Great Haywood to Gnosall
Friday 19th April
So, we’re still at Great Haywood, but we do still have a
pretty strong headwind for moving on to Weeping Cross on the Staffs and Worcs
canal. It’s about 4 miles from here and takes in Tixall Wide, which is where I
would expect problems with cross winds. Still, when you gotta go, you gotta go!
Most of yesterday was also very windy but, since we had
decided to stay another day, we took a walk into the village. At first we
simply called into the nearest store for the paper and some milk. But we then
decided to take a walk up the high street to the next shop where they have a
small butchery counter. Having found nothing she wanted there, Wifey decided to
walk down the hill to the Canal Side Farm Shop, where we bought some burgers
and baps. We did think about buying a small loaf of bread, until we saw the
price of £2.90!! £2.90 for a small bloomer? Sheila can make four for that
price. Now that really is taking the Mickey.
Saturday 20th April
We only had five miles and two locks to go to Weeping Cross
yesterday, and boy was that wind cold. But, by the time we got there, about 10
am or so, the wind had died down and the sun was out.
It’s calm this morning and looks to be a fine weekend, so
we’re off to Penkridge and the local market, plus, of course, the pub tomorrow,
although we’re not sure which one. We usually visit The Boat, which is just
below the lock at the side of the canal. But I have a yen to try one in town
for a change. We’ll see.
Sunday 21st April
Yesterday we did quite a lot of walking, first into
Penkridge and around the Saturday Market, where we made some really inexpensive
purchases, such as Country Life butter at £1 per pack, 2 boiling bacon joints
for £6, along with a few other bits and pieces.
Later in the afternoon we took Rusty for a walk along the
towpath and around some of the houses, after which we stopped for an ice cream
just to give her a rest really. Honest!
We’ve been rather lax with the Bikers diet of late and so
today we’re back on it proper. This does not mean I’ll be denying myself my
Sunday drink, but it does mean we’ll be cutting out the naughty stuff, such as
those lovely, big fruit pies we sometimes find in local bakeries, one of which
we bought in the canal side farm shop back at Great Haywood. This was an apple
and raspberry and, with steaming hot custard, has gone down a treat.
Later today we’ll walk into town again, this time to the
pub. Tomorrow we’ll be off to Gailey where, sadly, there isn’t a pub, or a bakery,
or a butcher’s. In fact there’s nothing there at all, except a small shop by
the side of the canal.
Monday 22nd April
Well, we had a pretty good day yesterday, with fine weather
for the most part, although we did have light rain for part of the day.
After walking into town for some shopping, we then enjoyed a
coffee and popped off to the pub at about 12.30. Just for a change we walked
along the towpath and under a couple of bridges, where we found The Cross Keys.
At £3.30 for a pint of Guinness and a friendly atmosphere and with a bunch of
local footballers turning up, we will probably use it on our way back.
We’re getting a bit concerned with Rusty these days. Even
after giving her lighter food she still has her ‘upset tummy’ days, and today
is another one of those. We also have to keep a close eye on her during the day
because, if we don’t recognise when she needs to go out, accidents are likely
to happen.
Strangely she manages to sleep through until 7am some
mornings, whilst at others she’ll have us up in the early hours. She’s also
becoming a bit tottery on her legs of late and, whilst I hate to say it, I
don’t think she’ll be with us for much longer. Still, she’s 15 years old now,
if we go by what the rescue centre were told when they took her in, so she’s
done awfully well.
But then, you see, she also has days when she’s full of vim
and vigour, especially if she’s been out in the rain, when she’ll run up and
down the boat in an attempt to dry herself off. She’s a strange dog, and no
mistake.
Tuesday 23rd April
Well, time’s a flying and we’re nearly at the end of April,
the weather has warmed up, we’ve had a few sunny days and all’s right with the
world.
We took a leisurely cruise, through five miles and six lock,
to the bottom of Gailey lock and enjoyed uninterrupted TV in the evening.
Once again our poor wee pooch was not feeling up to snuff
and just mooched around for most of the day. That is, until she smelled the
chicken cooking, at which point she perked up Strange that! Anyway, now that
we’ve adjusted her diet to include freshly cooked chicken and turkey, we’re
hoping her tummy will settle down. Hope springs eternal, etcetera!
We’ll be off to Cross Green this morning, which is about
five miles away and just the lock in front of us to negotiate. With a bright,
sunny start to the day and the promise of fine weather, this morning’s trip
should be a doddle. Of course, if we get stuck behind a slow poke, like we did
yesterday, we could be in for a trip full of yawns.
