Back On Dry Land

Weston Lock

Hello Jotters

Oh! The luxury of a flush toilet and a full size freezer. Here I am, back in the winter quarters, tapping away on the laptop without a care in the world. I have an unlimited supply of electricity to keep my batteries topped up and a mini magnum whenever the fancy takes me. I'm also enjoying the luxury of having a lengthy shower instead of a making do with a teacup full of water, twice a week! (eye roll emoji – I am exaggerating slightly!) We are once more looking in all the cupboards for our land legs, checking the loft for squirrels and looking for any spare nooks and crannys to store the car load of miscellaneous items that came back with us. Our little car greeted me with disdain when I trotted along to the car park to collect it. I had my fingers crossed, hoping it would start. Moving day can be fraught if things go wrong, the Captain gets grumpy and I get snappy – the day can quickly deteriorate into a row! All went well, except for needing to blow up the tyres. Thank heavens for those portable thingamabobs that plug into the cigarette lighter and do all the hard work for you. By lunch time, we had packed up the boat, loaded the car and were bouncing out of the marina heading for home, calling in at Alrewas to collect a couple of kilos of the blessed Coates Sausages. Another boating year has  ended.

Reflections

Our last two weeks have been simply glorious. The weather continued to be kind as we left the Shroppie and turned back onto the Staffs and Worcester. We mostly managed to dodge the showers, but we did need our warm jackets and boots, against the early morning chill. The stove has been lit every morning and evening and Tricky has resumed her place on the hearth mat, basking in the glow of ash wood scrumped from the tow-path to eke out our coal. Like everything else, the price of coal has rocketed and that will make life very hard for the growing number of people who have been forced onto the canals to find a home.

 

Tricky on Duty

We took a short detour up to Stone, turning left at Great Hayward and taking a couple of days to explore along the way. We walked along the tow-path, over a stile and crossed the canal to reach Sandon by way of a green lane, littered with acorns and beech nuts. We found a village that time forgot with a row of pretty terraced cottages around a large pond, an information board informed us that we were on the 'Two Saints Way' which connects Chester and Lichfield. We could see a building with a bell tower tucked away behind a house by the pond and curiosity led us up the path and into the quaintly named St Rufin's Church. A village with its roots in the Doomsday Book and a bloodthirsty history that would make you shiver follow this link if you want to know more. https://www.twosaintsway.co.uk/

Hidden Church Sandon

Stone was busy with boats but there was space by the winding hole so we turned and moored up for a trip into town. I was overjoyed to find that there was an M&S Food store right by the canal and I promised the Captain some treats for the return journey. It is several years since we were last this way and the town is looking decidedly shabby. The canal boat planter on the bridge that was once a brightly painted feature as we walked into town, is now a faded wreck and I wonder why no-one notices. I nipped to the supermarket for Tricky's dog food ( she has become very fussy and will only eat freshly cooked minced beef and gravy) and we chugged off back to the same mooring we left that morning – a delightful spot where kingfishers flash past and geese honk in the field opposite amongst the highland cattle,with their shaggy fringes and cute little horns. I will miss looking out of the hatch, my window on the world, to get a birds eye view of the sun setting or the stars winking in the night sky. To chug along with the sun reflecting off the water is a joy. I never tire of seeing the clockwork ducklings following mum through the rushes or big footed moorhens with fluffy, ugly offspring. I look out for the glamorous swans, stealing the show with their newly hatched cygnets and I especially love the birdsong that lifts the spirits and gladdens the heart.

 

Highland baby

Sorry, I seem to have gone all poetic and I really only wanted to say goodbye for now and I'll be back again in the spring. Take care and I hope we meet up soon.

Love from

The Floating Chandlers

Great Haywood 

PS We almost made it home without mishap, in fact we were unloading the car and longing to get indoors for a cup of tea when a full tin of paint fell out of the door and spread a puddle of Atlantic Grey on the road by the back wheel. I threw a newspaper over it, which didn't really do much to stop the paint making off towards my neighbours house. Then the wind got up and blew the newspaper up into the air where it plastered itself around my jeans. I somehow managed to transfer the paint onto the car seat and the steering wheel as well – oops!

