Stafford to Compton Lock

Sun 12^th July

Stafford Boat Club to Penkridge

We walked up the hill to Wildwood Church, which starts at 10am.  We had a warm welcome. They meet in a school but they are negotiating for a plot of land locally where they can build their own place. They seem to be very active in the community.  There were some good songs that we had not heard before. The talk was very good, all about the Great Commission.  We had a meal in the nearby pub afterwards, before buying a bottle of milk, and walking back down the hill past flowering gardens.

Wildwood Church A-Board

Wildwood Church

Beautiful flowers

Pete Hardy came with a 5L bottle of toilet blue, and we went to the office to settle up for our electricity and return our boat club key. Then we set off, having had a very enjoyable stay.

Farewell to Aud on Sam Hardy

Stafford Boat Club

The first excitement after we set off was at Deptmore Lock, and when we were going up, and James had open the port side ground paddle he noticed water rushing into the bows from the scuppers on the starboard side of the boat.  On subsequent locks he half opened a paddle on each side before he opened them fully.  The lock design must be a little different to other narrow locks.

We also noticed that one of the steel plates on the bottom gates was bent, creating a possible hazard to boats going up, which could catch a fender or rudder.  James sent photos to C&RT.

Deptmore Lock

Bent steel

At Acton Trussel there seemed to be a scarecrow competition going on. We were in earshot of the M6, and two miles further on, we crossed under the motorway.

Scarecrows at Acton Trussel

M6 Bridge

We moored in Penkridge, but the piling had come loose, so the hooks slid along the bar without restriction. We therefore had to use mooring pins. 

James went for a walk round the village, and discovered a lovely historic place full of old buildings and streets.

Penkridge – Stocks and Gaol

Penkridge – Wyre Hall

Penkridge – Towpath tunnel

4 locks, 4 miles

Mon 13^th July

Penkridge to Gailey

We left fairly early as rain was forecast later.  We discovered that one of our mooring pins had been pulled out by boats going past too fast.

Some boaters have green fingers. This was Tiger

A new experience for us - the Rodbaston Lock incident

Rodbaston Lock has a brick bridge a bit like a tunnel just before the lock gates. It appeared to be empty, as we could see daylight through the bottom gates.

Otherton Lock, which has the same design as Rodbaston Lock

Rodbaston Lock entrance

The normal procedure is for James to get off near the lock bollards and go and open the gates while Hazel takes the boat into the lock. It was raining and we thought we might need to put down the hood to go under the bridge. We decided that, rather than James getting off, he would stay to put the hood down if necessary, and get off on the right just by the bridge.  This would mean opening the gates by gently steering the boat in and nudging the gates with the bow fender.

Close to the bridge, we realised that didn’t need to put down the hood after all.  We put the bows into the “tunnel” and gently started to push open the gates. For some reason, the gates opened up six inches or so, and then it seemed that the pressure increased, and the gates started to close again.  We applied a bit more power and managed to push the gates open. 

James got off when we drew level with bridge entrance, and when he climbed up to the top of the lock, he discovered a lady with a windlass by the top gates.  She had arrived at the top gates and hadn’t seen us. She had opened up one of the top paddles just as we were entering the lock, which had caused the gates to close again.  The M6 runs alongside this lock, and the deafening roar probably muffled the sound of our engine.

There were no further incident as we climbed the final three locks to Gailey, where there were some interesting instructions written on the toilet.

Bewildering instructions to toilet goers

Leaving Gailey Lock

We decided that we had gone far enough, so we stopped for the day by the woods on the Gailey visitor moorings.  Hugo was very happy and spent a lot of time outside.

7 locks, 4 miles

Tue 14^th July

Gailey to Compton

Once again we set off early, as rain was forecast later.  We were at the start of the summit pound, so we had a ten mile lock-free section as far as Compton Lock.

The first unusual sight was a large chemical factory, straddling the canal with some large pipe bridges.  There was a sign saying “No mooring, even if you hear an alarm”.

