Mon 29th June
Polesworth to Bradley Green and back to Pooley
Several of us decided to have breakfast at “Licensed to
Grill” in the High Street. We had Noah’s breakfast (two of everything), which
we thought was appropriate. There were
ten of us and they ran out of bacon and had to nip to the butchers almost next
door. Peter and Lin, Henry, Lin and
Jack, Sue and Eric, Peter, James and Hazel
We called the lady at the Elim Church to see if anyone had
found our lost guitar stands. N-one had reported them found. We are passing
there anyway, so will call in to look around. Alan Dewhurst had also said he
would look in his car.
We cruised to the winding hole at Bradley Green, where we
turned and reversed through the bridge for water etc. Trinity was on the water point, and there were two boats waiting
opposite. We reversed beyond them and
James took the opportunity to visit the weedhatch. Nothing on the prop – just shallow water and silt causing
sluggishness. One of the boats waiting
did not need water, and the other was a small sea otter, which didn’t take
long. The pressure was good, so we were
soon on our way again.
We passed Trinity moored in the countryside before
Polesworth. We also passed Don on
Tumzul Cloud, who hadn’t moved. The
Polesworth visitor moorings were fairly full, and we decided to stop soon after
the M42, in shady woods at Pooley Fields, before Alvecote. It was very hot.
Pooley Visitor Centre
There was a boat there called Marmite, and the man seemed to
know David Litchfield. He had two
rotweilers, which he kept on a lead.
Several historic boats went past, returning from the
Braunston Historic Boat Rally. These
included at least three fuel boats, with loads of gas bottles on board.
Historic boats returning
from Braunston
James went for a walk in the nearby woods, visiting a lake,
and climbing to the top of the nearby slagheap, which is topped by a
monument. He could clearly see
Polesworth Abbey, and beyond it, Merevale Hall at Atherstone.
A curly oak in the
woods
“Canal Lake”
The track up the
slagheap
The monument at the
top
The view
On his return, we discovered that our gas bottle had just
emptied. What a shame it hadn’t happened an hour or two earlier – we could have
replaced it from the fuel boats.
The railway wasn’t far away, and we heard the sound of steam
train!
Mooring in the woods with Marmite
0 locks, 6 miles
Tue 30th June
Pooley Fields to Middleton Lakes
Thankfully the boat was in shade, so we were able to lie in
a little longer. We travelled through
Alvecote. This is no longer a hire boat
base, and the character has change completely. It is no longer a bustling
commercial place, but a sleepy marina, with quite a few people living on their
boats.
We retraced the mission route through Amington, and moored
by Bridge 73 at Glascote. We went to
the Elim Church, and tracked someone down in the office, who took us into the
church. After some poking around, we found our guitar stands in a box of leads!
We returned to the boat and set off down the two Glascote
Locks towards Fazeley.
Glascote Locks
It was very hot, and just after the Tame Aqueduct we found
some piling with a large tree opposite, providing welcome shade. Here we paused
for lunch and a short snooze, until we found ourselves in the sun again. We met a couple on a boat named Pasha,
and we gave them details of BCF. We
also saw Sunny Brid three times.
Our shady spot by the
Tame aqueduct
Later on we moved to Fazeley Junction where James filled the
water tank while Hazel went to Tesco for some essentials. James thought his
phone had been stolen, as he couldn’t find it, and when he tried to phone it
with Hazel’s phone, he got a message saying the phone was switched off. Several people, including some boisterous
school kids, had been past the boat at the water point. Hazel found it, tucked
in an unusual place.
We then headed up the Birmingham and Fazeley Canal, in
search of shady moorings. We turned just before the first lock and found a
shady mooring near Gravel Pit Bridge.
Drayton Manor Bridges
Fishers Mill Bridge
We got the chairs out on the bank and enjoyed a glass of
wine and some olives. We saw two greater spotted woodpeckers in the trees
opposite, plus a goldfinch.
After supper James went for a walk to see what he could see
at Middleton Lakes RSPB reserve. The main sights were five avocets, many reed
buntings, a colony of black-headed gulls, two egrets flying overhead, and a
grasshopper warbler. Sadly no barn
owls.
Middleton Lakes
2 locks, 7 miles
Wed 1st July
Middleton Lakes to Hopwas
James woke early and moved the boat half a mile to the main
entrance to Middleton Lakes, at Fishers Mill Bridge. Thankfully this was in
shade, as it was another hot day.
We both went for a walk, going up the west side of the
reserve as far as the furthest bird hide. We returned down the east side, where
there was more shade.
When we were ready to set off once more, James could not
find his mobile phone. He tried ringing it, but the message said the phone was
switched off! This time not even Hazel could find it, and James remembered
putting it down in the furthest bird hide.
He set off there in the blazing sun for a third time, and thankfully he
found it where he had left it. He tried
to call Hazel, but it said, “Before calls can be made, airplane mode must be
switched off”. After some searching, he
found Airplane Mode, and sure enough, it was switched on. How does this happen?
Who switched it on?
Orchids Canalside
We returned to Fazeley, where we said farewell to David and
Mary in their garden. Jubilee was opposite with no one aboard, and
likewise Maranatha was unoccupied.