PPS I was delighted to see What A Lark on our way to and from Stone – one day we will find ourselves together on the same mooring and have a proper catch up!

Nearing Penkridge

Locking down

Deptmore Lock

Tixall Wide - The Folly

Fungus on the lock wall

Fungus on the lock beam

More rain needed

St Rufin's Church

Village Pond at Sandon

Morning Shadows

Gloves for the Captain - it's chilly

Flags in the bows

Shugborough Hall

The Ruin at Shugborough

Colwich Lock

Colwich - the last lock this year

Vindictive Pigeons!

Sunny Morning

Hello my lovely Jotters.

I’m writing from the cosy cabin of our beloved boat while a storm rages around us. The rain is lashing on the roof, the canal is slapping a wet rhythm on the bows, the wind is buffeting our new cover and I was very tempted to insert an Oxford Comma in there to see if you were paying attention (insert monocled emoji).

Shroppie on a chilly morning

We have had a couple of weeks on the Shroppie, to round off our autumn cruise, going as far as Norbury before turning and setting our compass for home waters. This stretch of canal is very familiar to us - we know all the spots where you can moor without worrying about the ‘Shroppie Shelf’. When we were new and green in boating matters, Carl used to use wheelbarrow tyres to push us away from the shelf when we moored up. This worked well until we got Tricky and then that gap was too much for her to jump. After chugging up and down here for so many years, we have our favourite spots and many happy memories with each place. Our spot today is Chillington Wharf - how appropriate for such a cold and wet day!

Storm clouds coming!

It was a nice day when we moored at Wheaton Aston so we set off for a wander into the village. I found a chemist and popped in to see if he could find my prescription which is ‘on the spine’ somewhere in the cloud waiting for me to collect it. It’s a great system, when it works, as it means I can pick up my regular prescriptions wherever we happen to be. The chemist shop was tiny with just the chemist himself sitting in his office and a very small shop space attached. I was a little in awe of his beard and moustache arrangement as it covered most of his face and even his eyes were screened by bushy eyebrows but he knew all about the ‘spine’ and ran off my prescription without any trouble. We stumbled upon a coffee morning in the village church and wandered in to see what was on offer. We bought a heap of books and two coffees and sat in the lovely sunshine, chatting to the vicar (I swear she was Geraldine Grainger, the Vicar of Dibley). We were just getting stuck into the Jammy Dodgers when Tricky started barking. Those of you who have met Tricky will know that she is very genteel and rarely puts herself out to wag her tail and certainly doesn’t bark like any common sort of dog. Imagine our surprise when she suddenly shot out from under the table, flung herself full stretch against the lead and barked twice. We were amazed - what an earth could have brought that on? The culprit was a very ecclesiastical looking moggie, who dropped in to check if there was any spare adulation going. Don’t you think all cats think they are minor deities?

Still Not Got The Hang Of Selfies

There was lots of space when we reached Gnosall and we moored by the Navigation and caught the bus into Newport. There are lots of charity shops here and one rucksack was full of books long before we got to Waitrose. We staggered back to the boat, weighed down with provisions, ready for a longer than usual stay at Norbury. There’s no bus or shop there so if the cupboards are bare, you might be tempted into the pub and we often have been!

Gloomy in places

I was delighted to find a charity stall set up at Norbury and was soon deep in conversation with them about their fundraising which was the restoration of the Shrewsbury and Newport Canal. I doubt we will ever be able to take our boat along it but I admire the commitment and energy of those who are trying to raise the funds and steer through the bureaucracy to make it happen. I signed up for a family membership and gave them our spare ukulele for their stall and we shall follow their progress in the hope that they can succeed in reconnecting Newport before we get too old to navigate it.  I do seem to go on a lot about where we moor, but if you get a bad mooring (ie in the shade, behind a noisy engine runner, Gongoozlers peering in through the windows) it can spoil your day. We chugged up to Turners in Wheaton Aston and found he had just closed – how annoying. We pushed across and moored opposite the fuel quay thinking we would be first in the queue next day . There were some very vindictive pigeons in the trees along there – they were deliberately kicking the branches to shower us with acorns and then crapping on our new cover – how very dare they!  Carl was so incensed that he reversed back past 4 boats to a space that was clear of trees and Carl really does hate reversing!

