Tuesday 1st July
Hopwas to Streethay
As we were leaving Hopwas, past the visitor moorings, we
spotted a grass snake swimming in the water. That’s two this year! Then we entered the beautifil Hopwas woods,
where James once had a conversation with an owl.
Hopwas woods
There was then a convoy of
boats coming the other way, we counted at least seven. This happens when
there are no locks to separate out the boats, and everyone decides to leave at
once.
At Hademore we noticed that the badger setts were very
active. There is some piling opposite,
so one day we may decide to stay there overnight and keep watch.
It was very hot and humid. We passed Huddlesford Junction,
which is the eastern end of the Wyrley and Essington Canal, under restoration.
We spied a good mooring at bridge 84 – Stoney Step Bridge,
where there was piling and shade and a wide towpath, so we decided to stop. We
got the chairs out on the bank and enjoyed a pleasant rest in the shade. Hugo seemed very relaxed – no nervous
reactions to yesterday’s episode with the dogs.
Relaxed Hugo
0 locks, 4 miles, 1hr45
Wednesday 2nd July
Streethay to Handsacre
One disadvantage of shady moorings is that trees drop little
spots of sap, plus bits of twig, and our roof was well decorated by the
morning.
Six boats went past
before we set off. We also saw Ein Cariad (BCF boat), with Bernard and
Anne Hughes seen last year in August near Kinver.
At Fradley James walked down one lock to empty a cassette as
there is a bit of a gap before the next facilities. As we went through the little swing bridge, and turned left onto
the Trent and Mersey Canal, we joined a line of boats waiting for the locks. We
were 4th in the queue.
At Fradley there are permanent moorings for several boats
between the locks, leaving space for only one boat on the lock bollards. Other boats in the queue have to hang onto
them or tread water in the middle. A silly arrangement. CRT should remove some of the moorings and
make them for lock use only. Victor Meldrew.
A New Song came down the locks, Brian and Jean Branch
(BCF)
As we cruised through the lovely countryside above the
locks, we couldn’t help but think about HS2, which will cross in three places
within a mile, ruining this beautiful stretch of canal.
We moored at bridge 56, just before Handsacre. There was another boat called
Ormiston, and the lady had a cat called George. He
and Hugo seemed to get on fine, lying a few feet from each other, and with no
arguments.
3 locks, 8 miles, 1 swing bridge, 4hr00
Thursday 3rd July
Handsacre to Wolsey Bridge
The route from here goes past the Armitage Shanks factory
before going through Armitage Tunnel, which had its roof removed in 1971, and
then a concrete bridge was put over the top to carry the A513. The canal cutting is very narrow, with no
room to pass another boat, so Hazel walked on ahead to stop any boats entering
from the other end.
Armitage Tunnel
approach
Armitage Tunnel
Just after Hawkesyard Hall is a water tap with very good pressure,
so we stopped to fill our water tank.
Then we passed the ugly power station with its cooling
towers, before mooring just before bridge 66 at Rugeley for shopping.
First stop was Morrisons, just south of the canal, as they
market their own brand of cider, almost certainly made by Weston’s. Sadly they didn’t have any. The shop was really busy, and the checkout
queues were long, so Hazel went off to do one or two other bits while James
packed and paid for everything.
Back to the boat to stow all the cold stuff, and have lunch
before going to the brand new Tesco just north of the canal. There James came
away with some Wyldwood cider.
When we left the mooring, we found we were following a very
slow boat. Tickover is fine when passing moored boats, but when you reach an
open stretch of canal you are meant to put on a few more revs, especially if
there is another boat behind you.
We crossed the aqueduct over the Trent, noticing how the
railings had been nicely painted by a volunteer work party just recently.
Following slowcoach
across the Trent Aqueduct
The, just round the corner, our slowcoach in front indicated
that he was about to turn in the winding hole.
He was just out for a jolly.
We continued on to the Taft – where we saw Peter and Julie waving
from the house, so we stopped for tea (as you do). Their new dog Amber was full of energy, stealing bits of foliage
to play with.
Peter, Julie and
Amber by Maid of Oak at the Taft
We moved on to moor at Bridge 70 (Wolseley Bridge) with good
views of Cannock Chase. Ein Cariad
went past again.
The electrical wiring challenge
James decided to do some electrical work that needs doing.
