New cover fitted and we’re off down the cut again.

 Tony (Bethsaidacovers.com) arrived yesterday morning with our new cratch cover, and got stuck in to get it fitted. It wasn’t a long job, a lot of the original clips were re-used.

He’s not as grumpy as he looks…

I’m pleased with the result, just need to get the tension right on the cabin side clips.

He’d finished by around half-one, so I went shopping, we had a brew then we toddled on, down the two locks out of town. 

Down Penkridge Lock

We moored for the night above Longford Lock, then were on the move at twenty past eight this morning. Well, we were both up early, it was fine and sunny and we didn’t want to get hooked up in the queue of boats likely to be leaving Penkridge.

It wasn’t until we got to Shutt Hill Lock, our third, that we started to meet boats coming up, from that point there was a pretty well continuous stream of traffic heading south. Good for us, not so good for them. They’ll have been queues, especially at Longford with only one upper ground paddle working.

Fine morning…

Another day, another motorway. This time the M6.

Heading through Acton Trussell I spotted a familiar boat.

Liberty Bell was sold by good friends and erstwhile travelling companions Dave and Barbara last year. The new owner is taking her back to Shobnall for a repaint soon.

Our first downhill queue at Deptmore Lock.

We thought about stopping at Radford Bridge or even St. Thomas Bridge, but we were doing so well that we pushed on.

Wide reed beds narrow the channel towards Milford.

Milford Turnover Bridge where the towpath switches sides.

Over the River Sow on a stone aqueduct.

We finally pulled in just above Tixall Lock at 12:45.

Another mile and a half from here we’ll be swinging right onto the Trent and Mersey, but we’re leaving that until tomorrow.

Locks 6, miles 9¼

Happy Anniversary!

 No, not that one, that’s in March. Fifteen years ago we set off on our maiden voyage on the good ship Seyella. Doesn’t time fly! All three of us have changed, some more than others!

Ready to leave Orchard Marina all those years ago…

 The quality of the photographs has changed too!

So, back to the present and we left the pleasant moorings near Hunting bridge under grey skies yesterday morning. An uneventful trip took us under the M54, past the Wolverhampton Boat Club moorings and to the end of the Shroppie where it meets the Staffs and Worcs Canal.

A dull start.

Under the M54 with Bridge 5 in the distance

Narrows near Pendeford Bridge no 4

Wolverhampton Boat Club

Leaving Lock 1, the junction stop lock with just a 4” fall.

A left turn onto the Staffs and Worcs saw us heading north again, up towards Penkridge.

Less than a mile down the canal the navigation enters what is locally known as Pendeford Rockings, a ridge of hard stone that the canal builders encountered and had to deal with. The solution was a narrow channel with passing places which must have been the scene of many disputes between working boat crews.

We’ve been through here several times, but this is the first time we’ve had to make use of one of those passing places…

After ducking under the M54 again we pulled in near The Anchor near Bridge 71.

Clever graffiti under the motorway bridge

The plan was to arrive at Penkridge on Wednesday afternoon, meeting Tony to fit the new cratch cover on Thursday. But a message yesterday threw a spanner into two easy days; he’s coming tomorrow (Wednesday) instead! So we needed to be here today. It suits us actually. On leaving here we’ll be on a mission to get over to the Soar by a week on Monday. This gives us an extra day now.

So we were on the move at half-eight this morning, a bit overcast but odd glimpses of the sun brightened things up. 

The old wharf at Slade Heath.

The S&W was an early generation canal, opened in 1771, and as such followed the principal of a contour canal, sticking to one level to avoid building embankments and cuttings. This means it winds sinuously through the countryside, with lots of blind bends and bridges.

The railway running parallel to the canal covers the distance between Coven and Penkridge in 4½ miles, the navigation takes seven!

At Calf Heath the Hatherton Branch runs off to the right, once connecting through to the Coventry Canal at Huddlesford and the northern reaches of the Birmingham Canal Navigations, with branches up to the collieries at the foot of Cannock Chase. Now, following subsidence from the mining operations the connections have been lost, although the Lichfield and Hatherton Canal Restoration Trust aims to “reinstate the historic Lichfield and Hatherton Canals for the benefit of the community”.  

More in hope than anticipation, I expect…

We topped up the water tank and disposed of rubbish and recycling at Gailey Wharf, then dropped down the lock, the first of five down to Penkridge. There’s another two in the town, but we moored before them.

Gailey Lock

We worked our way steadily down the locks, spaced over the next couple of miles. We were following another boat so finished up turning them all, but were able to leave the bottom gates open on the final one, Otherton.

A short way further on we arrived at Penkridge, mooring near the Cross Keys. Depending on the weather and how quickly tomorrow’s fitting takes, we’ll stay or get another hour or two cruising in.

Locks 6, miles 13.

A Cathedral of trees, a slow lock at Wheaton Aston and shopping at Brewood.

 On Tuesday evening it looked like someone further south was getting a drop of rain… it didn’t reach us though.

We set off 0n Wednesday morning at around half-nine. Leaving the mooring at Little Onn the canal plunges straight into Rye Hill Cutting, not deep but roofed over by arching trees. Beautiful with the sunlight through the leaves.

We didn’t stop at Wheaton Aston having topped up the tanks at Norbury and the cupboards at Gnosall. But we did make a brief stop at the services below the lock. Then we joined the short queue for the lock.

Turner’s Garage maintains it’s reputation of selling the cheapest red diesel on the network…

Yep, 68.9p!

