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