A Sad Farewell to Gnosall.

Monday 15th July, 2013 near Knighton, Shropshire.
We said a reluctant farewell to lovely Gnosall; it holds many happy memories for us. It has the distinction of being the only place name in the country with a silent "G" (unlike a "G-nother G-nu"!).
At Norbury Junction, we found a space in the ever present line of moored boats and walked up to the chandlery at the wharf.

On the way, we stopped to watch four young swallows sitting on the telephone lines being fed by their parents. M waited for ages with the camera at the ready, but the parents came and went with such astonishing agility and speed that she never quite manaaged to snap them!

The chandlery is a veritable Aladdin's Cave brimming with boating bits and touristy bric-a-brac. Today, however, we were after a present for MM. One of her centre ropes got caught on a lock-side a while back and what started as a litttle bit frayed has now become worse, so we bought a new rope and retired the old one as a spare.

After tea, coffee and a pair of bacon sandwiches in the Wharf Cafe, we walked back to MM. It was a very hot day and one of the boaters was cooling off his dog on the towpath with a hose. The dog seemed to be loving it and immediately shook himself and sprayed everyone with water!

North of Norbury Junction, the canal goes over a series of embankments and then through the Grub Street Cutting with its famous "double" bridge and the shortest telegraph pole in the country.

At Knighton, we passed the wharf that once belonged to Cadbury's. In 1911, when Cadbury's began to make Dairy Milk, they discovered that it was easier to bring the cocoa to the milk than vice-versa, so canal boats brought the cocoa to Knighton and another fleet of boats collected milk from dozens of local farms twice a day. The factory at Knighton processed the two into "chocolate crumb" which was then shipped to Bournville on the Worcester and Birmingham canal.  This continued until 1961. The factory now belongs to Premier Foods; Bournville Cocoa and Birds Custard (two good names!) are still made there.

A little further on we moored up for the night and soon after were joined by another narrowboat called "Sabbath Rest" with Dave and his lovely old cat "Poppy" still looking very good for her 20 years. It was a delightful spot to moor for the night, rural and peaceful.

Today: 8 miles, 0 locks and 6.7 hours (lots of battery charging).
Trip: 228 miles, 180 locks and 190.2 hours.