Day 11 - Autherley Junction to Wheaton Aston

The day started with drama, as Jan joined another crew to save 6 tiny ducklings from being crushed in the stop lock.  Then Blue Adeline started northwards on the 'Shroppie', which has an immediately evident character of its own - wider, straighter and generally grander than earlier canals, thanks to Thomas Telford who opened this section in 1830 to connect Liverpool and Birmingham.  The day was alternately chilly and sunny as has been the case for most of the journey.

Avenue Bridge no. 10, locally known as 'Fancy Bridge'

Nearly teatime for the Tilley girl

The attractive village of Brewood, pronounced 'brewed', was next, for a walk and lunch.  It has a deli with all kinds of interesting food, a couple of pubs, cafes and a proper hardware shop, selling a variety of items including a tiny brush for cleaning out teapot spouts which Jan bought (tea being a boaters' essential nutrient).

Hardware shop, Brewood

Brewood village centre

At Brewood Wharf, a short way north of the village Countrywide Cruisers have an Elsan point and other facilities so for payment of a small fee we were able at last to empty the cassettes

On a straight stretch, a solitary narrowboat was moored on the right, which we started to pass at our customary polite tickover speed.  A man appeared and yelled "Go aaaahn!  Open 'er up, rock the boat! I'm sick to death of socialist Guardian readers!".  Jan grinned and said "That's us" and he roared back "Teachers, are you teachers?"

A bit further on, the canal crosses the A5 Watling Street on a little aqueduct with curious pepperpot towers.

And passes through many cuttings with banks of enormous oaks and other trees, sometimes meeting overhead.

We planned to find a spot just before the village of Wheaton Aston to moor for the night.  Seeing a boat moored up we went in just ahead, but as we did the sound of a wobbly recorder and the pungent scent of patchouli filled the cut. Reeling from sudden flashbacks to loon pants, Indian thong sandals and Vashti Bunyan ballads we hurriedly moved a bit further on.

Day 10 - to Autherley Junction

Our last day on the Staffs and Worcs, before turning onto the Shropshire Union at Autherley Junction.  Walked into the village of Coven for coffee and a teacake at the cafe and shopping at the Co-op, then back on the boat and onto the final section to Autherley, marked on the guide as a "very narrow cutting" known as Pendeford Rockin - a bit like the rural roads in Scotland, except the passing places here are cut into the rock face.  Fortunately we didn't need to test the width, with no boats oncoming.

Pendeford Rockin

A sharp right turn under a bridge and into a 'stop lock' of only 6" fall with a tollkeeper's cottage, to slow up boats long enough so the canal company could collect their fee. This  took us onto the Shropshire Union and an overnight mooring at Napton Narrowboats - unfortunately no Elsan disposal (despite what the guide says) at the junction so we had to drink sparingly...it does get a bit edge of seat when both toilet cassettes are nearly full. Denis has decided it is finally time to fund installation of a pump-out loo… result!

Day 9 - Penkridge to Moat House Bridge No. 74

Continuing on the southwards section of the Four Counties Ring towards Wolverhampton, we set off from our overnight mooring outside Penkridge to tackle the two locks in Penkridge and four more in quick succession.  Some of the lock entrances are difficult to gauge, particularly if they have a powerful bywash, a channel diverting water around the lock to control water levels, coming in from the left. We worked out a solution: steer at a 45 degree angle to the lock entrance until the last minute, then smartly bring the tiller over to the left and straighten up to go into the lock.

Oh no, we can't look… stuck on the corner again

The bridges here can be tricky too, some angled in such a way to trap a 55' boat in the subsequent left-handed curve - Jan got caught once and had to reverse to get around the bend.  Another bridge was angled left and so low that Denis had to crouch down to avoid being hit on the head. All good practice, though!

Working a gate paddle

Brick Kiln Lock

Waiting to ascend Gailey Top Lock, another boat emerged from the lock gates and stopped under the bridge for what seemed like ages - then an anguished shriek was heard "Tony, I need you here and I need you now!".  The unfortunate Tony scuttled down the slope to join the boat, probably wishing he were miles away.

