Shrewley

We had a very bad time with Charlie last night. He barked solidly for 4 hours until he fell asleep at 00.45 with us following him within minutes. The tablets the vet gave us seem to be kicking in and he’s been quite calm all day, just sitting in his usual position on the roof watching the world go by. I just hope he stays calm this evening, it would be nice to be able to watch TV live instead of having to record programmes to watch at a later date.

It’s been another lovely sunny day with just a few showers this morning but they didn’t affect us as we didn’t set off until after lunch.

No locks today, just Shrewley Tunnel. Visitor moorings are marked in the guide book, just by the south portal, so we stopped and walked into the village. It’s a nice sleepy village with a shop/post office which has a deli counter selling a good range of pies & samosas.  There’s also a large pub The Durham Ox but it was closed when we got there.

An unusual place to store your bike

Shrewley Tunnel passes underneath the village and although it’s wide enough for 2 boats to pass it doesn’t have a towpath so the horses had to go over the top and through the village, passing back down to the canal through their own horse tunnel. The tunnel itself is very tall inside but is also very wet. In places it’s like passing under a shower and there are several jets of water coming out of the side walls to soak you as well.

timing's a bit out, it only takes 6-7 mins.

South portal

inside the horse tunnel, further down it's cobbled

North portal with the horse tunnel from the village

We’re now moored up in the wilderness before Rowington.  We chose a nice secluded spot in case Charlie has another evening of barking but within half an hour we were surrounded by other boats.