Sniffing our way home

Boating along the peaceful Shroppie does give us some hope in a world that seems to be falling apart. The golden tints of the turning leaves, scarlet berries in the hedges, black sloes gleaming with raindrops, a glimpse of turquoise as a kingfisher flashes past us and the stormy skies overhead that throw sudden showers at us as we chug along. Sandals are a distant memory as we haul on our boots to walk Tricky, puddles have reappeared - we haven’t seen those all summer. Crunching through fallen acorns and picking the last flush of blackberries, pausing at a ‘humming hedge’ alive with bees and getting home to a warm boat and something that isn’t salad, for tea. I always look forward to being able to cook on the stove when the weather is cold enough. Food tastes so good when it has been simmering for a few hours and Carl is always hungry after a day on the tiller in the fresh air. We are glad of all the books we have collected recently, the forecast for the next few days isn’t looking great and we don’t envy those hardy boaters that have passed us today - soaking wet and battling to steer a straight course against the wind that whips across the fields.

Autumn Ploughing

That’s about it from the floating wood store - now that we are too posh to store our wood and coal on the roof, I am very worried about where it will end up next. I have already given up the ‘shoe steps’ - the stairs have hidden storage and are right next to the stove, a warm spot that doubles as a spare seat when we have visitors. The shoes have been relegated to another, less accessible cupboard, down by the bed and the steps are filled with kindling and small logs.

High bridges on the Shroppie

Soon be time to pack up the boat and head for home – I must start my ukulele practise again, I can't wait to get back to the secret strummers – you know who your are (wink wink emoji).

Take care till then.

Love from
The Floating Chandlers


PS It's been a great week for spotting Kingfishers and I even managed a rather blurry photo. You can just about tell its a Kingfisher but nothing can capture the way your heart leaps when you spot one.

 

Nearly Got Him!

PPS Carl gave both sides of the boat a wash and wax this week – Carl has 'Polisher's Elbow' but Lady Aberlour is shining like a new pin!

Cowley Tunnel

Sunny Bridges

War Memorial Wheaton Aston

Modern Church at Wheaton Aston

 

Beautiful Churches Along the Way

 

Such a week in our country’s history cannot be captured by my scribblings. Others have spoken eloquently of her years of dedicated service, of her warmth and love of family. I saw a woman of strength that never shirked her duty even when faced with difficult times. I have watched many hours of footage this week and have been reminded of the beautiful girl she was, and I watched until, at last, that lovely sense of humour was allowed to shine through. How fortunate I feel to have been born into the reign of Queen Elizabeth.

The last time I wrote we were travelling south along the Staffs and Worcester Canal, hoping to get measured for our new cratch cover. I am happy to report that the Lady Aberlour is, at last, wearing her splendid new cover and we are finally water tight. In the nick of time, it would seem, for the mornings are turning chilly and I am once more required to deploy my elbow and prod Carl to get up and light the stove. The log basket needs filling, so I am wood spotting to find suitable deadwood to add to our logbox. We do have central heating, a diesel heater called an Eberspacher, which is very efficient when it's working but the flipping thing has gone on the blink now that we are miles away from the Battery Boys. They are the lads who fitted it for us and who service it, when necessary. We should have had it serviced when we were there in August, having the new fridge fitted but we didn’t and now it won’t fire up, so annoying!!

Shiny new windows in the new cover

Now that the topside of the boat is so smart, Carl is catching up with the less obvious places to paint. There is a small space at the pointed end (bows) with a lift up lid. Inside are the two gas bottles that supply the cooker and they have to be hauled up and off the boat in order that Carl can reach the floor of the gas locker to remove the rust. It’s a very small space, even for Carl and he came up coated in dust and sweat, clutching a bag of rust, like he’d found gold. Today is day five of the Gas Locker renovation, I will be glad when it’s done as I cringe with fear every time I hear those gas bottles clinking in case they or Carl fall in. So far, so good!

