Monday 13th March - The Bratch
The start of our second week and we have decided not to move today. High winds and squally showers are forecast for the whole day and neither of us are fond of cruising in these circumstances, so a quiet day on the boat!
However, a break in the showers saw us exploring the village of Wombourne. It is a fair walk from the canal, tucked down a hill off the main road. The village is four sides of a square around a sports playing pitch in the middle. The parish church of St Benedict Biscop is a Grade 2 listed building and is a landmark building in the Wombourne Conservation Area. Records show that a church has existed on the present site for more than a thousand years.
The Wombourne Institute is still very active today with many groups using it as a meeting place. Above the door is a plaque saying “Let’s go hand in hand together, not one before another”, dated 1863, but still very relevant today.
We continued walking away from the village and arrived back at the Bratch Locks which we shall go up tomorrow.
Tuesday 14th March - The Bratch to Compton
A beautiful start to the day and we soon got underway and headed for the locks. Dave went ahead to set the locks and to our amazement there were a team of 3 volunteers and a trainee volunteer. This meant I was very quickly lifted up through the flight.
As Dave really didn't need to do anything he stood and chatted with one of the volunteers. The gentleman in red beside the lock gate is the trainee, being shown how to operate these fascinating locks.
John, helping us up through the top lock, a big thank you to the team for their much appreciated assistance.
At the top of Dimmingsdale Lock there is a very sad looking boat, listing to one side and burnt out inside. It must have been used as a trading boat as there are remnants of coal and wood inside the hull. I wonder what the story behind this is?
Approaching Wightwick Mill lock, our last lock of the day. We shall moor up below Compton lock and find some more wood for the fire and top up our provisions for the next week. We shall also have fish chips from the chippie in Compton, they are rather good!
4.25 miles, 8 locks, 2hrs 54mins
Wednesday 15th March - Compton to Brewood
Today we woke to a dry but grey day, all very good for cruising, so we set off with Dave going ahead to set Compton Lock. All very quiet with no other boats moving at this time.
As we got closer to the junction I looked up through the trees and saw two Muntjac deer at the top of the embankment quietly grazing and watching us cruise slowly past, just as I took the photo they had moved out of line, but we were quite chuffed to have seen them.
The finger post to Birmingham up the Wolverhampton 21 locks. This time we are continuing on and taking a left turn at the next junction, Autherley Junction, to join the Shropshire Union Canal.
The first thing you have to do is go through the Stop Lock of about 6inches. These were installed to stop rival canal companies ‘taking’ their water. Although this isn’t the case today we still have the stop locks to pass through.
We continued onto Brewood, this is the church from the canal. When we lived in Market Drayton we used to use this canal all the time, it must be almost 5 years since we last cruised along it. The main thing we noticed was that the towpath has been tidied up and is now entirely mud free, we always had to wear wellington boots to walk along here.
Speedwell Castle is a mid 18th century red brick house at the corner of Brewood's former market place. It has been designed in an irregular gothic style. The house was reputedly built by William Rock from the proceeds of betting on a racehorse named Speedwell.
7.5 miles, 2 lock, 3hrs 22mins
Thursday 16th March - Brewood to Gnosall
One of the things we had forgotten about is the notorious Shroppie Shelf, when the Shropshire Union Canal was constructed two hundred years ago the shelf was cutting-edge technology used to reduce wash and protect the embankment. However, today it can be a nuisance when mooring unless you have suitable fenders which go low enough to protect your boat from banging against the shelf.
Whenever we moored in Brewood we would look out for the Christmas Tree, the photo below was taken when we left Overwater Marina and moved from Market Drayton to Worcester. Nearly 5 years ago, see how much it has grown!
Here, the canal crosses the old Roman Road of Watling Street, now the A5. The elegant aqueduct of iron, brick and stone construction is similar to the one in Nantwich.
As we approached Gnosall we entered Cowley Tunnel. At just 81-yard (74 m), the tunnel was planned to be 690 yards (630 m) long, but after the rocky first 81 yards (74 m), the ground was unstable, and the remaining length was opened out to form the present narrow and steep-sided Cowley Cutting.
We found a pleasant mooring in the village and went for a walk to explore Gnosall which is set back from Gnosall Heath which is along the canal. We found an interesting pub, The George and Dragon, this is George behind the bar. They pride themselves on being a straight forward basic pub with no extras. It was quite refreshing really, and the beer was excellent.
This is our mooring taken from the bridge as we walked back to the boat. Very quiet and peaceful.
7.5 miles, 1 lock, 3hrs 42mins
Friday 17th March - Gnosall to Market Drayton
A very pleasant start to our day and we decided to cruise for as long as the good weather stayed with us. We got to Norbury Junction where there has been a closure in place for work being done on the wash wall. The canal is open again but the contractors are dredging in the area. We had to wait for a boat to come through the bridge and then we were on our way again.
