Today we have moved 1-1/2 miles to Greenforge. Which took us 1hr 20mins, including 2 locks.

We have a pleasant mooring, although it is overlooked by trees either side

The Staffs & Worcs canal is very unusual with the lock layouts (see below)

The lock is closed, but the little tunnel on the left is where you pick up the person who has operated the lock. So after you move the boat out of the lock, you stop to allow the peson to shut the gates and then rejoin you. Very clever. If you look at the third picture from yesterday's blog you will see a small tunnel on the left. That is where you pick the person up.

The bonus of staying so near to the lock is shown below

 

 

The Navigation Public House, complete with resident ghost, although we have been in there twice before and not seen it. Third time lucky.

 

 

The Severn is still in flood, but we are hoping to make it to Stourport by Wednesday. We will then hopefully not have to wait to long before we can make the 2 day journey back to Gloucester.

We are now at Swindon in Staffs.

We left Brewood on Friday morning and shortly joined the Staffs & Worcs canal. Mooring shortly after at Compton. (No internet or telephone signal again)

Wallace (our dog) has been scratching a lot lately, and bald patches have appeared in his skin. So we needed to find a vet. We found a vet and made an appointment, then booked a taxi, (which did not turn up on time) when it did turn up, we turned it away, as we had booked another, which did turn up on time. (after we rearranged the vet appointment ).

It appears Wallace may have Scabbies (Mange) which he is now being treated.

Today we travelled 6.5 miles and negotiated 13 locks, which took us 5 hours. However we are no hurry as the Severn is still in flood, and the lockeeper at Bratch locks informed us that it will be at least another 3 days before the levels have dropped to enable navigation.

The Staffs & Worcs canal is very picturesque (see below)

6" Stoplock, joining Shropshire Union Canal to Staffs & Worcs canal

 

Bratch 3 rise locks (we are descending)

 



Leaving Bratch locks

 

 



We had an enjoyable evening at the Hartley Arms in Wheaton Aston.

This morning we moved forward to the service point at Wheaton Aston to top up with water and pump out our waste tank.

We then travelled 3 miles + 1 lock to Brewood (pronounced Brood to locals).

The rain has stayed away, and we have had a pleasant walk around the village. We have no mifi connection or telephone signal, so we have had to resort to going to a local pub with free wifi.  How unlucky is that

 

Crossing the A5 Watling Street Aqueduct

 

We have heard that the River Severn will be closed for over a week due to flooding, so we will be taking our time to reach Stourport, as we have already heard of queues.

 

Queing at Tyrley Locks

 

High Bridge, Grub Street Cutting

 

Very narrow section

 

We left Norbury Junction early this morning as we had heard of rain coming our way.

 

 

We completed the 7 miles to Wheaton Aston just as the rain started around 11.30.

 

We have also heard that the River Severn is in flood and closed to all boats.

 

Yesterday it rained all day, so we stayed put. We did venture out to buy some provisions.

 

It was in Norbury Chandlery that we saw an item we have been looking for all summer. We had been asking many boaters, where they had purchased theirs from, but most said they had bought one, and had it painted.

 

This one was the right colours for our boat, so we took the plunge and bought it.

 

 

What do you think??

 





We left Market Drayton this morning at 10.00am. The weather was overcast and cool.

After about a mile we came to the Tyrley Locks. A flight of 5. As we approached there were 2 boats waiting to ascend. As we helped them through, another 4 boats converged. The going was slow.

We have pictures but the internet connection here is so slow, we will post them tomorrow.

We continued for a further 5 miles, and then it started to rain. Not heavy but persistant.

The scenery, despite the rain, has been a total contrast to what we have seen in the last few months. Long sweeping valleys, deep embankements and shaded areas where trees intermingled across the canal.

We have arrived at Norbury Junction.

Tomorrow we are having a rest day

We left Nantwich yesterday, and the weather was overcast.

We had 6 miles and 4 locks to complete.

Shortly after setting off, it started raining, not heavy but light showers. But we continued.

We arrived at Audlem around 1.00pm, and set off exploring the village

Audlem is a very picturesque village. Above is the Church.

We had a meal in The Bridge, which was excellent. After that we visited the Shropshire Fly, for some live entetainment. The Shropshire Fly is an unusual pub which has a bar shaped like the front and side of a narrowboat. The entertainment was not to our liking, so we departed after 3 songs, and retired to the boat.

This morning we woke up to early morning mist

At 9.05am we set off. It was cool but the sun had burnt off the mist.

We completed 18 locks and 6 miles, to reach Market Drayton in Shropshire.

After mooring up we walking the 1/2 mile into the town. To be honest we were really disapointed. The place is really run down, with a lot of shops empty and to let signs were everywhere. The only booming trade we could see was Keebab shops of which we counted 5.

However, it has been a real nice day with sunshine all the way.

Tomorrow we hope to make it to Norbury Junction. A favourite place of ours.

Yesterday we travelled from Grindley Brook to Wrenbury (6 miles + 2 locks)
The weather was overcast and we did stop once because of a downpour, which we sat out.
Once again we had no internet.

Today we travelled 9 miles including 9 locks and 2 swing bridges.

We have now left the Llangollen canal and joined the Shropshire Union. We are heading home.

We moored up near Nantwich and walked into the town. A typical Cheshire town with black and white buildings, lovely to spend an afternoon in such a grand place. We had a lovely evening meal in a local pub, then walked back to the boat.

