Descent

Our journey continued through rural Shropshire and the canal remains at a constant level by the use of increasingly spectacular embankments and cuttings.  Shelmore Embankment is nearly a mile long and in places stands 59 feet above the land to the west.   Through Woodseaves Cutting the steep sides tower above us along it's 1.5 mile length.  We are reminded of the challenges of creating these cuttings when we passed a landslip which obstructed the canal earlier in the year.   There is still some debris in the canal but the remaining channel is wide enough for boat traffic.   

Deep cuttings require tall bridges but High Bridge is unusual.  It was built with a bracing arch  which has since made a convenient site for a telegraph pole.   

High Bridge but Bess is more interested in the canal-side.

By Tuesday we've sailed 24 miles along the Shropshire Union and have only come down 2 locks.  This week it's payback time. 

After descending 33 feet through the 5 Tyrley Locks we moored up at Market Drayton ready for market day on Wednesday.  Market Drayton is a picturesque town with some old timbered buildings which replaced the original buildings destroyed by fire in 1651.  Sadly many of the shops in the town stood empty but the market was impressive, stalls lined the wide streets and open spaces selling a variety of goods.

During our travels I've been trying to identify the birds we see.   Easily identifiable but unexpected were a pair of mandarin ducks who came for bread with the mallards at Market Drayton.  

Our next descent was 31 feet through 5 locks at Adderley with a good mooring at the bottom.  We stopped overnight because the first of 15 locks in the Audlem flight is just a mile further on. 

The 15 locks lower the canal by 93 feet and are separated by short stretches of canal called pounds.  These allow us to pass boats coming up and reduces the amount of work.  The gates are left open for the approaching boat and the boaters help each other to wind up the paddles to empty or fill the locks.  We were lucky, the locks were busy as we descended and as well as having some assistance there is time for a chat with the other boaters. 

Audlem village visitor moorings start after lock 11 and so we moored up for a day and then stayed another.  We called in at the canal-side pub, the Shroppie Fly.  A flyboat was the horse drawn canal equivalent of express delivery.  The bar in the pub is a replica of the front half of a flyboat, complete with a fender.  

Moored up at Audlem - the pound between locks 10 and 11 is in the foreground.   Brent III's wheelhouse is an unusual sight on this canal.  

This morning we came down through the remaining 4 Audlem Locks and continued on to the visitor moorings at Coole Lane Bridge.  This week we've descended 157 feet through 25 locks.

Our journey from Gnosall to Coole Lane Bridge.  

Tranquil Waters

On Sunday morning a hard frost covered the roof in ice and fog obscured our view.  Time to retrieve the winter woollies from the vacuum bags.  During the day 6 locks took us up 54 feet to approximately 340 feet above sea level.   The next locks will be on the Shropshire Union which take us back down so this is the highest point on our journey to Chester.  

At Gailey Lock a round house made an interesting scene for a pencil drawing.   

As we reached the outskirts of Wolverhampton the canal cuts through red sandstone and narrows to just one boat width with passing places.  Luckily we don't need to use the passing places.

Narrow channel is just wide enough for one boat

Shortly after emerging from the narrows we reached Autherley Junction and turned onto the Shropshire Union canal, signposted Chester. 

The Shropshire Union flows tranquilly through woods, farmland and the occasional village.  During the week we travelled along the bottom of steep sided cuts spanned by tall elegant bridges and on top of high embankments overlooking the countryside.  The height of the canal remains at the same level so there are very few locks but there is a tunnel.  Cowley Tunnel, at 81 yards long, is our first tunnel.   We had a spot lamp ready but it was surplus to requirements, the tunnel was straight and we could see clearly through to the other end. 

The northern entrance to Cowley Tunnel

At Gnosall (pronounced knows all) we moored up to catch up with some chores, even in this idyllic lifestyle the oven needs cleaning.  We enjoyed a meal at the Chinese Evening in the Boat Inn and bought supplies at the village shops.  The friendly butcher spotted Bess waiting outside with Kev and gave me a sausage roll for her!

Our route from Penkridge to Gnosall - a shorter distance as the crow flies!

Winter Moorings

Our journey from Alrewas was slow.  Brent III has a deep draft and in places we dragged along the bottom.  A sudden banging from down below and a loss of power indicated something had caught on our propeller.  Brent III has a weed hatch which opens to give access to the prop when this occurs.  Unfortunately whatever's tangled up can't be seen so with some trepidation Kev reached down into into the murky water.  Out comes an old towel and some strips of plastic.  

We are soon on our way again but can still hear some odd noises so at Fradley Junction we stopped to check it out.  All appears to be OK, it's probably down to the shallow water on this canal.  We take a walk down to the local which happens to sell real ale, not a bad way of spending a Monday afternoon.

At Armitage we passed through a narrow section only wide enough for one boat.  This used to be a tunnel until subsidence damaged the roof which was then removed.  The stretch still has the appearance of a tunnel with it's steep red sandstone sides and a road bridge which crosses obliquely over the top for most of the 130 yard length.  Luckily we can see through to the far side to check nothing is coming in the opposite direction before proceeding. 

