Purple mooring locations are on the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal.
Orange mooring locations are on the Shropshire Union Canal.
Brown mooring locations are on the Llangollen Canal.
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CC Week 14 4th - 11th Oct’ 202
Monday and Tuesday slipped past with more shopping and a 9.00am on Wednesday morning when the River Canal Rescue (RCR) engineer arrived and started servicing the engine . A task that was completed in a couple of hours during which time Sue got the laundry bang up to date - there was not much to do as we had done it just last week. The afternoon was spent, guess!!
Yes your right - shopping.
We were more than ready to get moving again, Thursday morning. We had planned to go back on to the Staffs and Worcs Canal stopping a couple of miles beyond where we reached before, Tixall Wide. Unfortunately the services point at Great Haywood was so busy it took us over 1.1/2 hours to get the water tank filled and the rubbish deposited in the proper bins by which time we had lost the appetite for another two hours cruising so we went for around a half hour to moor where we had two weeks ago. Bright and early Friday morning we set off from Tixall Wide into new territory. We went further than we had intended, although we did stop for a quick lunch, cruiseing for over six hours passing through seven locks eventually mooring after 10 miles in Penkridge outside the Cross Keys pub. Sadly the pub had no website so we were unable to discover the type of food sold and the reviews on Google Maps were, to put it politely, mixed.
We ate on board.
When we set out next morning (Saturday) we determined not to cruise for so long. We travelled just 5.3/4 miles and passed through 5 locks all in a touch over four hours.
Sunday saw us leaving the Staffs and Worcs Canal and joining the Shropshire Union Canal but first we had to negotiate “the narrows” that seemed to dominate the last mile or so as you approach Autherley. At this time of year they were not a problem as we didn’t meet a single boat coming the other way. There are one or two places that are, supposedly, wide enough for two boats to pass, yea in a pigs ear!!
After the stress of the narrows we were looking forward to the Autherley Junction as the photos we had seen showed a wide open area with the Shropshire Union Canal on the right. Although there was a bridge right at the junction that blocked any view of approaching boats with Sue sitting in the bow reporting to me on the helm by walkie talkie radio, every thing was going swimmingly until we were able to see that the boat we were following had stopped to set the first lock which was just beyond the bridge with absolutely no room for us. Fortunately we were able to hover in the entrance until the boat in front went into the lock then moved into the space they had just vacated. Soon we were through the lock and onto, for us, another new canal the Shropshire Union Canal, often referred to as “The Shroppie”. The main line was the last trunk narrow canal route to be built in England. It was not completed until 1835 and was the last major civil engineering accomplishment of Thomas Telford
Like the section of the Staffs and Worcs Canal approaching Autherley early parts of The Shroppie are very narrow and suitable for one way working only. While passing through these sections, like before, we didn’t meet a single boat but I would imagine that at the height of the season these sections would be very busy indeed. We moored for the night in a cutting just beyond Bridge number 10, quiet, peaceful, not another boat in sight - fabulous.
A nice cup of tea after a good days cruising.
CC Week 15 11th - 17th October 2021
This week we are planning to push on towards the Llangollen Canal. The winter stoppages start on that canal on 8th November so it is looking increasingly unlikely that we will be able to do justice to a trip on it this year but we will assess that when we reach the junction.
Monday, after stopping for a look around in the pretty village of Brewood (pronounced Brood) we cruised 7.1/2 miles passing through just one lock and mooring in a very pleasant spot opposite High Onn Wharf permanent moorings but, far more importantly, right next to a tree laden with ripe sloes. We picked a good quantity and will make some Sloe Gin in the next few days. We covered seven miles on Tuesday passing through Selmore embankment where trees shield what would otherwise be panoramic views.
When the canal was planned an embankment was not envisaged but landowner Lord Anson refused permission for the canal to pass through Selmore wood. The canal is supported on the left by the mile long Shelmore Embankment. While the navvies tried to complete the mighty task, the bank slipped and collapsed many times.
By early 1834 this section was the only uncompleted part of the whole canal. It took five and a half years' continuous work and was finally finished in 1835, many months after canal engineer Thomas Telford's death. There are flood gates at each end to close the channel in case of a breach.
Throughout its 175 year existence there have always been stability problems, and there still are. The whole length is lined now with mature trees, and their roots do help. This was not the case in the canal's early years. It certainly feels a strange spooky place, as was Grub Street Cutting, over a mile shrouded in vegetation that disguises the fact that the cutting is 80 feet (24.3m) deep, much of the spoil of which, along with that from Gnosall, was used to build the Selmore Embankment. Shortly after emerging from the Grub Street Cutting we moored almost outside the Anchor Pub at bridge 42. What a pity it was not open.
Thursday saw us continuing our cruise along the Shebdon Embankment, through the Woodsheeves Cutting and the five lock Turley Flight which will long be remembered because there is, apparently, a sign in lock 4 that says the lock 5 should be set and the gates open before you leave lock 4. The notice is, we are told, unreadable (I didn’t even see it) I left lock 4 cruised to the lock 5 landing and went hard aground. There are so many underwater obstructions that there is effectively no lock landing at the top of the lock. It took our long pole, the help of a couple of dog walkers and a good half hour to get us free and on our way. After nine interest packed miles we moored at the visitor moorings at Market Drayton.
We should, perhaps at this point, have decided not to continue our headlong race towards the Llangollen Canal but to slow down, relax and enjoy our beautiful Shropshire surroundings but Thursday we continued our headlong rush onwards passing through not one, not two, but sixteen locks eventually mooring between locks 11 and 12 of the 15 lock Audlem Lock Flight after an exhausting 6 hours taking us just 5 miles.
Our cruise today (Friday) took us the same distance as yesterday but with only 6 locks we did it in half the time mooring on the embankment overlooking the town of Nantwich in time for lunch. In the afternoon we had a wander round the very pleasant town.
Saturday, and we are onward, ever onward. After stopping at the services to refill our water tank and get rid of our rubbish we set off on the final 2 miles (3.2km) to Hurleston Junction where the Llangollen Canal Meets the Shropshire Union Canal. We had decided that with 21 days before the first winter stoppage on 8th November we could safely travel to Trevor Basin on the far side of the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct and back with lots of time to spare, particularly if we did a couple of long days. When we moored at Wrenbury Visitor Moorings that night we had the first six miles of the Llangollen Canal behind us.
Sunday we continued along the Llangollen Canal, a very different canal from those we had cruised before and unique in that it is the only canal on the system that has a current as it is used for taking water from Wales to Chester and Nantwich in England where it is treated and used for drinking water. This makes more of a difference than you may think in that apart from the obvious time difference when travelling in different directions, Canalplan AC suggests a trip from Hurleston Junction to Trevor Basin will take around 32 hours while a trip from Trevor Basin to Hurleston Junction would take around 21 hours. Passage against the current going through bridge holes needs total concentration as the water speeds up greatly when the width of the canal goes from around 20 feet (6.0m) or so to around 8 feet (2.5m) or so with the same volume of water needing to pass. When going through bridges you must line the boat exactly with the flow of water, if not the water flow will force the boat bow to one side giving the bridge or tow path wall a powerful clout (I discovered this the hard way).
Sunday night, after a day which included ten locks and 5 lift bridges which, apart from the electrically operated one as we left Wrenbury, each required around 80 turns of the winch handle to lift it and another 80(ish) to close it - hard work indeed, was spent on a quiet secluded mooring at Duddleston Bridge visitor moorings.