Too windy to cruise

We hadn't planned to still be in Alrewas but it's been too windy to travel today. Instead, we went to the George and Dragon for lunch and put the Christmas decorations up.

Provided the wind dies down we'll carry on again tomorrow. We'll have to make an early start as we need to take Chico to the vets in Shobnall. We took him to a vet in Birmingham who diagnosed an ear infection and we now need him checking to make sure the ear drops have worked.

Alrewas

After an early shopping spree to Aldi (food) and Tesco (booze) we continued our journey.  There were a few boats moving today, more than we've seen for ages and wouldn't you just know it....a queue for the locks at Fradley!  We followed 3 other boats down the flight but there was a slight delay at Junction Lock as the pound below Hunts Lock was very low and a boat coming up had got stuck in the middle of the canal. CRT were on the case and letting water down and by the time we passed through the water level was back to normal.

At Common Lock two CRT workers were togged up in waders and were clearing out the by-wash.

We're now moored in Alrewas. It's such a beautiful village but even here, moored by the dog bin, Roger got dog shit on his boots....grrrrr it makes me SO MAD!!!

Lambs but no boats

We've had another long cruise again today.  We're on a schedule to get through Kegworth Deep lock before it's closed for repairs next Monday, so for the next few days we're hoping to get at least 6 hours a day done.

Deptmore Lock has just re-opened and you can see where CRT have replaced some brickwork and done bits of re-pointing.

It's a shame the quality of the pointing isn't a bit better. You can see where this "pisser" is coming out of a newly pointed joint.

As we came round the bend just out of Tixall Lock we came across a field of very young lambs. Next Easter's Spring Lamb roast dinner maybe?

This is a sight I have never seen before. In all the times we've been to Tixall Wide I have never seen it without any moored boats, or fishermen. It was desserted!  It's one of my favourite mooring places and we've spent many happy days moored here in the past but unfortunately we couldn't stop today.

The bottom gates at Colwich Lock used to be almost impossible to open single-handed but they have been modified since we last passed through. CRT have added weights to the lock beam and Roger told me they are now "a doddle". It makes you wonder why they weren't modified years ago.

Further down the canal is a pig farm where the farmer has started selling diesel from a boat

If we'd known this was here we wouldn't have made the detour up the Shroppie to Turner's Garage.

We're now moored on the aqueduct just before Rugely. Again things have changed for the better since we were last here. Previously we'd always moored on the offside but mooring rings have now been installed on the towpath side.  We'll need to be up early tomorrow as I want to stop off in Rugeley to go food shopping before we put in another full day's cruising. I'll be spoilt for choice as there's an Aldi, Morrisons and a new Tesco.

A long day's cruise

We had a very long day's cruise today as we needed to be through Longford Lock this evening. It took us 7.5 hours to do the 10 locks and 15 miles from last night's mooring, but we managed to get through just as the CRT man arrived to close it ready for the works to start in the morning.

The work boat and materials had already arrived.

It's been perfect cruising weather again and was quite warm at times in the sunshine.  It must have been good flying weather too as we saw a couple of microlights and a hot air balloon.

When we got to Rodbaston Lock the sky went very dark and I thought we were in for a storm. Thankfully it never happened although we did get a few spots of drizzle.

I think Rodbaston Lock could do with a bit of attention. This "pisser" was much bigger than last time we came through.

One of the recognised side effects of the chemotherapy I had earlier this year is a phenomenon known as "chemo brain". Basically it affects your coordination and one of the worst things for me was that I couldn't knit or crochet. My hands just wouldn't do what my brain was telling them to.  This week I decided enough was enough and tried crocheting again.  After a few botched attempts and much swearing I finally managed to make this jacket for my daughter's baby which is due in January.  I was really happy and now that I've cracked it again there'll be no stopping me.

Detour for Diesel

Yesterday we came down the 21 locks at Wolverhampton. It was a pretty uneventful trip, compared to when we came up the locks, and we didn't see another boat all day.  We stopped in Lock 10 and nipped to the butty wagon, which is always parked just over the bridge, for mid-morning bacon butties.

A bit later on the heavens opened and we got drenched. Thank heavens for waterproofs!

Recently, the locks have been closed while repairs were carried out. CRT said the repairs were at Lock 2 but the only signs of repairs we could see were at Lock 20 (2 from the bottom)

After a short cruise on the Staffs & Worcester, we did a detour up the Shropshire Union Canal. We were running on fumes and by going to Turners at Wheaton Aston we reckon to save around £40 on diesel compared to Birmingham prices.

We finally moored for the night at Brewood. I'm not a great fan of these moorings as there's no internet signal and they're usually full of 'lurkers' and dog shit.  This time was no exception and we both got our boots covered in the stuff and that's despite being moored right opposite the dog bin.  When I took Chico out this morning I had to clear up outside the boat as some dirty sod had let their dog crap in the middle of the path right in front of the bin.

Today has been beautiful and sunny again and we enjoyed our trip to Turner's.  The diesel was 75.9 p/l compared to 95 p/l when we were in Birmingham, and we filled with water and dumped the rubbish before coming back down the Shroppie.

We're moored on the SUCS (Shropshire Union Canal Society) moorings in the middle of nowhere.  The canals are very quiet and in the past 3 days we've only seen 2 other moving boats.

It's been a spectacular sunset so hopefully the weather will be good again tomorrow.

Wolverhampton

On the way to Wolverhampton we were stopped by a cyclist who asked us for a lift through Coseley Tunnel as there had been a landslide which had blocked the towpath. Unfortunately we couldn't oblige, we had nowhere to put his bike as our roof is full of solar panels and bags of coal.

When we got though the tunnel we had to warn a dog walker that the other end was blocked and then Roger phoned CRT.  They claimed to know about the landslide and were adamant that there were warning signs at both ends of the tunnel although there definitely weren't. They promised to send someone out ASAP.

We're now moored in the centre of Wolverhampton ready to go down the locks in the morning.  After lunch we went into the town centre and did a spot of Christmas shopping in the two indoor shopping malls.  If you want any information about Wolverhampton shopping facilities you can find it HERE

Back in the Black Country

We left Birmingham this morning as planned, going up Smethwick locks and past the Engine Arm where the entrance bridge was being guarded by seagulls.

At Gilbert's Bridge we came across these builder's bags floating in the cut. They were full of the outer sheathing from cables and just waiting to get wrapped around someone's propeller. Roger phoned CRT and they promised to send someone out ASAP to remove them.

We arrived at the Black Country museum, filled up with water and emptied the toilet tank and then moored up for the night.

What kind of dirty disgusting boater was here recently?  There is a large rubbish disposal skip here but these lazy bastards just emptied their kitchen waste beside the moorings!