Stourport Mooring

We arrived in Stourport on a dreary day, found a space on the visitor moorings in the basin and collected our rucksacks for a trip into town. Stourport is charity shop heaven, if you like that kind of thing, which we do. Tricky tagged along, looking glum as usual and was most put out to find that she wasn’t allowed into most of the charity shops. She is used to going in with us and being made a fuss of,so she wasn’t happy to be sitting outside, especially as it began to rain heavily. We sheltered under a nearby scaffolding until the sun came out and we sloshed off down the High Street in search of something hot to warm us up. We would have liked to have stayed in Stourport longer but my phone pinged with a message from Keith (the cover maker) to say he was ready for us. We were surprised as we had been let down so often by the previous man that we had completely lost faith and expected to be hanging around for weeks waiting. We arranged to be there on Monday morning and set off back along the canal, pottering slowly, enjoying the sunny interludes and shivering in the chilly morning mists. We moored outside Tescos in Kidderminster, very handy for the town centre as it turned out. We joined the Saturday shoppers thronging through the street market and called into M & S for something tasty for tea. It was fine and sunny so we carried on through Kidderminster Lock and took another photo of the very splendid church that overlooks the canal. There are visitor moorings along here but we prefer somewhere quieter, so we moved on through Wolverley Court Lock and tied up.

Kidderminster

St Mary and All Saints Church, Kidderminster

Tricky developed an itchy ear last weekend so I rang the vet in Kinver and got an appointment for Monday afternoon. It was a good walk from the canal and quite a warm afternoon although showery. By the time I arrived, I was wringing wet, the sun came out and my waterproof jacket made it’s own thermal climate. I was cooking slowly but couldn't really start stripping off in the tiny room that passed for the Vets Consulting Room - it was very intimate for 3 adults and a little dog. When we were finally released and presented with the bill, I broke out into a different kind of sweat! It was such a relief to find out that Tricky just needed some drops and Janet, the vet, was really kind about Tricky’s terrible haircut (I’m worried that it hasn’t grown out and poor Tricky still looks like a mutt). On the way back through Kinver, I glanced up at the church that stands high above the town and thought it would be nice to stroll up and take in the view. Carl strode up the steep gradient carrying the rucksack of shopping while I puffed along behind, pushing Tricky in her buggy and trying not to alarm Carl with my wheezing for breath . The church was just closing as we arrived but they took pity on us and stayed open long enough for us to get the guided tour from one of the flower ladies. I was thankful that I hadn't climbed that hill to find the doors locked.

Kinver Church - Etched Glass Doors

Kinver Church Stained Glass Window

Kinver Church

We have enjoyed our trip down to Stourport and I’m sure we will be making it part of our regular cruising route as the narrow locks are so much easier than the broad locks of the Grand Union. We have a few weeks left before our autumn cruise is over so we turned onto the Shropshire Union and moored with a long line of other boaters. It was a late afternoon by the time we arrived and Carl bashed in the pins to tie us up and we were lulled to sleep by the owls hooting.

Moonlit Mist

Beautiful Morning for Chugging

We nipped to the Co-op in Brewood then chugged to a spot where we could get full sun on the panels and get a good charge ready for the funeral today. Tomorrow, Radio 2 will be back to normal - did anyone else really enjoy the more subdued programmes? No shrieking or rap, just really good music. I watched for most of the day, singing along with the hymns and I said my own goodbyes as the lone piper played from aloft.

That's it for tonight, I'll write again soon

Love from

The Floating Chandlers

Falling Sands Lock

ps In the last few days we have seen three kingfishers, such a relief after so long without seeing a single one.

Dunsley Tunnel

pps  I forgot to write about Wolverley but the pictures tell their own story

Wolverley Village

Wolverley Church

Wolverley Village Church Gate

Tricky looks interested!

Found this secret door set into the rocks

Charming Cottages

Woverley

Wolverley Lock

Sunny spot for coffee

Prayer Tree in Wolverley Church

Wolverley Church

Sytewponey Lock

Stourton Bridge

Rocky cuttings on this canal

Fingerpost at Stourton Junction