Pipe Bridges at Calf heath

Chemical Factory

We passed the junction with the Hatherton Branch, which hopefully one day will be restored, taking boats through to the Wyrley and Essington Canal near Pelsall. The main line continues south to Stourport, but the sign on the bridge says “This way Autherley”, which is the junction with the Shropshire Union Canal.

Hatherton Branch

The main line south

Before we came to Autherley, there was a very narrow cutting through rock, and thankfully we didn’t meet any boats on this section.  We did see some passing places, but were pleased we didn’t have use them.

The narrow bit

Passing place

 Autherley Junction with the Shropshire Union Canal

Between Autherley and Aldersley junctions there are some high bridges taking railways into Wolverhampton.

Bridges

Aldersley Bridge

At Aldersley Bridge we noticed that there was the main bridge hole for the canal and towpath, plus a bridge hole for horses even though it was not on the towpath side.  We also spotted a ruined building, and decided to investigate what the history was. We discovered that the building used to be a four storey lodging house, had stables on the ground floor, and offered overnight accommodation for canal boatmen and their families.  The following two photos are taken from this website: http://www.historywebsite.co.uk/Museum/OtherTrades/BCN/Aldersley.htm

Aldersley Lodging house – artist’s impression

 

Aldersley Lodging house – the ruin

Aldersley Junction

Meccano! This railway bridge is now a footpath

As we passed an activity centre, we saw a camera crew, and spotted John Sergeant waiting to board a boat. We continued on to the visitor moorings above Compton Lock, with a pleasant view overlooking Valley Park nature Park.

Half an hour later, the TV boat came past Gabriel with John Sergeant at the helm. Perhaps we’ll be on telly!

 John Sergeant

0 locks, 10 miles

Tixall Wide to Stafford

Wed 8^th July

Tixall Wide

With rain on and off most of the day, we decided not to move.  It was also very windy.

We caught up with the blog, sent emails to Stafford Boat Club, where we would like to moor for two nights. We also emailed Wilsons Covers in Kinver, where we hope to have our canopy repaired. It has developed a tear, and one of the straps is coming apart.

Silly conversation over a crossword puzzle:

H: “European bear – five letters?”

J: “What about Black, or Brown?”

H: “The third letter is a G and the last letter is R”

J: “That’s no good, then”

H: “Badger is too long, and I don’t think it’s a bear anyway”

J: “I thought I was good at wildlife, but I can’t think of this one.” 

H: “How many types of bear do they have in Europe?”

J: “I don’t know. I give up. You’ll have to look it up”

H: “And the answer is – lager. I didn’t know there was a bear called lager”

J: “Perhaps that’s why there used to be a German brand of beer whose slogan was Follow the Bear”

H: “I think that was Hofmeister”

J: “Just read the clue again carefully please”

H: “Oh! European beer! It’s not a bear at all!”

J: “Should have gone to Specsavers!”

They say that laughter is good for you.

Later James went for a two mile walk past Tixall Lock, and he saw the chap on Awesome Wonder, and met BCF member Marian, on Brimble.

Tixall Lock

No boating today

Thu 9^th July

Tixall Wide to Stafford

Tixal Wide and the Gatehouse

Beautiful weather today.  Lovely sunshine and a pleasant breeze.

Several boats had already left, including Awesome Winder, but Brimble had arrived by the time we left.

Tixall Lock was the only one of the day, with one boat ahead of us going up, and another coming down before it was our turn.

Entering Tixall Lock

A very pleasant cruise through countryside, at one point crossing the Sow on an aqueduct, and passing under a lovely turnover bridge.  We also saw the place where a lock used to take boats onto the Sow to make the journey into Stafford.  There are plans to restore this link.

Milford turnover bridge

Junction with the proposed Stafford Riverway Link

We moored just after the Radford Bank and caught a bus into Stafford.  James had his haircut, and then had his glasses adjusted. They always seem to slant to one side. We think it because one ear is higher than the other!

We pottered round the market, bought some items at Boots, and finished off at Sainsbury’s, where we found some Shropshire Red cheese, which is lovely.

