Retirement with No Problem

Calf Heath to Gnosall, Staffs & Worcs and Shropshire Union Canals, 20 miles 2 locks

One last day of sunshine me thinks, so lets make hay as the saying goes..

A couple of hours cruising this morning brought us to Autherely Junction, a difficult turn right from the Staffs & Worcs Canal, and here another of those stop locks..

Then better progress as the Shroppie is much deeper than the canal we had come from.. plenty of cuttings and embankments as usual, a pure delight to cruise..

The bridges are probably the best to be seen on the waterways system, built high as the canal ducks down into cuttings.  This is a particularly nice one, it is difficult to see in the pic, but it is horseshoe shape instead of straight across..

There were very few boats on the move probably due to the fact that the canal is shut the other side of Norbury Junction, further on at Shebdon Embankment, there is a hole in it.. and has been since August making this very popular cruising route of the Four Counties Ring impossible.  Businesses along the route do well with both hire and private boats ‘doing the ring’, they have really suffered and are thinking about claiming some compensation from British Waterways for the unacceptable delay in repairing the hole in the canal..

A full fill of our diesel tank today, stopping at Turners, Weaton Aston.. as usual a tremendous price at the pump at just 51.9p a litre.. Looking in my log book, the last time we stopped here was mid February when the price was exactly the same.. I thanked them for holding that price…”I was going to put it up today too, but I forgot”… Ah well… Good O!!

Leaves are not only a problem for train lines but for narrowboat props too..

Many very picturesque scenes today, but also plenty of clearing of the prop of them by a reverse thrust on the gears to shoot them off.  I read one of the bloggers.. can’t think who it was now.. cleared the leaves in a different way by going into neutral then swinging the tiller.. that worked too!

We arrived at Gnosall by late afternoon just as the cloud started to roll in.. just an hours cruise to Norbury Junction from here, so a couple of days off while the forecasted storm blows over..