Retirement with No Problem

Today – Gnosall to Wheaton Ashton, Shropshire Union Canal, 5.25 miles 0 locks
Yesterday – Knighton to Gnosall, 7 miles 0 locks

Yesterday we were really lucky with the weather, just as we pulled the pins from Knighton the early morning the heavy rain stopped.. so a dry run to Norbury Boatyard where Simon and his team made light work of the one or two snagging items over from our fit out a month earlier.  A fill of diesel and a gas bottle and away just after lunch.  A busy canal with many narrowboats on the move, and we managed to get just the right spot to get our sky TV for the evening, and as we put the pins back in the heavens opened with vengeance, not only that but a vicious thunderstorm rocked No Problem in the canal!

After tea a walk with Lucy and Meg, along the disused railway line that runs from Newport to Stafford it was flooded.. this is the Road for the Millennium Way.  They are still working on this long distance path, and there were new areas I saw that had been part paved for cyclists.. but very wet today!

This morning I popped into Stafford.. free bus passed used yeahhh!.. Needed some waterproving stuff for my coat and trousers, I got soaking yesterday evening walking with the girls.. it was OK when I set out but after that it tipped down..

We left Gnosall after lunch passing one of the two pubs in the village..

Then on through Cowley tunnel which leads to a wonderful cutting..

Of course we usually pass this place in the winter months, not during the summer, so it was really lovely to see it in ‘full bloom’, a  magnificent cutting this.  We noticed that our favourite moorings on this canal were taken by other boaters, in the winter we hardly see anyone!

Entering Wheaton Aston we see that Turners Garage was selling diesel at 48.9, I paid a penny more at Norbury Boatyard.. note where the diesel hose is in that oil can, the actually pump is about 12ft up the bank, and when we fill here I have to go to the top and shout to Vic how much is going in as he uses the trigger.. that saves overfilling, I usually know how much we want give or take 10 litres or so.. the road diesel is a little more!…

Turners accept boaters splits too.. they are on my special page..

We normally moor up close to the lock, but just as we passed the pub…

“Would you like me to take you out to dinner tonight?”… well you never seen anyone move as fast to the gear lever, and in reverse it went as I spied a mooring right beside where we were cruising!!

What a meal it was too, absolutely wonderful, in fact it was the best meal I have had for a very very long time..

But it was late afternoon when a knock on the boat had me out on the towpath, it was Barry and Carol who have painted our roses and castles on No Problem.  We wanted our front side glass painted now that we have blocked them off on the inside during our refit.. we had hoped they could do that before we headed out of the area, but Barry and Carol had to head north by car, and it was going to be touch and go whether they would be back.. we passed their boats at Market Drayton and nobody was about so we thought that was it for this year..

But they knew our plans for this week and yesterday they set off to try catch us up!

Tomorrow Carol will do some painting for us, so we will probably stay here for the day.  We have a day or so in hand on our cruising plan so that should not be a problem.

I’ll show some pictures tomorrow of what she has done.