Monday, 6th October
We cruised three miles to Wheaton Aston, to buy fuel. Here it was 64.9 per litre, the cheapest on the system. There was a queue of boats, and it took about an hour and a half before we were finished. However, we weren't in a hurry as we were waiting for a visitor. Cherry was coming today to stay with us until Friday. She came by train to Penkridge and then Trev's cousin Ann picked her up and brought her to join us. Ann and Graham stayed and had a cup of tea, then they left and we set off along the Shroppie. It was a lovely afternoon and we travelled as far as Gnosall. We saw a couple of kingfishers and a heron on the way, which pleased Cherry no end. In the evening we ate at The Navigation Inn and had a good meal. I have uploaded a much better picture of Cherry to my "Friends" webpage.   You can have a look at it here:

Tuesday, 7th October
It was pouring with rain when we got up this morning, and Trev valiantly steered the boat for us whilst Cherry and I sat in the cratch and watched the world go by. We saw another kingfisher today. The rain stopped later in the morning, and I steered whilst Trev had a sit down and kept Cherry company. However, as we approached Tyrley locks, the heavens opened and threw it down, it was torrential, and Trev and I got soaked. We moored up in Market Drayton. We had intended to go further, but the weather deterred us.

Cherry wanted to walk into Market Drayton, I wasn't keen, I'd been there before and it's not very interesting, but I went with her. It seemed worse than the last time I was there, so many empty shops and the whole place seems run down and neglected. The high spot was T. O. Wiliams, a good deli and bakery, where I bought various cheeses. We walked back to the boat and ate on board.

Wednesday, 8th October




We had a late start to the day today. Yesterday we had a long day and made good progress so there is no pressure on us now for getting Cherry to Nantwich by Friday. The weather was better, and we set off to do the Adderley Flight of five and the Audlem flight of fifteen. It's a pretty cruise and the lovely autumn sunshine made it a pleasure to be out and about. On the way, we passed some BW workmen who were chopping down trees, and they gave us some wood for the fire.We did the Adderley five and started on the Audlem flight. We had a good run down the flight, there were plenty of boats coming up the other way and the locks were set in our favour. We decided to stop above the fourth lock from the bottom as there was a mooring space. With the canal being so busy, we weren't sure we'd find a mooring at the bottom, and Cherry wanted to go to the Shroppie Fly for dinner.

It was a delightful mooring spot, except for the problem which recurs all along the Shropshire Union Canal--there is a ledge below the water line, sticking out about a foot, and the boat bangs on it all night. However, after the boat traffic had died down, it wasn't too bad. We ate at the Shroppie Fly. The staff were very pleasant, but run off their feet becuase some staff hadn't turned up.

Thursday, 9th October
The last day of Cherry's cruise today. We finished the Audlem flight and travelled along a long lock free pound to the two Hack Green locks and then into Nantwich. Trev rode ahead to seek out a mooring for us and we moored up on the embankment past the aqueduct. Cherry walked into town to see the sights.................and I caught up with emails.

Trev walked over to the Nantwich Canal Centre to buy an automatic switch for the bilge pump. We have a persistent leak from the stern tube. It can easily be fixed, but the boat has to be out of the water for the job to be done. It's quite expensive to go into a dry dock, so we're hanging on as the boat is due to come out of the water in March at Ellesmere dry dock, when the bottom is backed again. We have very little cruising left to do this year. Once we get to Llangollen at the end of the month, we shan't move again until March 1st. Hopefully the leak will stop or lessen when we're stationary. Trev fixed the automatic bilge pump and it works like a dream. When the water reaches a certain level, it switches itself on and empties the bilge. Prior to it being fixed, we had to keep remembering to switch the pump on, and it would only work when the engine was running.

Friday, 10th October
We had a late breakfast, and then Trev walked Cherry to the station to catch her train. When he got back, we set off for Hurleston Junction, and the Llangollen Canal. Hooray!!! We turned left at the junction, went up through the four Hurleston Locks and felt we were really on our way home. Our first mooring was near Burland, on one of the excellent Shropshire Union Canal Society moorings.

