Brenda, Martin and Socks Visit.

 Saturday 28th annd Sunday 29th June in Audlem.

Our good friends Brenda and Martin, with their dog "Socks", who now live in this area, came to visit us for lunch. We met up in the "Shroppie Fly" a few yards from our mooring. It has to be one of the most photographed pubs along the waterways. Not a brilliant photographic example, as the sun was absent.

This was formerly a busy wharf and is named after the "Fly" boats that used to travel day and night as fast as possible with perishable goods - and also beer (which always needed to arrive quickly). The bar in the pub is famous for its own "Shroppie Fly".

We had a splendid lunch and a chance to catch up with Brenda and Martin. They were so very helpful last year when our toilet broke as we were able to have spare parts delivered to their house and they then kindly drove them over to MM in Audlem..

After lunch, they came to MM for tea and coffee. It is clear that Socks enjoyed being back on a narrowboat (B&M have their own share boat) and made himself quite at home, even being allowed to sit at the dinette with us!!

When the time came for them to leave, we walked to the car park with them and then went on into town to look for a post box.

As we walked into town, we passed many people carrying chairs, picnics and umbrellas. They were all on their way to Audlem's annual "Party on the Park", an evening of music that was celebrating its 25th year. We did think about going but every ticket was sold. Anyway, the "Park" was just 100 yards from our mooring and, although there was a narrow wood restricting our view, we could hear everything as if we were there anyway. So we saved ourselves £50 on tickets!

The sound system was excellent , very clear and the two bands were very good and played many of the same tracks that we have come to know and love through Randy & the Rockets. So, it was a brilliant evening and we listened to the last hour of the concert warmly tucked up in bed. Probably warmer than the crowd as it started to rain at the end but judging from the cheers, nobody minded!

On Sunday morning, we walked back into town for an excellent breakfast at No. 11. Then R backed MM up to the water point and gave her a thorough wash down before we set off through the two remaining Audlem locks. Below the locks we moored up for the night.

Today: 1 mile, 2 locks and 1.1 hours.

Trip: 70 miles, 60 locks and 40 hours.

What lovely round numbers (see above) to mark this pause in our travels!

In the evening, the distant sky was very threatening but the sun brought a special light to the foreground to make another image worthy of a Constable painting.

 

Tomorrow morning we shall put MM into Overwater Marina, which is just a couple of hundred yards down the canal and then go home. We are planning to go back north to Liverpool but are temporarily blocked by the closure of the lock at Hack Green just a couple of miles further on. Because we have to be home the weekend of 6th July and the weekend of 13th, and because we can go no further until Hack Green reopens sometime around 6th (?), we decided to go home for three weeks

So, we expect to be back on MM on 22nd July to continue our travels... Watch this space ...

The Audlem Flight

 Friday 28th June 2024 in Audlem.

Our "peaceful mooring" was not so quiet overnight. Despite being in the middle of the countryside, where it is pitch black at night, the lights and sounds of the emergency services woke us up at 1:15am, along with the sound of voices and people running down the towpath with flashing torches.

The emergency vehicles were parked on the bridge, which you can just see in the distance in the photo below. Their powerful lights were shining all down the canal towards us. We never did find out what the emergency was and, by the time we left, all three boats behind us had already gone so there was no one to ask.

We love it when the cows come down to the water to drink and M loved the fact that the swan was watching her carefully.

The fifteen locks of the Audlem flight were ahead. MM almost vanished in the top lock - not because this is a downhill lock flight  but because the lock surrounds have not been mown and are heavily overgrown.

We have noticed all summer that locksides and towpaths have not been mown. If the locks are left like this they will rapidly deteriorate and will soon be invaded by brambles and trees, likewise the towpaths.We are not sure whether the lack of mowing is an environmental issue or whether it is down to funding cuts - the latter, we suspect.

No prizes for guessing the prevailing wind here!

Next to one of the locks, this gate beckoned you to follow the path through it - until you looked at the notice behind it!

The Audlem flight went extremely quickly, not least due to the great help from a "lock wheeler" from the boat coming down behind us, who kindly closed the gates as MM left each lock, which saved R having to close them himself. M went ahead and set each lock, almost all against us, so that the gates were open by the time that MM arrived.

We moored just below Lock 13, exactly where we moored for a week last year when our toilet broke.

We remembered the new tearoom, called "Number 11", in the middle of Audlem, and set off to find our reward for completing the flight in record time. Their cakes are amazing and HUGE!

The lovely lady owner remembered us from last year and gave us a warm welcome.

Audlem villagae is dominated by its imposing church, which sits in front of Audlem's own "Butter Cross", now a bus stop.

We will stay here until Sunday as we will not go into Overwater Marina until Monday and the marina is only two locks and two miles away.

Today: 2 miles, 13 locks and 2.3 hours.

Trip: 69 miles, 58 locks and 38.9 hours.

Adderley Locks.