We took another bus back to the boat, and moved on a few boats lengths to get away from traffic and have a view of the water meadows, with some lovely rosebay willowherb on the bank opposite.

Rosebay willowherb

We got chairs onto the bank and downed some wine and dips as the sun was setting. Hugo was rushing around, pouncing out on us as we walked past him.

1 lock, 4 miles

Fri 10^th July

Stafford to Stafford Boat Club

We started the day with a huge eat-what-you-like breakfast at the Radford Bank.  Very good value but you had to time it well to get fresh eggs rather than well baked ones.

Radford Bank

We had a long chat with Ian and Dawn from Moonshadow. Then we had a chat with a photographer who had set up his tripod on the towpath by our boat.

Moonshadow went past before we set off, slowly, for the mile journey to Stafford Boat Club.  We checked in and found our mooring OK.  We took our visitors form to the office where we found Joe Lockwood, a friend of ours who used to be treasurer of Byfleet Boat Club. It was good to see him after several years.  We found out that Graham and Brenda Thick, who we were also hoping to see, had sold their house and were living on their boat, Rosewood.

Returning to the boat, we decided to turn it round as, that way, it was closer to the electric and water points.  It was very warm, and we watched Andy Murray being defeated by Roger Federer.

Moored at Stafford Boat Club

Having skipped lunch after the mega breakfast, we had a light salad, using up the expensive ham we had bought at the farmers market in Lichfield.

James opened up the engine hatch and put new grease in the stern greaser and tightened up the stern gland.  He also put up the hood in anticipation of forecast rain.

Hugo surveys the new surroundings

We went to the clubhouse later and met Peter and Aud from Sam Hardy, whom we met last year at Ellesmere and Trevor on the Llangollen.  We also met a couple who just bought Beez Neez – Graham and Sue.

0 locks, 1 mile.

Sat 11^th July

Stafford Boat Club

We had a very pleasant and relaxing day at Stafford Boat Club, chatting to a few people and watching boats going past.  We walked up the road and a path through a housing estate and found the school where tomorrow’s church meet, and we went to the Co-op for some supplies.

We went to the bar again in the evening for the usual chats about batteries and toilets.  A friendly crowd of boaters.

No boating today

Tomorrow: Wildwood Church, then off to Penkridge. Later in the week: further south to Wombourne, with a possible visit to a folk club in Ashwood Marina on Friday.

Rugeley to Tixall Wide

Sun 5^th July

Rugeley

A stroll to Victory Church for their 1030 service proved to be a good decision.  We had a warm welcome, and the worship was good, with some songs that were new to us.  Communion was very informal, and relationships within the church appeared strong.  The talk was based on David, and having a heart for God.

Victory Church

Sound check for the worship band

After the service

We went to look for somewhere to have lunch, but the two pubs we found were not serving food.  We ended up in Morrison’s café where we shared a table with a chap called Donald. He was a bit paranoid about people out to steal his money.  He also did not get on with his neighbours or his four sons. He didn’t like foreigners either.

We did some shopping but Morrisons did not have their own excellent cider, or their own Spelt and Rye bread.  We went to Tesco and bought some Wyld Wood cider, which used to be very good, but recently it has changed. It is still OK, but not as good as Morrisons own, also made by Weston’s.

As we were about to leave Tesco, heavy rain started. It was two hours earlier than forecast.  We waited for it to abate a little but we still got wet on the way back to the boat, where the covers were still down.

Because of the damp weather there were fewer people wandering past. We arranged to call in the Taft tomorrow.

No boating today

Mon 6^th July

Rugeley to Shugborough

Heavy rain was forecast for later on, so wanted to get our boating finished by midday.  We nipped to Tesco for some of their lovely fresh baked kalamata olive bread, before setting off through Rugeley and across the Trent on an aqueduct. We passed a field of potatoes, which were flowering, and looked impressive with their striking white flowers.

 

Trent aqueduct

Potato field

We paused at the fuel barge by Taft Bridge, where we filled up with diesel at 65p per litre, and replaced our gas bottle. We also bought some eggs. This took nearly all our cash, as they don’t take credit cards here. Fortunately we had been to the cash point in Rugeley.