It’s a good job the queue was short; with both of the top ground paddles almost completely bunged up it takes ages to fill, even with a centre gate paddle.

Finally getting away from the lock we cruised on, intending to moor near Stretton Aqueduct where the canal cross the A5 but where we like to pull in was occupied by work boats so we pushed on a little further, stopping opposite the static caravans between bridges 16 and 15 for the night.

Stretton Aqueduct

The moorings at Brewood were busy that night, but by the time we’d moved up on Thursday morning there was space for us. Gnosall, Wheaton Aston and Brewood all have good moorings within easy distance of the village centres, but they’re all in cuttings and are gloomy and damp even in the summer. We tend to avoid staying overnight, but broke the rule on Thursday as the predicted rain blew in by lunchtime. Two trips up to the Co-op and collection of mail at the Post Office (now conveniently also in the Co-op) and we were on the move again yesterday morning. Not far though, less than an hour and we were pulling up on the fine, open moorings between bridges 8 and 7.

Avenue Bridge no. 10 carries the old carriage road to Chillington Hall.

With the canal crossing Chillington Park, the Giffards were able to dictate the design of the bridge, hence the decent width and the elegant balustrade.

We’ll stay here for the weekend, then on Monday we’ll head to the end of the Shroppie at Autherley Junction, turning left there to head north on the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal.

Out this morning before the rain…

Locks 1, miles 7    

Moving on, a pause for shopping at Gnosall and an overnight stop at Little Onn.

 After a good walk with Amber this morning we set off from the Norbury Junction moorings at around 09:45 this morning.

Sheldon is the second of the two high embankments, running for about a mile and standing around 6o feet high. At this time of year it’s difficult to get an idea of the scale of the earthwork, views of the surrounding countryside are severely limited due to the heavily wooded slopes.

Without the trees though the sides would be unstable and liable to slip. In fact during construction the tall embankments and deep cuttings were a source of endless frustrations, with slippages and landslides a regular occurrence. Sheldon Embankment was the last section to be completed.

The stop-locks at the ends of this one are in better condition than those at Shebdon.

To the left of the picture surrounded by fencing and buried in ivy, is a WWII pill box. With the threat of invasion from across the channel very real after 1940, several lines of defence were put in place across the country, designed to protect the capital and the industrial Midlands. These would never have stopped the enemy advance, they were there to slow them down so that thinly spread defenders could be rushed to vulnerable areas. They would also force the invading forces to expend vital supplies, giving them a logistical nightmare. But air superiority over the channel was a necessity, and the Luftwaffe never achieved that so the invasion never happened. These relics of what might have been can be seen in several places on the navigable canals and rivers, anywhere of potentially strategic importance.

We stopped in Gnosall so I could nip off to the Co-op (I’d forgotten how far it was!), then set off again, away from the village and through Cowley Tunnel. This 81-yard long tunnel was supposed to much longer but the rock through which it was dug got steadily more unstable the further they went, so they supported the roof with dressed stone at the south end and opened up the rest in another deep cutting.

North end – au naturel.

South end – beautifully dressed and fitted sandstone roof.

An hour of steady cruising saw us arrive at Little Onn and the pleasant moorings just past Bridge 24. We’re stopping here tonight, on past Wheaton Aston tomorrow.

High Onn Wharf

Locks 0, miles 5      

A trip to the tailor and filling up at Norbury.

 On Friday evening I got a message from Tony at Bethsaida Covers, if we could get to Shebdon Wharf on the Saturday he would measure up and make up the templates for our new cratch cover. Oh yes!

We left at nine o’clock and by half-ten we were there.

Leaving Goldstone Wharf on Saturday morning

Wide open spaces near Soudley…

…and a bosky cutting at Knighton.

At the northern end of Shebdon Embankment stands a factory specifically sited to take advantage of the extensive dairy farming in the area and the proximity of the canal for transport.

Knighton Wharf

Shebdon Wharf is at the far end of the massive embankment and this is where we pulled in for Tony to work his magic.

It’ll be about 10 days before the new cover is finished, he’s very busy, so we’re planning to meet him at Penkridge for fitting when it’s ready. So we set off this morning heading for Norbury Wharf.

The embankments are protected by stop gates at either end to prevent a massive water loss in the event of a breach. I’m not sure that the one at Bridge 44 would be that effective though…

Passing the long lines of moored boats between Shebdon Wharf and Anchor Bridge we could finally get out of tickover as we approached the gloom of the second deep cutting at Grub Street.

Both of the large cuttings are named for local hamlets, Woodseaves evokes images of thatched cottages and a village green complete with duckpond, whereas Grub Street just… doesn’t.

The channel through Grub Street Cutting is wider and deeper though, and sports High Bridge (Woodeaves has one too, a marked absence of imagination methinks…) with bracing across the arch mounting a disused stumpy telegraph pole.

High Bridge No. 39

Gives a whole new meaning to “getting your ducks in a row”…

Leaving the cutting Norbury Wharf is only a half hour up the cut, and we pulled in just before the bridge to check out the situation on the wharf. There was a boat having a pump-out that we waited for but then we were able to get on ourselves for a top up of diesel and a replacement gas bottle.

Then we pushed across to the services to fill the water tank, empty the loo and dispose of rubbish and recycling at the already overflowing bins. Nothing unusual this summer.

We moved up onto the 48 hour moorings to stay the night. Tomorrow we’ll be off again, with the weather turning wet and windy towards the back end of the week we want to get down nearly to Brewood while it’s fine. We’ve got mail to pick up at the Post Office there.

Locks 0, miles 7½