Today's Canal - Staffs and Worcs
The morning was very grey but dry and not quite as cold as yesterday. We had found on the map a slightly larger Co-Op than the one in the centre of Penkridge, just a short walk from Cross Keys Bridge 83A.
We needed an intermediate shop so we set off in good time from our overnight mooring opposite Otherton Boat Haven.
There are ringed moorings just after the bridge which was a further bonus.n well under an hour.We walked to the store, collected our shopping and returned to the boat in well under an hour.
There was one lock before the wharf in Penkridge - and as we started away again after descending, a break in clouds suddenly appeared, just for a short while.
We only had a very brief stop at the service block above Penkridge Lock as we waited for a boat coming up.
In the pound below we spotted The Jam Butty and its motor, The Wandering Bark. They are the pride and joy of Andy Tidy and his wife Helen. Andy blogs as Captain Ahab's Wandering Tales about their travels as well as his passion for documenting old canals. We have not heard much from them lately - in February he shared some great old photos of the Delph Locks.
The noisy M6 follows the canal for some distance - although it does change sides, it is only shortly before Stafford that it is far enough away not to be a disturbance. However, the photo shows another patch of blue sky - something that was now giving us hope of a better afternoon!
Teddesley Boat Centre alongside Park Gate Lock has had a chequered history over the past ten years or more.When we first came this way with Take Five, it was home to a much respected hire boat business and boat builders. When we needed a proper re-paint we opted for a new painter that had set up in an undercover workshop here. We were pleased with the results. There as also a good branch of Midland Chandlers which we used each time we passed by. However all that has now gone but Bourne Boatbuilders have relocated from the Trent and Mersey. In 2019 they also purchased Midway Boats whose established base is at Barbridge Junction but now operate from here as well.
Down one further lock and we paused for lunch. By the time we set off again, the bright blue sky had returned to stay with us for the rest of the day.
The canal skirts the centre of Stafford and all that we saw was a lot of new, or newish, housing estates. As we reached the northern edge, we stopped for a few minutes at the site of the Stafford Riverway Link. At one time a short canal connected with the River Sow for a mile and half navigation into the town centre. Sadly, it closed in the 1920's but a restoration trust is hoping to restore a connection. Since we last took a look a few years ago, work has started on a small basin and a lock down to the river.
At the end of a line of open country moorings, this one has a wonderful tree house and playground. Thomas may be at home (a real railway line is only a few metres behind so he will feel at home here) but alas no-one else was there today.
Just a picture of a tree, not yet in full leaf at the end of May, against a bright sky!
The only downside this afternoon was that the sun was in entirely the wrong direction (or we were travelling the wrong way!) to take useful pictures of bridges!
We opted to take a risk and drop down through Tixall Lock so that we could look for an overnight mooring at Tixall Wide. This is a honeypot site and usually we just pass through. On the way to the widest part there were plenty of spaces but just before the final bend we could see what looked like a long line of boats already taking up the best spots. So we quickly pulled in - in fact a good place and with a tv signal, if we can find anything worth watching. The iconic picture of the Gatehoiuse will have to wait until the morning.
10.6 Miles - 7 Locks
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