Taft Bridge and the fuel barge

We paused at the Taft to visit Peter and Julie, BCF friends of ours for many years.  While we were there, Yum Sing came past, with Ian and Betty, friends of ours from Byfleet Boat Club. They were travelling with Hazell Nut, following a few minutes later with Rodney and Valerie.  Sadly not enough time to catch up properly. They too wanted to get their boating done before the rain.

 

Yum Sing

Rodney

Valerie

Hazell Nut

 Julie at the Taft

After the usual hospitable time with Peter and Julie, we set off again, and decided to go beyond a possible mooring at Wolseley Bridge, and through Colwich Lock to moor near Shugborough Hall, which we thought we might visit the next day.

As we approached Colwich Lock, there were two other boats waiting to use the lock, so we took our turn.  There were also several boats coming down, so there were plenty of crew with windlasses. One of the boats was towing a butty, so just before Gabriel went up, James was helping to haul the butty into the lock while the boat towing was waiting below the lock.

The butty in Colwich Lock

Motor and Butty leaving the lock

This all took time, and by the time we were ready to leave the lock the rain had started so we put up the hood.  We moored by the grounds of Shugborough Hall, making sure we were not under trees. We had heavy rain later.

1 lock, 5 miles

Tue 7^th July

Shugborough to Tixall Wide

In the morning we discovered that Hugo had reduced the local rodent population by one, as there were some remains on the floor.  We also discovered that Shugborough Hall was open every day except Tuesday, so we couldn’t visit today.

We moved the boat up half a mile to bridge 73, where we moored on rings and went to visit Great Haywood.  We needed to post a birthday card to our son Greg, and we also bought some milk.

On the way back to the boat we walked across Essex Bridge, the historic packhorse bridge across the Trent.  There we met a local couple who said there used to be lots of fish here, but there were none to be seen now.  We asked them about some caves marked on our map, and they said they thought they were between the canal and the railway.  We returned to the boat after buying some tempting items from the candy boat.

The Candy Boat

The view from the iron bridge

We then went exploring across the iron bridge 72a, walking down a long well worn path in lovely woods, between the canal and the railway line.  It ended abruptly at a fence before an open area full of bracken, with no obvious path.   We walked back again, Hazel returning to the boat, and James going under the railway to explore on the other side.

Exploring

The path there went initially through woods, with two magnificent Douglas Firs, and then into a lovely meadow with a few sheep and cows.  There were clumps of mature trees, some of which had fences round, which may have been to prevent sheep falling into caves, but James could not find the caves.  Looking at maps online later, the caves may have been just a few yards further on.  Maybe another time!  This field is owned by the National Trust, and was originally part of the Shugborough Estate.

Douglas Fir

Ancient tree stump

Possible cave sites

The big meadow

There was showery rain on and off, and we chose a dry gap to set off up Haywood Lock.  The boat in front was Awesome Wonder and the chap was singing Scarborough Fair in a very tuneful voice. Apparently he used to be an actor and singer. He is heading in the same direction as us.

Haywood Lock

Unusually, we didn’t have to wait for water at Great Haywood Junction, and we were able to empty a cassette without having to obtain a key from the office. We also disposed of the rubbish. We were entertained by hire boats coming out of the hire base, going under the bridge and attempting to turn right in the strong wind. It was a bit of a challenge for their first five minutes of boating.

Hire boaters in difficulty

We set off down the Staffs and Worcs Canal and soon spotted a kingfisher.  We found the mooring places on Tixall Wide were all taken, so we turned round and moored in a slightly narrower bit. We will need to reverse out when we leave.

Hazel went to visit a book exchange boat further up the towpath, and discovered that the couple had been in the Samuel Barlow pub when we had performed there on the mission. They are Chris and Pauline and the boat is named Magpies.

Moored near Tixall Wide, Magpies in the foreground

1 lock, 1 mile, 1 mouse

Later this week: Stafford, Stafford Boat Club, … who knows?