Tuesday 9 April
Did very little over the weekend and finally felt able to get moving by Tuesday. Fortunately I have a long lock free stretch ahead. Just as well - I stopped off at Norbury Wharf to get coal and water and realised just how weak I still am.
This part of he Shropshire Union Canal (Birmingham & Liverpool Junction Canal) was the last built by Thomas Telford, completed in 1835, but not until after his death 6 months before the opening. Regarded by many as the greatest of his canals it has very deep cuttings and high embankments.
One can only speculate as to the effort involved with no power tools and only "black powder" to assist.
From the height of this embankment.
To the depth of this very long cutting
And the very aptly named "High Bridge" - with a telegraph pole in the middle!
Moored for the night a bit before the next flight of 5 locks at Tyrley. A lovely days cruising in hazy sunshine and little wind - 10 miles and no locks. No TV or internet so watched film then slept for 11 hours.
One interesting aside - the odometer briefly appeared and showed 884 hours. So, despite being 7 years old, the engine is hardly run-in!
Wednesday 10 April
The 5 Tyrley locks lay ahead to get to Market Drayton. A very pretty flight but after doing the top lock on my own, I realised it was going to be a struggle
And then, in the second lock - a hire boat caught me up. I suggested they might want to go ahead as I was being very slow due to not being fully recovered from flu. The reply - "there are 6 of us - we will help you through the locks" - thank you very, very much - you saved me a deal of sweat and exhaustion. What a great community it is.
Spent Wed, Thursday and Friday nights in Market Drayton.
Bit of a strange town - apart from the plethora of charity shops which now seem to multiply in all town centres, I have never seen so many hairdressers in such a small area.
Shopping at one of the smallest Asda's I have seen and a visit to the the home-brew shop to purchase the equipment to give me the ability to substantially reduce one of my major expense items!
Saturday 13 April
5 miles and 7 locks to get to the moorings below lock 2 on the Audlem flight of 15 locks.
Monday 15 April
A beautiful morning so an early (0930) start to get down 10 locks to the moorings at Audlem. The man in the next boat was born in Dunfermline and the skipper of the one after that trained at Rosyth dockyard - indeed a small world. Refreshed by a pint sitting outside at the newly re-opened Shroppie Fly, it seemed too nice a day not to continue and enjoy a bit of lock free cruising. Besides, I had no phone signal and was scraping on the renowned "Shroppie Ledge" (there tends to be a shallow ledge along much of the Shroppie which prevents getting tight to the bank and provides poor moorings).
So, three more locks and a cunning plan! At the first lock, a young lad with his grandparents wanted to help with the lock gate. By all means. Would he like a trip to the next lock? Of course he would and the grandparents kindly obliged by working the locks. A delight to be able to make his day and introduce him to the world of boating. Thank goodness there are still some people who do not worry that all men on their own are potential paedophiles.
Then a lovely, if very windy, cruise to the visitor moorings just below Hack Green. Picnic tables and BBQ's provided but I do not think I will be using them - I will be rocked to sleep tonight with the strength of the wind!
Oh - I managed to bodge up the new aerial. I have another pole to slot in and add extra height, if needed. But I need to find a way to stop it rotating in strong winds which it is doing at present.
No comments:
Post a Comment