Date: Wed, 26 Jul 2000 21:22:18 +0100 From: Ann Harvey Reply-To: Canals To: Canals Subject: Re: Amos's trip report part 2 [ The following text is in the "iso-8859-1" character set. ] [ Your display is set for the "US-ASCII" character set. ] [ Some characters may be displayed incorrectly. ] Monday 17 July We slept late ^Ö I woke and made tea at 9.30. We are surprised at how quiet it is. We expected walkers, dogs, fishers and boat engines etc. We left about 10.40 after a walk into the village for a paper and fresh bread. We ate bacon butties as we cruised along. In the space of a very few yards I saw a Kingfisher, wren, crow and an orange and black spotted butterfly. Countrywide cruisers had 3 large boats moored up. We sailed straight into an open lock at Wheaton Aston as a boat just pulled out. We had a momentary pause at 11.45 to dispose of the rubbish. There is now an elsan disposal here as well as water and rubbish disposal facilities. The canalside petrol station on the bridge was advertising diesel at 21.4p per litre. We moved on towards Norbury in warm sunshine. At 12.15 we gave way to another boat through bridge 21, and we are now beginning to see more boats on the move. There seems to be another framed in every bridge that comes into sight. We^Òve seen more moving boats this morning than on the whole of the trip so far. At 1.30 we moored up at Gnosall for a bite of lunch and a glass of wine/lager. By 2.25 the sun had moved round and left the moorings in the shade so we moved on. There are now water points at the Navigation bridge. We saw a small flock of 12 ^Ö 18 birds that I hadn^Òt seen before. They took off from the bank as we approached. They were about the size of a small gull, larger than a swallow and were black and white. They had the pointed beak of an insect eater. I looked in a book I had on board and they seemed similar to swifts, or house martins, but I didn^Òt notice a forked tail. We moored opposite the BW yard at Norbury at 3.15, before the pub. Unusual to get moorings this close to the basin unless someone just pulled out, but there aren^Òt many boats moored here today. The clouds are beginning to outdo the sunny spells now, but it is still a very pleasant afternoon, as the clouds are the fluffy sort, not the heavy rainclouds. The air is still and quiet, with just the quackings and calling of birds. We went off to get an ice cream and bumped into Bill and Margaret, former boaters from Ashwood, whom we had waved to when passing their caravan site at Brewood. Margaret^Òs health meant that they were unable to continue boating ^Ö memo to self: Do it NOW! We bought our ice cream and sat on the boat in the sunshine reading for some time. Later we went to the pub for a meal, which we ate on the benches outside in the sunshine. My choice of sweet and sour pork was eatable but indifferent, but Ken really enjoyed his gammon steak. Tuesday 18 July After a chat we set off in beautiful sunshine. There was a slight breeze as we cruised along which took the edge off the temperature, but it remained a beautiful cruise on lovely day. We passed Shebdon Wharf at 11.30 and reached Knighton 15 minutes later. There are a few boats moored at the former Marvel warehouse, some working boats (or restored former working boats) and a splendid vessel MSC Frodsham. We arrived at Goldstone Wharf at 1.00 and after mooring opposite we went into the Wharf for a drink. An evening meal was the plan, but the meals all looked so good we decided to have one there and then. This we ate in the garden and it was superb. My steak and kidney pie and chips was the best I^Ò ve ever bought and Ken^Òs Lasagne Verdi was its equal. The chips and peas were frozen, I think, but were cooked to perfection. Unfortunately the trade here relies greatly on the passing canal traffic, and this seems to be in decline. We spent the afternoon sleeping and sunbathing and when the afternoon cooled a little into the evening, Ken cleaned all the tree sap from the boat and I polished the brass portholes on the towpath side. Bob and Yvonne of nb The Henry Cleaver returned my call. They were at Market Drayton and proposed a barbecue at The Anchor at High Offley tomorrow evening. They would buy the food from Drayton and join us about lunchtime tomorrow. We had an evening drink in the pub and a good night^Òs sleep. Wednesday 19 July We had nothing to do this morning except sunbathe. We received a call from Bob to say that they were next in the queue for Tyrley locks. About 10 boats have passed us in the last hour so they should have an easy passage up. They arrived on The Henry Cleaver at 1.20 and we locked up the boats and crossed to the pub gardens. We had a drink or 3 and then set off at 3.15 for our next stop at The Anchor at High