Retirement with No Problem

Br 7/8 to Coven, Shropshire Union Canal, 8 miles 1 lock

I really needed a good walk this morning to clear my head.. Oh and the reason..

Left to right, yours truly, Mags, Geoff, Chas, George, Carol, Vic and Ann.. Oh and Molly sitting, ears pricked, at the table thinking everyone was toasting her!

Gosh it was a good farewell bash, I needed prompting to remember everyone leaving! The convoy would break up in the morning.. two boats heading south and two heading north..

The big goodbyes then as Moore2Life makes a move shortly followed by No Problem, it was only then that I realised I had a bit of a hangover!

We have had such a great time with these guys, some firm friendships made and promises to meet later.. Thankyou all of you..

We will leave the other two boats to enjoy a day at the mooring while we make our way north for a while before turning south towards Fradley Junction and onwards through Atherstone to Braunston..

Out of the Shroppie and on to the Staff & Worcs Canal, gosh it was cold once we turned into the north wind, and although we had not passed a single boat since we pulled the pins, guess what, just as we were to enter the narrow section just past Wolverhampton..

Only room for one boat for around half a mile, it was a good job I had my walkie talkie on.. “Stop, there is a boat coming”.  Early warning from Ann’s walkie as they got the only passing place the other side of the bridge!

..Wheaton Aston Pump Out only closed

Tuesday 4 January 2011 until further notice
UPDATE (26 January 2011): The repair works to the pumps was completed by 5pm Friday 21st January. The service block is reopen. However on Monday 24th January a pump out card was stuck in the card reader. Contractors attended site on Tuesday 25th but were unable to fix it.
A new card reader will be installed on Thursday 27th January…

Ah hem… That is MY pumpout card! I wonder if they will give it back to me!  I shall call into the office at Fradley and try and get a replacement!

That is, of course, if I can get moored anywhere near it..  A report from Bruce who couldn’t find a place to moor at Fradley.

“..We had to wait for a boat to clear Junction Lock, which gave Sheila the chance to see that there was absolutely no room on the moorings opposite the BW yard. The guy on the boat in front told her that they’d been like that since before Christmas, and a couple of subsequent conversations confirmed this…”

Much the same from Sue..

“.. It’s been a frustrating few days cruising between Fazeley and Fradley – We’ve seen the same boats in the same place year after year, some with a licence, some without & none with a mooring sticker.  I see the T-shirt boat is still at Fradley, although he has actually moved 200 yds away from the junction…”

No linesmen walking the towpaths moving these boat on.. We have seen such a lot of it on the Shroppie too.  In fact I have never seen so many boats just moored up in the same place all the time as I have this last 12 months.

What is alarming that it is happening right outside the BW Offices at Fradley!.. When I get there I am going to ask why I’ll tell ya!