Trees glowing with autumn glory brighten the canal side but the nights are drawing in and winter is fast approaching.  We want to be at Chester, close to my parents, for our first winter afloat and so book a winter mooring at Tattenhall Marina.  We have a choice of routes and decide to take the Staffs & Worcs canal and then onto the Shropshire Union.  

The Staffs & Worcs canal was one of the first canals of the Industrial Revolution and it meanders in a south-westerly direction towards Wolverhampton.  The quaint old locks have remained unchanged from the days of the horse drawn barges and ironwork bearing grooves from the tow ropes is still in place.  Bess and I took a walk with the camera to capture the view to use for drawings or paintings in future. 

Parkgate Bridge and Lock.  The towpath continues on the right to enable the horse to walk up to the top of the lock.   

Management of our electricity is an important part of this lifestyle.  Keeping the batteries topped up and limiting the use of power hungry appliances is good practice.  Earlier in the year we fitted a battery monitor which measures our power consumption and displays the remaining voltage.  A very useful device until it stopped working this week.  As we'd bought this from Viking Marine we rang John who helpfully advised us to send it back to him.  This doesn't affect out electric supply but we will need to be careful with our usage.

Our journey from Alrewas to Penkridge

Down with the Wheelhouse

The water levels on the Upper Trent reduced and we literally barged our way through the debris, including tree trunks, which had accumulated outside the lock gates.  

As we sailed onto the Trent and Mersey Canal we checked our Nicholson's guide, the boaters bible with maps and information about the Inland Waterways network.  Nicholson's advises the headroom is 7 feet and with our wheelhouse we are 7 feet 9 inches.  It is time to take it down for travelling.  

We had previously had a trial run but during this week we have fallen into a routine and can have the wheelhouse down in just over 5 minutes.   The windscreen and roof come forward and rest on the boat roof and the other windows fold down.  This is the first time we've travelled with the wheelhouse down and the experience is surprisingly different.  We enjoy standing out in the open and Bess has found the roof is ideal for watching the world go by.  

Brent III looks very different with the wheelhouse down.   

Bess enjoys looking out from the roof as we travel

We had another 'first' this week - sailing on the narrow canals.  I was surprised to see the narrow locks which are only a couple of inches wider then Brent III so precision steering is required.  An advantage is the tiny lock gates which are easier to open than those on the wider canals.  

A narrow bridge - just inches wider than Brent III

Alrewas may have an unpronounceable name but the old black and white cottages with their thatched roofs make this an interesting village to visit.  We moored up in this popular spot for the weekend and spent some time sat out on the front deck enjoying the sunshine.  Bess as always attracted a lot of attention, she certainly knows how to do 'cute'.  

Our route from Beeston to Alrewas travelling a short way each day.  

Monday Morning

Monday mornings should be a thing of the past but the 24th September proved to be our boating version.  Over the weekend our Honda generator stopped producing electricity in the middle of a big load in the washing machine.   The washing was finished by hand and luckily dried in the warm weather on Saturday.  The genny had to be returned to a supplier and not wishing to delay the repairs we set off for Nottingham in the pouring rain.  

Since leaving Torksey we have been looked after very well by the lock-keepers on the River Trent.  On the approach to the locks we've radioed ahead and the lockies have opened the gates, filled the locks and cheerfully sent us on our way.  Our first lock on this wet Monday revealed the locks were now unmanned and this service had ended.   Out with the windlass and waterproofs to go through the lock onto the Nottingham Canal.  

We walked the short distance, Kev carrying the generator, to Henton & Chattell whose staff were very helpful.  They looked at the genny while we dripped in their reception.  The cause of the problem was not apparent so we left it in their capable hands and continued towards Nottingham.   The canal has some very low bridges which we squeezed under, carefully checking our height as we went along.  Later we realised the heavy rain had increased the water levels in the canal thus reducing the available headroom.   

We moored up in Nottingham city centre and a continual flow of pedestrians with orange carrier bags indicated a Sainsbury's store was not far away.  In fact it was close enough to wheel the shopping trolley back to our mooring so we stocked up again!

I haven't visited Nottingham before and took the opportunity to have a look round.  The tall red brick buildings stand proud over the busy streets and the caves around the castle are fascinating.  I was surprised to see a medieval house for sale - would you get a mortgage on that?

Our water tank was running low so we moved on to Beeston Lock where we find the Upper Trent is in flood.   While waiting for the water levels to subside we hear our genny has been repaired.  I caught the train back to Nottingham to collect it.  The service provided by Henton & Chattell was excellent,  a replacement wiring loom was ordered and fitted in 5 days and they ordered a taxi for my return journey.  I highly recommend this friendly helpful firm.  

Moored up at Beeston Lock 

Our short journey from Holme Pierrepoint to Beeston Lock.