AVOIDING THE CRUSH

As it`s half term there has been a marked increase in the number of hire boats on the water and as i am going onto what is thought to be one of the busiest canals, the Llangollen, i decided to spend a couple of days on the Middlewich Arm that connects the Shroppie with the Trent and Mersey. The reason was that as i passed Hurleston junction i observed a queue of 4 boats waiting to enter the Llangollen at the locks which didn`t surprise me and only confirmed my belief that it would be chaotic on the Llangollen till the half term finished Friday.

So under the bridge above and just 30 mins cruise to find a nice quiet spot that gave me a chance to change the gearbox oil and although it wasn`t quite due i changed the engine oil as well.


All i had for company were the cows pictured through the galley window. Four ex working boats

came by on their way back from the boat gathering at Ellesmere Port Boat Museum. They must have added to the queue at the lock some mile or so ahead as i had just returned from a walk that way and there were 4 holiday boats waiting to go down the lock and 2 waiting to come up.




After a couple of days i went down through this same busy lock, but only after noting a gap of an hour with no boats passing me which told me i wouldn`t be in a queue, to re- fuel the boat at Venetian Marina because i knew from past experience that the price of fuel tends to be higher on the Llanglollen as the marinas` have a monopoly with the canal being one way in and out.
With the boat turned i went back through the lock to spend a night at the junction so that i could jump on a bus into Nantwich for a few bags of grub from good old Morrison's.
I have now come up the 4 locks onto the Llangollen but have only gone a short distance and will wait till Friday afternoon to move again by which time some of the hire boats will be back at base with the Saturday finishers moored near their bases ready to hand back at 9am.
Post to collect at Wrenbury post office ( thanks Bev) and then enjoy the Journey in and out of Wales until finally finishing in Wales at Llangollen. Might just ride the steam train this time as the last time i did was with Valerie, the boys and Tammy our Golden Retriever some 15 years ago. Happy days.............
Well i think i will throw a few logs into the fire as it`s raining and a bit chilly here and then settle down to watch the footie.

FOLLOW ME.....VISIT ME

Leaving Audlem just past the stables at the bottom of the locks i spotted this mooring that if i had known would have been my choice for my stay in Audlem still it`s not going anywhere so
perhaps next time. My decision to move was not to cover any great distance but what this lifestyle offers, the chance to change the view or moor away from towns and villages so just an hour cruise and i chose the moorings below at Coole Pilate. These moorings like a great many
others along the Shroppie are provided by the Shropshire Union Canal Society and here they have not only installed seating but each table has a BBQ stand next to it. Nothing here other than a couple of farms not even a pub just peace and quiet.
Moving on after 2 days of relaxation Hack green locks and the not so secret canalside bunker. It opened as a museum in 1997 and i did visit back in 2006 on a previous cruise and below is a picture taken of me playing the part. Click on the link above to read all about the place.

I spotted the Cormorant below and fully expected it to fly off as i passed but he just posed at the top of a dead tree and after the photo he spread his wings to dry off before his next dive into the water for dinner.
The Easter w`end was good weather wise with 2 warm Sunny days and 2 bright but breezy and a chance for my gardener to tidy up around the boat as i was expecting a visitor to come aboard
and below Carol my first to register as a blog follower poses for the camera. Not only did she bring her lovely self but also a nice big cream sponge cake.......yum. Carol knew she would be visiting friends in the area so we arranged to meet and a smashing couple of hours were spent chatting. Nice to meet you Carol.
Always nice to meet blog readers so don`t be shy, I don`t bite do i Carol.

TOWARDS AUDLEM

A lazy blog for Easter W`end

For Kevin, all that remains of the rail line from Mkt. Drayton

Leaking top gate Audlem

For Tractor mad G`son Keirnan

Wrekin hills 12 miles away

Audlem Flight

Nice view part way down the Audlem flight

Still a few more of the 15 locks to do

Old village water pump located behind the old Co-op shop

Just make out the flow of water that feeds the pump

15c church in Audlem

NB Valerie outside the Shroppie Fly pub with Audlem Mill on the right

The old boat horse stables at bottom of Audlem 15

MARKET DRAYTON

Market Drayton in Shropshire could be called the 3 counties town with Cheshire & Staffordshire being close neighbours.
1245 it was granted a market charter.
1651 a fire destroyed most of the towns half timbered and mostly thatched roof buildings.
1725 Robert Clive( Clive of India) was born just outside the town.
1823 the Buttercross Market shelter was built.
1830`s the canal arrived.
1860`s the railway arrived.

With the arrival of the railway the cattle market moved from the town centre to the rail station and following the closure of the railway in the 1960`s the site became in the 1990`s a Morrison's supermarket with the cattle market now located just outside town over the old railway bridge that is the only reminder of what was once a busy site.




This shows how high the embankments were that Telford built to carry the canal across low ground. I was moored up there and this was an easy route into town.

Betton Mill now converted into flats

Below the Buttercross Market shelter from where farmers wives sold their produce still houses a bell to be rung in case of fire. The building behind and to the left was the Cheshire Cheese an Inn during the 1800`s that was used for the prosecution of felons, what we call courts although i bet a few modern day felons wished they could get a pint while waiting the verdict.






This is the Tudor House built 1653 after the fire of 1651 destroyed much of Market Drayton town centre. Over the years it`s been a fishmongers, bank and restaurant also a stream runs below it.