We turned left at the junction, and emptied cassettes and
rubbish at Peel Wharf, where we met some boaters from the Wey on a Sea Otter
called OT. A short name for a short boat.
On the way to Hopwas we had a brief but welcome shower of
rain, and we found a mooring which we hoped would be shady. Also there was a BCF boat called Aquilo.
James wandered back to Aquilo later, but they were
watching TV.
This was the hottest July day on record.
0 locks, 5 miles
Thu 2nd July
Hopwas
Several boats were moving early. We discovered that Aquilo
had gone, so we will have to wait until another occasion to meet them.
We went to catch a bus to Lichfield, and were aiming for a
no.735 at 0930. Along came an express
X55, so we caught that instead, which took us on a more direct route, without
going through Whittington.
We found the tourist office, where we had some very helpful
advice, and were given two maps and a heritage trail leaflet. We went first to the farmers market, which
only happens once a month. We bought a lovely looking pie, and some fresh cut
ham, before going to the cathedral, which was being furnished for the Lichfield
Festival. Most of the chairs were
facing the wrong way!
Lichfield Cathedral
Vicars Close
Lichfield Spires
After a leisurely wander round we found a café and had some
lunch, before going separate ways - Hazel to the shops, and James to the
heritage trail. We met up later after
some difficulty with phone signals, and we bought a new toaster in Argos. Our
old one needs to be held down while it is toasting.
A visit to Tesco successfully filled up our shopping
trolley, and we were just about to leave to catch a bus back to Hopwas, when a
heavy rain shower started. We decided
it would be wise to visit Costa first, for drinks and a teacake. After the rain we found another express bus
to take us back to the Tame otter in Hopwas.
In the evening we revisited the Chequemates folk club where
we received a warm welcome once again. We sang “Flowers never bend” and
“Windmills”.
Folk Club in Hopwas
No boating today
Fri 3rd July
Hopwas to Fradley
Morning Mist
Moored at Hopwas
After a warm night there was mist in the valley. Hugo ran on board in a panic, with two dogs
chasing him. Their owner was not in sight.
The dogs ran up and down by the boat, sticking their heads in through
the open window. A man strolled into view, and when he came nearer, James said
the dogs were interested in our cat. “Oh, they’ll go for a cat!” he said. One
was a greyhound. “Shouldn’t they be on a lead, then?” James asked. “Well, I
don’t know which boats have cats on,” he said.
Precisely. We noticed that when
he walked back a little later, both dogs were on leads.
Hopwas Woods
We set off for a very pleasant but uneventful cruise to
Fradley, where we managed to find a mooring in sight of the water point before
the junction, where there were some overhanging trees giving lovely shade.
James finally managed to update the blog with details of the
mission before going for a walk round the Fradley Pool nature reserve.
We enjoyed the pie from Lichfield market.
James washed the boat roof and starboard side, as rain was
forecast.
0 locks, 8 miles
Sat 4th July
Fradley to Rugeley
Heavy rain and thunder in the night, which rinsed the boat
roof nicely.
The mooring in
Fradley
We walked down past the first lock to the sanitary station
where we emptied two cassettes and disposed of the rubbish.
There was the usual queue for the tap by the swing bridge
near the boat, and the pressure is notoriously low, so we had decided to use
the tap in Armitage instead.
We set off through the little swing bridge, turning left
onto the Trent and Mersey. Sadly no
volunteers this time, but there were plenty of boats going up and down so we
didn’t have to reset any locks.
Middle Lock at
Fradley
We noticed that the house at Shade House lock was still up
for sale. Nobody wants it as HS2 is planned to run very close by.
Thankfully there was a slight breeze as we cruised in
beautiful sunshine through woods and meadows. We paused for lunch by bridge 56.
We travelled on through Handsacre and Armitage, past the
Armitage Shanks factory, until we came to the Armitage “tunnel”, which
originally was a tunnel, then they took the roof off, then they put a big wide
road bridge over the top, making a bit like a tunnel again. It is very narrow, with no room to pass
another boat.
Armitage Shanks
factory
Boats going from East
to West need to go ashore to check if any boats are coming through. A boat had just emerged, and the helmsman
said “Don’t worry, there’s nothing behind”. As James was already ashore, he
decided to check anyway. There was a boat in sight, just entering the narrow
section! When they emerged five minutes
later, they said “Don’t worry, there’s nothing behind”. “That’s what the last
fellow said”, replied James. This time it was true.
Armitage Tunnel with
oncoming boat
Armitage Tunnel the
dark bit
Armitage Tunnel the
light bit
Once through the tunnel we stopped for water as planned,
just past Hawkesyard Hall. Several
boats went past while we were on the water point, and when we set off again we
found ourselves following a hire boat going very slowly, as they hadn’t worked
out how to steer. They were in and out of the bushes and banks, getting stuck
in the shallows, using the pole frequently.
Thankfully we managed to pass them and our final mile into Rugeley was
unencumbered. We moored up and it was
40 minutes before the hire boat turned up.
Hazel went shopping in Rugeley, particularly Wilko and
Morrisons.
3 locks, 7 miles, 1 swing bridge.
Next week: We plan to attend a service at the Victory
Christian Centre tomorrow, followed by a gentle cruise down the Staffs and
Worcs Canal.