Gailey is pretty with its old canal buildings, including a spectacular tollkeeper's watchtower.

Day 8 - Weeping Cross to Penkridge

The village of Acton Trussell welcomes careful boaters

A mile or two further on, the canal runs under the M6 motorway

The approach to Longford lock, showing the narrow lock entrance on the left under the bridge and the steps up to the lock gate machinery alongside on the right

Day 7 - Little Haywood to Weeping Cross

Soon after setting off from Colwich Lock, we stopped again for a short walk to Great Haywood village and a look at Essex Bridge, the rather gothic and impressive footbridge over the River Sow to Shugborough Park.

Essex Bridge

Then, at last, we started on the Four Counties Ring properly, with a tight left-handed turn through the steeply cobbled bridge 109 onto the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal!

Bridge 109 - view from the north side

Denis - another tough day on the canals

This new canal almost immediately opened into an expanse of water called Tixall Wide - as the guide says "an amazing and delightful stretch of water, more resembling a lake than a canal" and known for its kingfishers.  To the south were views of the densely wooded Cannock Chase, altogether a magical place.  It was very windy and gusty, though and steering was difficult at times so we were pleased to find an overnight mooring at Stafford Boat Club, in the suburb of Stafford known as Weeping Cross.

Day 6 - Handsacre to Little Heywood

Soon after setting off from Handsacre, the canal runs high above the road with a view of two pubs, Spode Cottage and the Plum Pudding.  A notice advises that crew must go ahead to stop oncoming boats, since the next section is very narrow - this is the former Armitage Tunnel which had its roof removed in the 1970s.  Steering is tricky since the tunnel obviously wasn't quite straight.

In the former Armitage Tunnel

Rugeley was the next stop, the birthplace of Henry Palmer, known as 'The Rugeley Poisoner' and a town with an ambivalent attitude to visitors.  Enticing canal side mooring rings there were, but when we attempted to use them we went aground and had to use two poles and plenty of reverse throttle to get off again.  A passing steerer wryly remarked that it happens all the time.  Once in town, we could find no working public loos, although in the town's favour we had a generous lunch at The Rose Cafe and found a decent laundrette on Lion Street.

The Old Chancel, Rugeley

Our overnight mooring was just above Colwich Lock, associated with another Victorian crime the 1839 murder of Christina Collins on a canal boat, a story later fictionalised by Colin Dexter.  

Blue Adeline at Colwich Lock

Day 5 - Alrewas to Handsacre

Set off 9.30am for Fradley Junction, delayed by half an hour with a borrowed magnet fishing unsuccessfully for a dropped mooring hook.  CRT volunteers helped considerately and slowly with the paddles with the first 3 locks at Fradley so we were through in time for a late breakfast at the holiday park tea room.  The CRT volunteer at the fourth lock raised paddles smartly without asking, requiring throttle to avoid ramming the top gate.  Her supervisor said only "she's wanting her sandwiches, she's a thug at the moment".

Lovely woodland outside Fradley, then the spell was broken when an oncoming steerer commented about some "characters" at Wood End Lock,  A hire boat emerged from the lock with two young men balanced precariously on the bow and Blue Adeline entered to find another boatful waiting to come down and two of the crew manning the bottom gates.  One seemed more or less comatose but the other impatiently and aggressively urged us to hurry because "I want to get to the pub".  A face-off followed, Denis exuding silent menace and the impatient one fell quiet only for an onlooker on the bridge to pipe up with "you're wasting water, you know!" and we suddenly realised we'd been so distracted we'd all failed to notice one of the bottom paddles was still open and the boat hadn't risen an inch!

Woods outside Fradley

We moored for the night at Handsacre before bridge 59 and Jan set off to find the nearest shop, according to Nicholson guide '500 yards south of the bridge'.  Eventually, after directions in the friendliest fashion from three Handsacre residents and lots of "me ducks" the shop was located and a sausage stew dinner was enjoyed before an early night.