Friday 23rd May to
Saturday 31st May
Saturday 24th May
Today we’re in Penkridge,
having travelled the five miles and four locks from Weeping Cross yesterday
morning, despite the threat of rain. We were expecting really nasty weather
this morning, but it’s now dry. Anyway, we’re here now and we do plan on
visiting the market this morning.
The one thing that stands out
as different from recent years is the amount of boats moored at some places,
where they would not normally have been. Weeping Cross had just the one space
when we arrived there on Wednesday, but we put that down to our late arrival.
However, when we arrived here at Penkridge at 10.30 yesterday, once again we
were lucky to find a spot. Had the two boats that we followed here not decided
to keep going then we would not have been able to stay.
Just ahead of us is a lock,
which leads to much more open aspect moorings but, when Wifey went off to have
her hair cut, she noticed that all spaces were taken up there too. This is most
unusual and quite worrying.
Sunday 25th May
We walked into town yesterday
morning and paid a visit to the market, where we bought a few bits of food,
such as cheese and a bacon joint. We then called in at the local Co-op for the
rest of our stuff.
The good news is, that
there’s a Dentist here in Penkride. The bad news is that they are closed at
weekends and Bank Holidays and we’ll be gone from here tomorrow. Not sure where
the next one will be but, if this darned loose tooth would just fall out, I
wouldn’t need one.
We were intending to take a
walk around the nearby park home site, but the weather has put a stop to that
and besides, we’ve still got lots of paintwork to repair, so we’re in no
position to sell up and buy one just yet. I suppose it must be the boredom of
sitting around in a marina during the winter months, which gets us thinking
about a move. But, once we’re out on the cut and visiting all these different
towns and villages, we’re both much happier bunnies. The pace of life is so
slow and relaxing when cruising; as it is in the marina; but cruising is not so
boring.
Monday 26th May
After a peaceful weekend
we’ll be off to Gailey this morning. We’ve had plenty of rain these past few
days, but the sky is clear this morning. Trouble is, it’s not yet 6 am so, by
the time we’re set to leave, anything could happen. We have six locks and about
four miles to go, which will take the better part of 3 hours.
We popped into The Boat
yesterday lunchtime and it no longer even looks like a pub, more like a Bar cum
Restaurant. The layout is all wrong too; no longer do they have proper pub
seating, just a scattering of tables with armchairs. The décor also leaves
something to be desired, battleship grey and white walls and, in the bar, only
one item on one wall, a sign that states, ‘A meal without wine is called
breakfast’, how droll.
So, having consumed one pint
of Stella, and having no wish to deny myself the second, we walked into town to
The Star, much better, a proper pub with proper seating and sensible décor,
Sunday lunch for only £5.99. I know where we’ll be dining when we return this
way.
Tuesday 27th May
Yesterday morning we intended
to go through to Gailey; just six locks and about 3 miles away but, as we came
through Bloggs Lock, the moorings there looked so peaceful that we decided to
pull in. Sometimes, even though we stop at the same places most of the time,
it’s nice to have a change of scenery.
We watched Pointless in the
evening, as we do most days, but were disappointed in their use of Martin
McGuinness in their question about Favourite Martins. Surely there are a few
more Famous Martins out there, rather than resorting to a still living
murdering thug. What happened to common decency? There must be hundreds of
people out there; both here and in Northern Ireland; who watch this show and
will be similarly outraged and, sadly, be reminded of their lost loved ones.
I’ve actually been onto the
BBC website but, not only are we not able to contact the presenters of the
show, Alexander Armstrong and Richard Osman, but in order to contact the BBC
it’s necessary to sign up for an account. Bah!!
Now, since we topped up with
water and disposed of rubbish yesterday morning, it won’t be necessary to stop
at Gailey for those chores. Instead we’ll be able to go on to Cross Green,
another of our usual stops.
Wednesday 28th May
Despite warnings from
forecasters that we would have rain yesterday morning, we still spent about 40
minutes walking to the shops and back with no sign of it. The rain didn’t turn
up until much later in the day, and then it was only slight. Last night and
this morning however, a totally different story, buckets of the stuff. This is
a pity because we want to take the bus into Wolverhampton this morning.