We’ll stay at Cross Green for two days because we are
planning to arrive at Wheaton Aston for Saturday morning. This town boasts a
garage that lies above the canal and serves road and canal traffic. It has a
hose, connected to a red diesel tank, that snakes down to the canal mooring
platform and is just about the cheapest on the cut, so we’re hoping to save a
few quid. Goodness knows we need it after all the expense we’ve incurred
lately.
Wednesday 24th April
This morning is, once again bright and sunny although,
according to the forecast yesterday evening, it’s supposed to rain today and we
did have a red sky this morning. We shall see.
The main problem I have is the inability to download my
emails. According to my little WiFi icon I do have a strong signal, but no
Internet access. This usually means I can’t access the Web, but can still
download emails. So, what I’ll have to try later today is to strap the WiFi
unit to my old dongle stick, screw it to the Top Box and run the cable through
the window and plug it into the laptop. If that doesn’t work then we’re too far
from a transmission tower. I suppose I shouldn’t complain as we’ve travelled
over 40 miles so far without problems.
Unfortunately, since we’re staying here at Cross Green, if I
can’t get online at all then I’ll have to wait until we move on and up the
Shroppie. Hey, it’s not important, right? We’re cruising and supposed to be
relaxing. Who cares if we can’t download emails or get online? At least the
phone is working!
After her upset tummy of the previous couple of days, our
VIP was full of the joys of spring. We took her for a long-ish walk along the
towpath and she didn’t complain once. She also ate all her food, so she’s
probably feeling as normal as she can do for her age. VIP? Very Important
Pooch, it says so on her new collar.
Thursday 25th April
Most of the time we have no problems with this new WiFi unit
but, as something that comes as no surprise, we’re now on the Shroppie and,
what’s more, we’re miles from anywhere. So, a bit of a struggle with the Internet
this morning. At first I managed to download my messages, which was more than I
could do back at Cross Green. Then all of a sudden up came an error message
telling me I had no Internet access.
Whilst trying to reposition the unit, a move that had no appreciable
difference, I had a thought, ‘could it be the SIM? Well, having removed that
and cleaned it, I still had no Internet. So, I then wondered if the mere fact
that neither the laptop nor the unit were plugged in and charging could have an
effect.
Having switched on the Inverter and plugged both items in, I
now seem to have Internet access and my emails have downloaded and been replied
to. Hmmm! The only thing not working is the Intel RST service, whatever that
is. I think it is an online storage facility, which I don’t use anyway, so it’s
of no importance at all.
Well, we’re between bridges 7 and 8 on the Shroppie and,
simply because we are moored up right next to a whole bunch of fat balls (?),
hanging in the bushes, we’ve decided to stay another day and try getting some
decent photos of the visiting birds.
Yesterday we spotted 11 different birds feeding off those
balls. We had Chaffinch, Long Tailed Tit, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Robin, Yellow
Hammer, Blackbird, Reed Bunting, Green Finch and Dunnock. No doubt they’ll all
be there again today and, with a bit of luck, the addition of Coal Tit and
Bullfinch? Who can tell?
Friday 26th April
We took some more photos of the birds yesterday but, even
with my 2X splitter, they don’t look that good. I may be able to improve them
on the laptop.
After much faffing about with the laptop and WiFi unit, I
finally managed to download my emails yesterday and this morning but,
unsurprisingly I can’t access the Internet this morning. I had hoped to post
this today, but I’ll have to wait until we’re nearer to human habitation, which
should be Wheaton Aston later this morning. This WiFi unit is just as useless
as the dongle although, when we’re in a strong signal area it does download
faster.
Saturday 27th
April
Well, another weekend is upon us and still I can’t post this
blog. We’re at Wheaton Aston, by no means a small town as the walk to the Post
Office and Spar shop is quite a stretch, but we are still unable to get online.
I can’t even download emails from here. Sometimes, if I’m very lucky and even
if I don’t have Internet access, I can still download my emails, but not today.
There are times when this new WiFi unit sucks!
This morning we will top up with diesel and move on to
Gnosall where, I hope, we’ll have a good signal. If not then we’ll have to take
the bus into Stafford for Wifey to do some banking.
Sunday 28th April
We were first at the garage in Wheaton Aston yesterday
morning and topped up with diesel. We were away by 8.15 and, after a very cold
and windy 5 miles, arrived at Gnosall by 10.30.
Our immediate concern after arriving here was to see if we
had Internet. Last time we passed through here we still had the dongle, which
gave us only 4 bars of signal strength. This time, with the WiFi we have ‘Excellent’
signal strength, so Wifey could sort out her banking.
Well, I now have 7 pages of blurb so I guess I’d better post
this.
All the best for now.
Dave, Sheila and Rusty.
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