Good Weather

What a great day to be boating without a breeze, some long periods of autumn sunshine and fantastic scenery.

Departing Gosnall Heath just after 9am we headed north towards Norbury Junction.  It was going to be a longer cruise than yesterday because we didn’t want a planned stop at Norbury.  It’s not that the people there are unfriendly but rather the 3 mobile coverage is very poor.

Norbury Wharf

High Bridge is the next bridge after Norbury Junction and the almost unique double arch and telegraph pole frequently gets photographed by passing boaters.  We were not the exception!

Slightly further on is a small collection of boats moored on the offside. There’s nothing particularly unusual about the boats, however the vehicles are a different matter.  Jan thinks this next car looks like a similiar model as that driven by James Herriot in the television series “All Creatures Great and Small”.

Whilst I thought the other vehicle under the lean-to shed might have a winged lady on the radiator?

Probably not!

There is a small wharf in a winding hole just after Bridge 44.  Initially I thought it was a boatyard but then realised the sign on one of the boats was advertising cratch covers.

Around the bend and halfway down the straight is the old wharf where chocolate crumble was loaded for shipping to Cadbury’s Bourneville on the other side of Birmingham.

Looking in the opposite direct it was possible to see the major feature which tends to follow the boater along this part of the Shroppie.

It’s the Wrekin (Ree-Kin).  The hill rises some 400 metres above the Shropshire plain and can be see for miles in all directions.  I could see it when walking along the top of Kinver Edge.

We were following a distant boat which appeared to be hovering at a bridge hole.  Then we realised a boat was coming from the opposite direction.  Upon closing up with the boat ahead we discovered there were two boats coming from the opposite direction and they were actually exiting  Woodseaves Cutting.  Woodseaves is over a mile long and more than 70ft deep through very solid rock.  Because the rock was so hard the canal builders made the cutting rather narrow. 

Waiting for the 2nd boat

We followed behind the lead boat only to discover a further three boats coming towards us.  We’d been cruising for four hours and scarcely seen a boat, yet when we reached the narrows we meet five!

Boat Four

Shortly thereafter we reached Tyrley Locks (5) where we met a boat coming up at each lock.  Jan managed to take a photo of some of our favourite tree people in the pound immediately below the bottom lock.

After seeing so many boats close to Market Drayton we were starting to wonder if there would be a vacant mooring.  Fortunately our fears were unfounded.  The weather forecast for tomorrow is rain and if that occurs it will be a rest day.