 Thursday 27th June 2024 at Adderley Locks.

Somehow, I don't think that this boat owner will be voting for either Labour or the Conservatives!

Ten years ago, we seriously considered buying one of the two town houses in the centre with its own mooring on the doorstep.

Up until last year, the moorings were private and we had used them in the past for a short-term mooring. Now they are run by the C&RT and are only available as long term moorings and - guess what? - they are standing empty! It seems that C&RT are turning as many mooring places as they can into long term moorings, presumably to make money, including many visitors' moorings that now stand empty and unavailable.

This is the top of the Adderley flight of locks, where there used to be a little stall selling meats, bacon, cakes and the best pork pies in the world (according to M). Everything was produced by the neighbouring farm and was of the highest quality. Sadly, it did not re-appear after Covid.

This is classic Cheshire countryside, rolling pastureland and lots of dairy herds. Traffic is mostly tractors and milk tankers.

A very quiet mooring and a chance for M to do a wash, which dried quickly in the sunshine and quite strong wind.

Today: 4 miles, 5 locks and 1.9 hours.

Trip: 67 miles, 45 locks and 36.6 hours.

A Market Drayton Day.

 Wednesday 26th June 2024 in Market Drayton.

As we have until Monday to get to Overwater Marina, we took today off and stayed in Marlet Drayton. The day was hot and sunny.

Wednesday here is Market Day, so we set off to town to find some breakfast. This is the old Buttercross in the centre of town and the start of the open market.

Opposite the Buttercross was a tea room named after it and we had enjoyed nice food there a number of times in the past. Sadly, it had closed since last year. M went into the delicatessen next door to buy Billington's renowned gingerbread and asked for recommendations for somewhere else nearby where we could have breakfast. We were referred to "The Hideout" a few yards down the road. It was formerly a pub and we received a warm welcome and an excellent breakfast.

Market Drayton has a wealth of handsome old buildings such as this former flour mill, now up for sale.

In the centre is this very impressive Tudor House Hotel, which could rival anything in Chester. Sadly, however, there were many empty shops and signs that Market Drayton is not thriving.

M liked this road sign, but listened in vain for music!

There is a large Morrisons in town and M went in for a "few bits" but managed to keep it to just a single bag full, much to R's relief!

Close to our mooring is this very austere pill box. During the Second World War, the canals were used as possible defensive lines and there are many of these along the waterways but most are not in such good condition.

A quiet and relaxing afternoon followed. Even MM had a rest in the hot sunshine.

Woodseaves Landslips and Turley Locks

 Tuesday 25th June 2024 at Market Drayton.

We set of on an overcast morning but cheery "Sid" is guaranteed to raise a smile. He acquires more decorations each year and now has a Commando abseiling down his fishing line!

We pass many herons along the canals. Some are brave and stand and watch us pass but most take flight like this one. They look so ungainly as they scramble for height.

Before Market Drayton, the canal passes through a deep cutting. This bit of the cutting is through rock and it is a wonder that the foxgloves (very small in the photo, but they are there!) can find any purchase on the sheer rock face.

Later on, the sides of the cutting are soft red soil and there is always a danger of landslips. This year we saw so many completely blocking the towpath - a testament to a lack of maintenance as well as the amount of rain that we have had. The towpath was universally just either pure mud inches deep or so overgrown that it may as well not have been there at all. In fact, the towpath had been closed off for long stretches.

It was a relief to be back out into the open again at the top of Tyrley Locks, with its historic buildings that have benn used for every imaginable purpose over the years.

This view of the third of the five locks could be a painting or a picture postcard!

The weather had gradually brightened up throughout the day and soon after, we arrived at Market Drayton, where we moored up in the shade of a large tree to shelter from the unaccustomed heat and strong sunshine.

Today: 7 miles, 5 locks and 3.0 hours.

Trip: 63 miles, 40 locks and 34.7 hours.

Winter joined us for Summer

 Monday 24th June 2024 at Knighton Bridge.

We have a couple of Plan Bs in mind, but it was too early to start making phone calls so we wandered off to the wharf café for breakfast.

We were immediately befriended by (and fell in love with) Winter, the wharf's ginger cat.

R had toasted tea cakes for breakfast and so had butter on his fingers, much to Winter's delight! Love him!!

We also made friends with Kiera and Daisy, two rescue dogs, both from overseas. Their owners had huge problems trying to adopt dogs in the UK and so looked overseas.

The wharf café is charming and is full of old boating memorabilia including a magnificent collection of traditional "ribbon plates" much prized by the original working boaters of old.

Some years ago, we had been given three such plates by our friend Jenni, who had inherited them from a couple who could no longer continue boating. We had kept them safe all this time and decided to offer them to Yvonne, who runs the café, for her collection. She was absolutely delighted and commented that the plates were in excellent condition with the ribbons looking like new. With many of the plates in her collection, the ribbons have deteriorated over the years. So a good home for them and we know Jenni will be thrilled to see them on the wall.