We have a busy weekend ahead. We're going to Warwick for a fortieth wedding anniversary party on Sunday. First of all we fetched a hire car from Crewe. Now one thing I would recommend to any boater who needs to hire a car.........well two things actually:
1) Use Enterprise Car hire, they're excellent, pick you up from the nearest bridge to your boat and drop you off afterwards, for no extra cost. We paid GBP35.97 to hire the car for three days from 5.00 p.m. on Friday to 5.00 p.m. on Monday.
2) Never moor at Burland if you hire a car and are looking for somewhere to park it overnight. There is NOWHERE at Burland to park a car. There is a main road running straight through the village, where it would be dangerous to park, and all the little roads off are fiercely guarded by signs such as "Private" "No Parking" "Strictly Private" "Residents only" etc. We thought we'd found somewhere to park, in Banks Lane, where there were no signs. We pulled in close to the hedge and left the car there overnight, only to find a message on the windscreen the next day to say "Please do not park here. Access is required at all times for the milk tanker." This despite the fact that there was room to drive a bus past our car.

But help was at hand in the form of a very kind lady. I stopped to ask her where we could leave the car overnight, and she let us leave it on her drive. Thank you Leslie, you were indeed a good neighbour.

On Sunday we drove down to Warwick and helped Cynthia and Martin celebrate their Ruby wedding in some style at the Freemasons at Guy's Cliffe. A grand do for two lovely people.

The plan had been to come straight back to the boat after the 'do', but when we called in to see Ronnie & Pete, they invited us to stay overnight, and as we weren't in a rush to get the car back, we accepted their kind offer and spent an enjoyable evening together.

Monday, 13th October
We set off back up the M6, returned the car, had a lift back to the boat and collapsed in a heap from the busy weekend! The man from Enterprise who brought us back to the boat was most put out that he couldn't deliver us right to the boat, and didn't like the idea of us carrying all our things along the towpath, but we convinced him we'd be OK. Trev had laid the fire ready for when we got back, so we were soon warm and cosy.

Tuesday, 14th October
We set off along the Llangollen Canal towards Wrenbury, up through the two Swanley locks and the three Baddiley locks. We moored by the newly replaced Church Lift Bridge. It was peaceful and we had the mooring to ourselves. Trev walked into the village to get a paper, and we spent the evening on our cosy boat, with the fire burning merrily. Trev has picked up quite a lot of wood along the way, and it is sawn up and on the roof ready to keep us warm. We also have about eight bags of coal. When we get to St. Martin's, the coalman will come and bring another dozen bags. We daren't have any more in case we're too low in the water to get up to Llangollen! The last five miles are quite shallow. Supposing we had to jettison the coal in order to stay afloat! Coal is so expensive nowadays, it might be a better idea to jettison the boat!

Wednesday, 15th October
It rained heavily in the night but eased off in the morning and we set off around 11.00. We like to make an early start........The top of the boat had thousands of leaves on it this morning, we were moored under trees last night. We hope they might blow off during the course of the day. We went thorugh the Wrenbury Lift Bridge. This is electronically operated and I had to use a key to set it all in motion. A barrier comes down and stops the traffic. Needless to say, I am not the most popular person in the area when the traffic starts to queue up. The bridge opens and closes very slowly, there is nothing I can do to make it go any faster. Trev sailed serenly through, I let down the bridge and thanked everyone for waiting, but sadly I was just ignored! They're all in so much of a hurry, they don't have time for the pleasantries of life.

Then on up through Marbury Lock, Quoisey's Lock, Willeymoor Lock and Povey's Lock. This brought us to Grindley Brook, where there are three separate locks, and a staircase of three. At the top there is rubbish disposal and water, and we made use of both facilities, then moved on a couple hundred yards and moored up for the night. There is a definite autumnal feel in the air, a cool nip and a freshness which is pleasant. This is a lovely time of year to travel. There are far fewer boats on the system and it is peaceful and calm. I fear all hell will break out next week though as it is half term week.

I'm finding mobile phone reception is getting poorer by the day, and I'm really hoping that my "Three" dongle will work when we're in Llangollen. If not, I shall have to find a pub where it will work and spend my days in there!

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