple of bends and another bridge saw us coming up to the pretty Tixall Lock, joining the end of a short queue. We expected there to be one; we’d allowed a hire boat past earlier and expected to catch up here.
It actually wasn’t as long as it appeared, the boat at the front had a gearbox problem so we were able to pass him. And the young woman off the boat was acting as amateur lock keeper while the men were messing with spanners and WD40.

Just 20 minutes after leaving the lock we were tied up, just short of the wide bit of Tixall Wide, after a very pleasant day.

The disabled boat came past a little later, so they must have made some sort of fix. They were only going to Great Haywood Marina so should be OK.

Tomorrow we’ll brave the inevitable congestion around Great Haywood Junction, fill with water then head down Haywood Lock to moor across the fields from Shugborough Hall.

Locks 1, miles 5.