Offley. We passed the Wharf at High Offley at 4.30 and tied up at The Anchor at 5.00 pm. The new barbecue came out and Ken the chef was away! By the time the fire was going well and the first food cooking Naish and Alan arrived on nb Eurova, and about the same time Derek pulled in from the opposite direction on his cruiser Maid Marion. After our barbecue we joined Bob and Yvonne in the pub, and soon Naish, Alan and Derek arrived as well. The fendermaker was also in there, and that filled the bar. Later we retired for half an hour onto The Henry Cleaver to listen to their new CD and take a glass of wine. Thursday 20 July We left this morning at 10.15, and paused at Norbury to dump the rubbish. As we left we met Lady Earlston with Des and his wife aboard. We had shared locks and the journey from Chester to Autherley with Des and his friend Ian a few years ago and didn^Òt stop laughing all the way. He knew the best pubs for food and the best for beer (not always the same), the short cuts from the canal towpath to the towns and villages along the way. We have looked out for him on our trips up the Shroppie since, but not seen him again until today. Attempts to moor up and chat left us both aground on the shelf so in the end it was an unsatisfactory chat midstream before we continued on our separate ways. We heard that Ian (the Heart) was still going well and sent our regards. During this exchange a dayboat from Norbury passed us among several others. We caught up with it see-sawing all over the cut, and when it hit the bank Ken took the opportunity to slip past, but it then swung out and hit us with a bang. On arrival at Gnosall at 12.15 we went shopping with Bob and Yvonne and then into the Navigation pub gardens for a drink. We got talking to a party from a hireboat, in particular an American lady. I offered to take their group photos. They each wore an eyepatch and of course I had to ask about these. The explanation was that it was a gag for those back home. They asked us to wear one each too while they photographed us, and they would tell those back home they^Òd been to a pirate bar. They were also supplied with bead necklaces to be worn another day, in another pub. They had tried it once wearing their hippie beads etc and when after having been there sometime and having had some curious looks, this lady said to the locals ^ÓOkay, you wanna know about the beads? Well we^Òre the scouting party for a new cult and we^Òre looking for a place to set up a new community.^Ô Well they believed her and surprisingly enough they showed a polite interest and even suggested some sites. This lady, whose name I didn^Òt get, was connected to the Internet and I directed her to look up george^Òs canal pages and follow the links. This after Bob had darkly warned her that this would all be published on the Internet! So maybe she^Òll be reading this someday. I hope so. Another couple who had been following our conversations then asked if that was still at Blacksheep site, they had sometimes dipped in, obviously in the past, but I didn^Òt get their names as Bob was expressing his boredom with all the computer talk. They all left and we had another drink and cast off and set off towards Brewood in hot sunshine at 2.45. We enjoyed a beautiful cruise, with a small bottleneck at Wheaton Aston then on and through to Brewood. I had a phone call from my Mum and Dad^Òs mobile, which I wasn^Òt quick enough to reply to so I rang back. Dad said he^Òd been messing about with it and pressed my number by accident. (?) After a little chat it transpired that they had had a narrow escape from the services of some ^Ñlandscapers^Ò who were going to trim and lop their trees for a consideration. Dad insisted that he only paid by cheque ^Ö they wanted cash, and even offered to take him to the bank. He declined and they decamped. They came back two days later agreeing to work for a cheque, but Dad had seen the light by this time and sent them away. The fellow stomped off down the drive shouting that he hoped that they^Òd all fall down on the house. Mum is very upset and feeling vulnerable. I promised to speak to Bob who works for the forestry commission, which I did while waiting for the lock and he^Òs promised to find them a reputable firm who are qualified and insured. I^Òm afraid that I looked at the beautiful scenery without seeing much of it for the rest of the morning. We moored in a sunny spot just before the Countrywide cruisers winding hole, but this was quite a walk to the village. We went into the village with Bob and Yvonne after tea to the Swan, later joined by Naish and Alan and Derek. The pub was much busier than it had been last Sunday night, but we took over one of the side rooms and enjoyed a convivial evening. ---