The evenings are getting shorter, and we are having to use torches. We have re-stocked the tealights, and the fire is lit most nights.

Tomorrow we are heading for Audlem, a canal town with bustling pubs and entertainment. We then have the Audlem & Adderley locks to contend with. (19 in total) before reaching Market Drayton, here we hope to spend a few days.

We are sorry, but the internet/tv signals are so poor here. Wendy has a 1 bar phone signal, Pete has none.

Uploading any photos are virtually impossible, but should improve.

We left Ellesmere yesterday morning. The arm where we were moored was very busy with hire boats trying to manoever, so we reversed out of it.

We travelled for 13 miles to Grindley Brook with no locks but 4 swing bridges, which took us nearly 5 hours. The weather is getting cooler so we take it in turns steering the boat to 2 miles each. We also light the fire each night.

Today we set off at 9.30 to fill up with water, then move to the BW pump out to empty our toilet tank. However the boat in front had problems, mainly because his waste pipe was blocked. Luckily for us because we had a heavy rain shower, so we stayed inside whilst he got soaked.

We made a decision, because of the weather, that once we had pumped out the toilet, we would do the 6 Grindley locks and moor up.

So today we have done 1 mile, 6 locks and it took us 3 hours, including water and pump out.
We have told other boaters, "If you want to rush, catch a bus"

Our friends Richard & Sally left Gloucester today, heading up to meet us on their boat "Indecision". We should meet them somewhere on the Shropshire Union Canal. We will then travel back with them to Saul Junction

On reflection, we have had a great time. Yes we have had our disagreements. But when you consider that we have been living in a space of 58' long x 7' wide for 5 months, it shows that after 22 years of marriage, we are still best friends.

Sorry for the delay (again) in updating the blog. We are getting nearer home, and everybody wants to visit us.

This weekend we had a lovely time with Pete & Helen.

We left Llangollen on Friday morning and travelled 4 miles back to Trevor. The only mooring space available was to reverse the boat over 300 yards to a place where the canal is very shallow, but we did it

We had a good meal in the Telford Inn

Next morning Wendy said that she would take the boat across the Pontysclyth Aqueduct.

 

We then continued to Hindford, letting Pete & Helen work the locks for us

 

We are now back at Ellesmere. And, heading home. In 3 days time we will be joining the Shropshire Union canal, then the Staffs &Worcs to Stourport on Severn. then 2 days on the severn, and back to the Sharpness Canal.

We arrived in Llangollen yesterday afternoon.
The trip in was as we expected, very narrow

You have 2 very narrow sections, one is 300 yards long the other is 500 yards long.

Wendy walked ahead using the radio to tell me what was happening ahead.

As we approached Llangollen the current from the River Dee which feeds the canal, reduced our speed to near crawling pace.

We are now in the Llangollen basin. It costs £6.00 per night to moor here, but with free water and electricity, we have taken advantage and the washing machine has been working overtime.

We can only stay a maximum of 48 hours, so we have to leave tomorrow.

We are expecting friends around lunchtime, and sadly that is it. We will be heading home.

We did have an incident whilst mooring in the basin. As Pete was reversing the boat to our mooring, Wendy jumped off with the centre rope, and we heard a rattle followed by a splash.

Our GPS mounted on velcro slipped over the side into the water. It contained all the data of our trip. We have been trying to retrieve it, even buying a fishing net, but to no avail. Luckily we backed everything up on our computer each evening, so we still have the data. I feel an insurance claim coming on, as it was quite expensive.

Some friends from our marina rang yesterday and asked if they could join us?  They will be leaving Saul Junction on Monday. We both thought that was really nice. We should meet them somewhere on the Shropshire Union Canal. We are both looking forward to meeting them again.

Hopefully once we rejoin the main canal network, our internet signal will improve, and we can resume the daily updates.

Today, we both agreed that we had not stopped for over a week and needed a rest. So we have stayed at Trevor.

Around mid morning we took the dog across the aqueduct and explored the surrounding countryside

The aqueduct is 1007' long, 11' wide and 5'3" deep. It is supported on 19 arches with each having a span of 45'. As it crosses the River Dee it is 126' high. Built by Thomas Telford in 1826. It is now a World Heritage Site.

We walked across the River Dee on an old toll bridge dating 1678

On our return it started raining, and has continued all afternoon, so were glad we stayed put. We did venture out to the Telford Inn and have a well deserved meal and drink this evening.

We had a really good time in Ireland, staying in Belfast for 2 nights, then Dublin for 1 night.

We left the marina at Ellesmere on Friday morning, and stopped overnight at Hindford. The weather has been really good, but alas no internet signal.

Yesterday we went through 2 locks, and moored up at Chirk, on the Welsh border. Once again no internet signal.

Today, our friends whom we went to Ireland with, joined us at Chirk.

We have travelled 4 miles to Trevor, Going across Chirk Aqueduct, through Chirk tunnel, then through Frontysclythe tunnel, finishing up crossing the Pontysclythe aqueduct.

Chirk Aqueduct

 

Waiting to cross Pontysclythe Aqueduct

 

Crossing the Aqueduct

Not much room for error

 

This afternoon we had our first Bar B Que. (only September) and an internet signal.

 

 

We are sorry for the slow updates, but the signals here vary so much