We have two 12v sockets, which originally were for a small lamp, plus the
TV. When we installed the TV, we found we needed a signal booster, which
also needs a 12v socket, so the lamp was unplugged, and the booster was plugged
in. There is no master switch for the
TV so to switch it on or off we have to unplug it. The plan was to combine the
wiring for the TV and the booster into one plug, using one socket, and use the
other socket for the lamp as originally planned. The lamp has an online switch
in the cable. This part of the
operation was successfully achieved.
The other part of the plan was to replace the unswitched TV
socket with a new one that has a switch. When the old socket was unscrewed from
the wall, and the new one examined, we discovered that the new one had much
smaller brass terminals, and we couldn’t fit the two pairs of wires in. James decided to use some connector block to
reduce the two wires to one, which could then fit easily into the terminals.
All that was needed was two short pieces of electric wire. James had one, a red
one about two inches long. He was
debating whether there was enough to cut it in half to make two lengths, when
along came Mistol. They went
past but Rob had seen the engine hatch open (the electrics had been turned off)
and he came back to see what was wrong and if he could help. He said he had some electric cable on his
boat, so we walked up to where he had left Tricia trying to moor. We helped her
get the boat tied up, and then Rob produced various bits of cable he had kept
“in case”. Having acquired a suitable
short piece of black cable, James was able to connect it all up and it worked!
Rob and Tricia came aboard to help us finish off some wine
and nibbles. A very good evening.
Rob and Tricia
0 locks, 7 miles, 3hr00
Friday 4th July
Cannock Chase to Stafford
Wolseley Bridge
mooring
A sunny day to start with.
We got going early (only one boat had already passed), and we waved at
Rob and Tricia as we headed for Colwich Lock.
On a previous occasion here we were boat no12 in a queue,
and we didn’t want a repeat of that.
The boat in front was Daydream and they enquired
about BCF. By the time Gabriel was in
the lock there were three boats waiting below, including Mistol.
Colwich Lock
Canalside cottages at
Haywood
We caught up with Daydream at Haywood Lock and gave
them a BCF leaflet
At Great Haywood junction we turned left into the Staffs and
Worcester Canal, and Hazel stepped off
to dispose of our rubbish.
Leaving the Trent and
Mersey at Great Haywood Junction
Crossing the Trent once again
Continuing through Tixall Wide we realised that here there
was no railway noise as the line went through a tunnel under Shugborough Park.
Tixall Wide
Tixall Lock
We discovered from walkers that the farm shop at Milford Bridge
105 has now gone, and there is now no right of way over the bridge to the
village of Milford. The bridge itself is a turnover bridge, allowing horses to
cross from one side of the canal to the other without unhitching the rope.
Milford Bridge
We moored at Radford Bridge 98, with a plan to take a bus
from there into Stafford to do some shopping and sightseeing.
The wallet incident
As we were gathering up phones, keys etc, we discovered that
Jame’s wallet was missing. We both
searched throughout the boat several times, looking in ridiculous places (even
under the engine hatch!) and decided that he must have lost it or had it
stolen. James had last used it at
Morrisons in Rugeley. It contained
credit and debit cards, plus James’s bus pass and driving licence, as well as
some cash.
First we rang Morrison’s, and then Tesco, but neither had
found it. The we checked online banking
to see if the cards had been used. They hadn’t. We phoned HSBC and cancelled the cards. New ones are now being
sent to our address in Suffolk.
Then Hazel rang Barclaycard to cancel James’s card. As she was talking with them, James was
looking through some other cards he had in a small box, and discovered the
Barclaycard, which had not therefore been in the wallet. Just in time – we were able to stop the
cancellation going through.
Then we rang Surrey County Council to arrange a new bus
pass. Not so easy. James has to go in
person to a local library to arrange it and pay £5. He may have to pay for bus rides for a while.
Then we considered the driving licence. This was the worst problem as we are hiring
a car in two weeks to go to Jasmin’s birthday party in Leatherhead.
We decided to ring the police in Rugeley, and went through a
long conversation with someone there.
As James was talking to them, Hazel had another look in James’s shoulder
bag, which has several pockets, and found the wallet! We had both looked twice
already, but missed it. BIG SIGH OF
RELIEF!
By then it was too late to go into Stafford, and it had
started raining heavily, so we decided to stay put, and go in tomorrow
instead. If the buses run on Sunday, we
may go in again to go to a church. Trinity
looks good (Methodist and URC combined).
Chilli con carne and strawberries for supper
3 locks, 7 miles, 3hr15
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