Below leaving Market Drayton passing on the right what was in the 1960/80`s the Ladyline hire base now housing but the stern end moorings still remain.

NORBURY TO Mkt. DRAYTON

Leaving Norbury Jct. and passing through Grub St. Cutting the village of High Offley and the
canal side Anchor Inn are passed. The Anchor opened in 1830 and has been in the same family for a hundred years. I had a drink here some 18 months ago and the beer was served in jugs from the cellar. The inside is just 2 tiny bars each about the size of a small terraced house front room and the bar is tiny behind which is the Landlady`s lounge also if you drink to much the Loos` are outside. Click the link to read about it

.A mile further on is Shebdon Embankment and towards the end lies the old chocolate factory where chocolate crumb was loaded on to boats and taken to Cadburys at Bournville on the outskirts of Birmingham.

Moving along passing through Woodseaves Cutting and the lower picture shows the rock sides

that the canal builders cut through.

And below another of those tall grand bridges.
Just need to drop through the 5 locks at Tyrley and Market Drayton will be home for a few days.

GNOSALL / COWLEY / NORBURY JCT.

Over the last 3 yrs of cruising although i have by no means visited all the canals i have come to have a few favourite stretches but not a complete canal that is until my return to the Shropshire Union or the Shroppie as it is affectionately known to boaters. Sixty six miles and 47 locks make up the Shroppie

This return visit at a much slower pace has brought home to me what is so different to other canals. For one thing it must be one of the straightest with very few corners or bridge holes that restrict spotting oncoming boats and the way it was built to plough through whatever got in the way unlike other canals that followed the contours of the land the Shroppie goes through deep cuttings, across man made embankments and tunnels through solid rock.

Telford (1757-1834) was not just a builder of canals but also churches, bridges and roads like the London to Holyhead (A5). His intention with the Shroppie was to link the Birmingham canals with the sea at Ellesmere Port on as straight as possible time saving route by digging cuttings and using the soil to create embankments across lower ground avoiding previous canals that twisted and turned following the land contours that added miles and time to the journey.
Embankments like Shelmore that took 6 yrs to build and all because Lord Anson would not allow the canal to pass through Norbury park on lower ground causing Telford to skirt around Shelmore Wood on an embankment 1900yds long and 60` high in places.
Woodseaves Cutting 100` deep is today still likely to suffer land slips.

The Shroppie was the last canal that Telford built and fully opened in about 1835 upon the completion of the Autherly Jct. to Nantwich section that connected to the section to Chester.
The new town of Telford was named after him and he was buried in Westminster Abbey in 1834 just before the Shroppie fully opened.

One of many high bridges that span the deep cuttings.

Above is the entrance to Cowley Tunnel just 81yds long but as you can see in the pic below it has

been cut through solid rock, no brick linings as you would see in other tunnels and the picture below shows the exit and looking at the solid rock each side i`m wondering if this tunnel was longer at some time, mental note to check, unless someone out there can answer.
After Cowley Tunnel i made a brief stop at Gnosall below to get some bread and milk and have
some lunch.

Below entering the Shelmore Embankment past the stop lock for use in case of a canal breach the
gates at each end can be closed stopping a large section of the canal draining.
The end of the embankment brings me into Norbury Jct. where the Newport branch left the mainline. At the right front of picture NB Valerie and the arm can be seen behind but is very short and used for moorings and just one of a very long flight of locks remains in use as a dock.
When i arrived here i was moored 500yds back with poor Internet access but i learned that in the basin Wi-Fi can be picked up free courtesy of the boat yard so i moved for my second night.

No sooner had i left Norbury than i entered another cutting this one being Grub St cutting and below another of those high bridges unusual in that from the past it still has within it a short telegraph pole. In the past telegraph poles ran the length of the canal.

BREWOOD to CHURCH EATON

Brewood below is a nice little village to stop off for a few supplies as besides the usual mini-supermarket it has a butcher, greengrocer and tiny bakers.


Wheaton Aston bridge 19 must be one of the cheapest places on the cut to fill up with diesel at 46.9ppl. The black pointed roof at the top of the steps is a small garage roadside that must get agricultural sales and one of the fill hoses comes right down to the canal. The garage also sells boat chandlery and offers engine repairs.


A nice 10 min stroll from High Onn Wharf at bridge 25 is the village of Church Eaton. The10 mins actually stretched to 25 as i leaned on a 5 bar gate watching a buzzard gliding back and forth across a field looking i guess for a meal. My thoughts were he might get lucky and give me my first sighting of a magnificent bird of prey striking, but it was not to be as the crows started to chase him off. Nice way to pass the time on a sunny day all the same.
Church Eaton or Eitoine as in the Domesday book of 1086 has just the one pub remaining of 5 over the centuries, the Royal Oak is now owned by a village consortium but i wonder after seeing so many pubs shut down if this will be enough for it to survive.
St Editha dates back to the 11C and is believed to be dedicated to the daughter of Alfred the Great. It has 5 bells in the tower and a stained glass window that takes up most of the east wall.





Looking around the graves this one caught my eye as it states the Reverends wife was 512 years old when she passed on. Just as i was reading this a local came by and told me the story was the Stonemason put the 1 by mistake so filled it in putting the 2 straight after but time and mother nature have caused his infill to outfall with the 512 showing today.