Bratch to the Park Bridge Moorings (Shroppie).

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Hi Folks.

We were awake at 5am again this morning, the alarm clock on the wall did not go off, but my phone did phew. This is the last early start this week as we do not move at weekends. Having eaten breakfast, Paddy got walked and I stood on the towpath and listened to the silence, which was fantastic. Nothing was moving, not even the bushes, because there was no wind at all. A Cockerel then announced that it was dawn and we should all be out of our beds, I had beaten him to the draw. The start to the morning was dry, but a little cool, so I put my dungarees back on, the shorts would come out later.

 

I know I have said about this before I am sure either Keith or I has stood in something, because yet again all the locks were in our favour, apart from one which had about a foot of water in it, overnight leakage. Our first lock of the day was Awbridge Lock, near John Jacksons coal yard. Having the locks ready for us has made an amazing difference to our journey times, we have achieved 3.96 lockmiles/hour (10.2 miles 7 locks in 4hrs 20mins),  so this has meant we have moved further than anticipated.

 

At Dimmingsdale  Lock these two smiley faces greeted us both. If you ever do the Staffs and Worcs you will notice all the way along smiley faces on fence posts and tree stumps. They really do make you smile. I have no idea who has been putting them up though. We had thought of stopping at Compton, but having arrived there by 8:30am we decided to carry on, which was just as well, because there were no moorings to be had.

 

We passed by Aldersley Junction and headed for Autherley. We have also decided to head north up the Shroppie, and return by the Middlewich branch and T&M. At Autherley Junction, Keith let me off at Oxley Moor Bridge, so I could walk up to the junction to see if any boat was coming out of it. As I approached the bridge an Anglo Welsh boats were just coming out of the lock wanting to tuen on to the Staffs and Worcs to head for Great Haywood. After they had completed the turn, Keith bought the boat into the stop lock.

The Napton hire boats were moored up and were being turned around ready for a new intake of holiday makers, so we got through there just right. We carried on up past the Wolverhampton Boat club and onward to the 48hr moorings between Hunting Bridge No.7 and Park Bridge No.8, a very popular mooring spot especially at the weekends, so we are lucky to have got a mooring here, but we timed it right, just as we were approaching 2 boats set off, leaving us a space to slide into.

We had no sooner moored up, when a couple of ladies walking past with dogs said hello. I turned around to see Eileen and Caroline with their dogs. They were moored just down from us and invited us to go and have a coffee with them and the other halves. So having moored up and closed the boat up, Keith and I joined Caroline and John off NB Vanyar and Eileen and Derek on NB Jolly Lamb for coffee and a chat, I also took along some small cakes, which went down well. it was absolutely wonderful to see them all again. The last time we got together was during the Winter when we delivered their coal. We spent a couple of hours talking about all sorts, before we we left them to enjoy the afternoon sun. Lunch was a couple of hours late, but it did not really bother us, we will just have a smaller dinner tonight. Paddy is sleeping in the saloon and Marmite is lounging outside in the sunshine.

I am hoping the weather is going to be good over the weekend, because it may mean I get some painting done, if not then we will watch the world go by and enjoy a beer or two.

Have a lovely weekend xx

Cold winds and a sack barrow.

Hi Folks.

We had another very cold night and in places the canal had a film of ice on it.

My morning began at 5am, when I was woken up by a low flying areoplane. It sounded like a Hercules flying low over the canal, but I could have been mistaken. Anyway it woke me up, so there was nothing for it but to make a cup of tea. Before getting back into bed, I raked out the back cabin stove and got the fire going again, which was soon roaring away and warming the cabin again. Keith and I sat up in bed drinking tea and chatting about our nightime dreams. Keiths involved nasty neighbours at his parents old house and mine involved our boat being steered by a stranger and sinking, so neither of the dreams were pleasant. Having drunk our tea, we settled back down beneath the duvet and got another forty winks. I was up by 7.30am and was soon walking down the towpath with Paddy. There was a brisk wind blowing an icy blast, so I was keen to return to the warmth of the boat. We had a sprinkling of snow, but nothing to get excited about. Paddy did what he had to do and he legged it back down the towpath at a smart pace, so I think he wanted to be in the warm as well.

After breakfast Keith donned his North Face jacket, hat and gloves and headed out to wait for our sack barrow to arrive. We had no idea what time it was going to come, so it was just a matter of keeping out eyes open for the delivery van.It was going to be a pretty busy day with the weather turning so cold, and we did expect customers to call on us for their coal, so we were very happy that our new sack barrow arrived from Surrey Handling after an hour or so, which ment Keith did not get to cold. Our new trolley was put to work, so sooner Keith had wheeled it to the boat. It is a fantastic trolley and so light. I dare not tell you how much it cost though, but having had a cheap sack trolley, which ended up costing us a fortune, spending a bit more on a good trolley was important this time. We then moved Hadar around the corner and into the pool. Mo and Nessa from Nb Balmaha came and said hello. They were heading for the shop, but on the way back came onboard for Coffee and Mince Pies. We caught up on all our news. It was so lovely to see them both again. They will be spending a bit of time in our area, so we will ge to see much more of them.

Jo and John came past on Nb Acen, they were heading to Debdale for diesel and then back to market Harborough where they have a Winter mooring, so we will see them when we get to Market Harborough next week.

I love this life style because we have some wonderful friends on the canal, who we really enjoy catching up with. I am sure if we lived on land we would not see these people as much if at all, because our lives would have gone in different directions.

Whilst Keith and I were freezing our toes off outside, delivering coal to customers.Marmite was warming herself, she leads a pampered life onboard our boat. Today she spent much of it lounging in the back cabin opposite the stove and I cannot say I blame her, because it has been perishingly cold.

The day has now worn on into the evening and it is dark outside. Paddy will get his last walk of the day soon, we will then shut the boat up against the cold.