After breakfast, we started making phone calls and working with "CanalPlan" to work out what our best option was to get to Liverpool on time and fit in our planned trip north by car.

Eventually, we managed to book a mooring for MM at Overwater Marina just south of Hack Green from Monday 1st July to Monday 22nd July, which gives us enough time to get to Liverpool at a leisurely pace.

We have been most impressed with the staff at Norbury who have been super helpful and friendly and, after big "Thank Yous" all round, we set off north past this very brave heron beautifully reflected in the water.

Going into Grub Street Cutting, M was curious about a bridge described as carrying a footpath and a stream above the canal. M set off to explore and found the footpath but no sign of the stream. What she did find, next to the bridge is "Loynton Moss", a nature reserve described as a floating bog with an interesting plant community. This rather overgrown post marks the entrance.

While M explored the delights atop the high sides of the Grub Street Cutting, R and MM waited patiently below.

At Knighton Bridge, we moored up MM at a very peaceful location with mooring rings and shade from the sun.

Although this was a very quiet mooring, we could hear sounds of a diesel engine a few hundred yards along the towpath. Upon investigation, this turned out to be a rather delapidated diesel pump that was sucking water out of the canal.

The suction pipe ran across the towpath and the outlet from the pump went several hundred yards across the fields into the distance. No idea what it was watering.

 As night fell, the diesel pump switched itself off, so silence reigned.

Since 19th June: 5 miles, ) locks and 2.4 hours.

Trip:56 miles, 35 locks and 31.7 hoours.

Our Path Ahead Blocked Yet Again!

 Sunday 23rd June 2024 at Norbury Junction.

The journey back to MM was basically the same as our journey home on Thursday but in reverse, i.e. we drove the car back up to Aston Marina and then took a taxi from Aston to Norbury.

In the three days that we've been away, our long overdue summer has arrived - at last! Hooray!! The wharf café was predictably busy on a sunny Sunday afternoon. It's such a pretty spot and draws visitors from miles away.

But where was MM? There was no sign of her! Norbury was once a real junction between the Shropshire Union Canal and the Newport Branch that went down to Shrewsbury. Sadly only the first 100 yards of the Newport Branch survives and MM was moored in that short bit of the branch. R went off to retrieve her and, after considerable manoeuvering to get past other boats moored in the arm, cruised through the wharf to a mooring just north of the wharf as we have decided to stay here tonight.

As a reward, we went back to the café for a Magnum each.

It was at this point that we discovered that one of the locks at Hack Green is being closed tomorrow at 9:00am for 10 days. It was scheduled for repair next winter but its condition has deteriorated so much that the C&RT is going to have to fix it now, right in the middle of the season. 

This is the third time this year that our progress has been curtailed by emergency repairs to broken locks. C&RT funding restrictions are causing clear problems.

This has really upset our plans as we had booked MM into Anderton Marina from 10th July for two weeks to go home and then on to Yorkshire and the Lakes, coming back on 24th July in plenty of time to reach Liverpool by August 10th. Hack Green Locks are before Nantwich and so we will have to find an alternative mooring for MM and work out how to get to Liverpool on time.

We discussed a few options and finally decided to sleep on it and deal with it in the morning.

M is delighted as it warm enough for salads at last!

Leaving Norbury

Thursday 20th June 2024 at Norbury Junction.

Due to committments at home, we had arranged to put MM into Norbury Wharf for three nights. The prospect of breakfast in their excellent café first was irresistible, so we walked down from our mooring just outside the wharf and were suprised to see a huge crane waiting.

Eventually, nb "Kerroweg" arrived on the back of a flatbed truck and was craned into the water. (M filmed the process but then lost the video! Dur!!). We got chatting to her new owners, a lovely couple who had bought her as a restoration project. The boat had been sitting almost untouched in the garden of a small cottage just outside Edinburgh for 20 years! How lovely to think that she will be both lovely and loved once again.

As they have not yet been able to get the boat's engine working, she had to be manhandled across to a mooring on the other side of the wharf to await a tow to take her to where they can work on the engine. Once they get the engine going, they will take her down to Stourport for the restoration. Her name is apparently Manx in origin.

Once all this drama was over, R backed MM into the wharf next to their trip boat. The staff at Norbury have been really helpful and they will move MM and hook up her electric supply once we have gone.

R had ordered a taxi to pick us up at midday to take us the 12 miles back to Aston Marina, where our car is parked. Taxis are the only option as there are no buses or trains anywhere near Norbury. It barely even qualifies as a "hamlet" as it has no shops, no church and only a handful of cottages. It has a pub, of course, which is hugely popular with boaters. The wharf is reached by a couple of miles down a very narrow lane with passing places.

With MM locked up, we had breakfast in the cafe and waited for our taxi, which picked us up on time and we then drove home from Aston.

 Back on Sunday!