I don’t know why, but I’m
having a wee problem getting into my jeans. Last time I wore them I had no
trouble at all, nice and snug around the waist. However, I obviously need to
lose some puppy fat from around my waist but, in the meantime I’m wearing those
lightweight trousers that have umpteen pockets, all down the legs and such.
Cargo pants, I think the Yanks call them, which have elasticated waistbands.
Talking about which, we
walked around the market at Penkridge on Saturday and spotted a stall that
sells these things. But they don’t have proper sizes on them. They now go by
small, medium, large, extra-large, etc. So, since there was nowhere to try them
on; except inside the trader’s van; no sale. What’s going on in the Rag Trade
these days? Is it because these trousers have elasticated waistbands? Perhaps
I’ll find what I want in Wolverhampton today, assuming we get there what with
this weather and all.
Thursday 29th May
It’s really chucking it down
this morning and I’m hoping it stops before we get going. We’ve been here at Cross
Green for two days so far and we want to be in Wheaton Aston for the weekend.
With just one stop in the middle of nowhere in between, we really do need to
move on today.
We took the bus into
Wolverhampton yesterday and wondered why we bothered. The town centre is much
like any other big town or city, clothing shops, fast food, banks and not much
else. There’s not one really useful shop in these places, except perhaps
Gregg’s and other bakeries. And yet, there always seems to be masses of people
shopping there!! Confused.com.?
Friday 30th May
Once again we made it to our
next stop without getting wet, well, apart from a little drizzle. We’re now on
the Shropshire Union canal between bridges 7 and 8 and, compared with other
years, these moorings are a mess. It’s not like the Shropshire Union Canal
Society to let these moorings become so overgrown. Although, Wifey reckons she
remembers having to lift Rusty over the long grass last year. However, when we
came through Autherlry Junction lock, it soon became apparent that nothing was
being done to tidy up the towpath. There are a couple of stretches of the
Shroppie that look as though they narrow down to just one boats width, but it’s
only where the foliage on both sides is encroaching on the canal. Take that
away; as they should be doing; and there’s a big difference.
Today we’ll leave later than
usual because we’re only going a couple of miles to Brewood, and we want to
leave enough time for late starters to leave us a space. It’s not that we need
much at Brewood, except perhaps some of the really great bread pudding from the
local bakery. It’s just that we don’t want to be in Wheaton Aston until
Saturday morning. The moorings there are only 48 hours and we want to top up
with diesel on Monday morning. There’s a garage by the side of the canal; only
higher up at road level; but they do have a pipeline down to the canal, through
which they supply red diesel and, at about 78p per litre, they’re just about
the cheapest on the cut. We could save as much as £20 there because we have
about 150 litres to put in.
Saturday 31st May
For those of you who know
nothing about our Inland Waterways, there are many private landowners;
especially farmers; who rent out their canal side land to boaters. On our way
here to Wheaton Aston yesterday morning we passed such a place and, in amongst
the line of canal boats was the smallest one we had ever seen. Sadly Wifey didn’t
have her camera with her, so I can’t include a photo here. Let’s just say that
the boat in question was much lower in height, no more than 15ft in length and
nowhere near the 7ft 10inches in width. We’ve seen short boats and some normal
boats that sit low in the water, but this tiddly thing really took the
biscuit!!
Actually, we didn’t intend
coming all the way through to Wheaton Aston yesterday. We were going to stay at
Brewood, but the moorings there are pretty dark and dismal, besides which the
towpath there is prone to mud after even a short spell of rain. So, we walked
into the village for essential shopping and then came on to Wheaton Aston.
Sadly no bread pudding this time.
Had we stayed at Brewood,
then we would have spent the weekend here. Instead we’ll top up with diesel,
buy a couple of bags of coal and wend our merry way to Gnosall Heath. The
moorings there are also 48 hour, but we’re going to chance our arm and take the
bus into Telford on Monday morning.
And that’s it for this time.
Take care and have a great
weekend.
Dave and Sheila
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