Reaching the Summit of the Staffs & Worcs

Our rural mooring was nice and quiet with plenty of open paddocks although being on the Four Counties Ring makes for quite a few boat movements usually from early in the morning to later a night. The last boat passed us around 9pm although it was still light...just.

Friday wasn't a difficult day with only four locks to do on our four hour trip to Penkridge. We stopped en-route at Midland Chandlers to do a little shopping for the boat, maintaining the paintwork is always a priority. Our traveling companions, Michael and Silvie also had some boat shopping to do, paint for them as well. Rachael gravitated to the new appliances section, I can feel a kitchen renovation coming on!

Two locks and one hours travel and we were mooring in the small town of Penkridge around 3pm. We had passed The Boat Inn only 100 metres down the canal so once moored up it was back to the pub for a pint or two. It began pouring rain while we were at the pub so we made a point of waiting until it had eased!

Today (Saturday) has been overcast all the way but the rain has stayed away for our six lock trek to Gailey Wharf. Once again there was an abundance of boats coming down the canal, we seemed to be the only two boats going up which made for a reasonably quick trip through the locks with extra hands to operate the locks. It was a two and half hour trip, stopping at Gailey for lunch at midday. Gailey Lock is the summit of the Staffs & Worcs Canal so no locks for a while from here.

Ready to move into Gailey Lock

Upon reaching Gailey the most significant feature is 'The Round House' previously a toll clerk's office.

The Round House in the background

We cruised on after lunch for a short while, once again opting for a rural mooring just beyond Bridge 76.