We are cruising through Grub Street Cutting, an 80 foot deep cutting, and this bridge carries the A519 over the canal. The double arched bridge has a tiny telegraph pole in the top arch. It is a survivor from the telegraph line which used to go along the canal.
Shebdon Embankment, 1530 yds long and absolutely dead straight, Telford’s canal drove a straight line relying on cuttings and embankments to cut through the countryside.
The top of Tyrley Locks and Tyrley Wharf, with these picturesque old stables. Originally built as a private wharf, Tyrley quickly developed into a vibrant hamlet of workers cottages and an ale house, making Tyrley an important overnight mooring and stables for working canal boats. Past occupants at the Wharf include a Lengthsman, Wharfinger, Game Keeper, Shoemaker, Boatmen, Horse Keeper and Estate Workers. 1917-1932 Cadbury leased the Wharf using it for loading and transporting milk churns from local farms to their chocolate factory at Knighton. The stables have had many uses over the years, a Parish Hall, Meeting Room, Sunday School, Reading Room and Poll Station.
Tyrley Locks used to be a favourite walk of ours when we lived in Market Drayton
We moored up at the end of the Market Drayton visitor moorings and went for a walk into the town. We ended up in the Red Lion where we regularly enjoyed a glass of Joule’s Ale and free sausage rolls on Fridays at 5pm!
13.75 miles, 5 locks, 5hrs 18mins.
Saturday 18th March - Market Drayton to Audlem
Another lovely start to the day, so we set off and stopped at the services to top up water, empty rubbish and use the Elsan. The photo shows Betton Mill built circa 1905, initially as a warehouse for cheese, then as a mill from circa 1915. Conversion to ground floor offices (and cafe for a while) with residential accommodation above was carried out around 2000-2001. The canopied building on Betton Mill Wharf replaced an 1870 warehouse in 1903. The wharf was used by Ted's Boatyard until about 2005. We viewed a property here when we were looking at properties to buy in Market Drayton.
Victoria Wharf used to have a thriving boatyard, Orwell’s Boatyard, but it has been dismantled and there were plans announced 2 years ago for a marina to be built on the site. There is no sign of work happening at the moment.
Approaching Audlem Locks, we shall descend 11 locks today and moor up for the day and finish off the three tomorrow. At the top of the locks is a stall selling cakes, so I bought flapjacks and scones, yum!
We took a walk into Audlem with it’s church standing proud in the village centre. Unfortunately many shops were closed and our favourite pub ‘Lord Combermere’ was shut down, we called in at the Shroppie but they stopped serving food at 2.30pm and we were too late, so it was back to the boat and the rugby!
6.5 miles,16 locks, 4hrs 24mins.
Sunday 19th March - Audlem to Barbridge
A bit of a dreary start this morning, but we set off and the weather improved as we got under way.
We had 4 more locks on the Audlem flight to do, so Dave took the boat and Toby and I walked and worked the locks. This is Audlem Mill, a lovely canal side shop, which has been run by Peter and Christine since 2007. The building and business is now up for sale, as they are retiring, so hopefully it will continue to thrive under new management soon.
The next building down is The Shroppie Fly, opened in early 1975, converted from a canal warehouse, built in 1916, once owned by the Liverpool & Birmingham Canal Company. It has had fluctuating success over the years and has spent quite a bit of time closed down. It is now under new management and we understand that they are working hard to make it successful. Part of the "famous bar" is supposedly a flyboat bow, but is actually part of a wooden BCN 'Joey' or dayboat.
Just outside Audlem is Overwater Marina, our first marina for Ella. As we passed we waved at nbThrepence Ha’penny, the boat we used to moor in front of and which is also another Bourne boat.
Love these cows, they look so cuddly. The Belted Galloway cattle originated in the rugged hill country of southwestern Scotland. The native cattle of this region were consistently hardy and thrifty, though they varied in colour conformation, and horn type. Galloways came to be celebrated for their efficiency on rough forage, maternal ability, and high-quality beef.
Approaching Nantwich, we crossed the aqueduct which is looking splendid in its new coat of paint. Constructed in 1828, the famous cast iron trough aqueduct is designated a Grade II* listed structure. Work in 2015 involved repairs to the supporting masonry and cast iron parapet railings, brickwork repairs and re-pointing. The structure was also repainted.
Hurleston Junction is the junction with the Llangollen canal, we have explored this canal on a couple of occasions and it remains one of my favourites. We continued on to Barbridge and were lucky enough to find a mooring on the same side as the Inn but far enough away not to be too noisy - perfect! Tonight we shall have a Mother’s Day supper and toast all our wonderful daughters as magnificent mothers.
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