A Quiet Cruise on the Staffs and Worcester and the Shropshire Union.

A couple of days at Fazeley Junction allowed me to continue honing my sanding and scraping skills in preparation for more painting. It can be frustrating doing all the prep work and the painting as you move along the canal because the tow path changes from side to side, you need to have jobs going on both sides of the boat. While we were at Fazeley we managed to fit a bus trip to Birmingham in, we spent most of the day in the huge Bullring Shopping Complex, most importantly picking up Rachael's birthday gift at Selfridges.

The Bullring Shopping Complex on both sides of the mall

Passing through another Birmingham mall

The last leg of our trip on the Coventry Canal saw us arrive at a nice mooring in Fradley, just short of Fradley Junction for another two day stop for yet more prep work on the right or starboard side of Serafina. While we were there we took the chance to have a look around Fradley village where we spoke at length to the owner of the off-license/post office. She pointed us to a nice corner of the local church which contained the graves of  quite a number of WWII Australian Airmen, apparently Fradley had a military airfield right next to the canal during the war.

The RAAF section of Fradley church cemetery

We turned on to the Trent and Mersey canal at Fradley Junction continuing on our journey stopping for the night at Rugeley, with a chance for a large grocery shop with Tesco right next to the canal. We made several trips over the two hundred metres from the boat to the supermarket, the first trip was mainly bottled water in our shopping cart, it's been reasonably warm and hasn't rained since we got to the UK two months ago. The next day it was just a short run of two hours and one lock to Great Haywood for another overnight, we stopped along the way to fill the water tank.

Next morning at Great Haywood we turned off the Trent and Mersey Canal and on to the Staffs and Worcester Canal where we made it a two day trip on the S&M, only stopping at Penkridge. Early next morning, before getting underway, we strolled down to the shopping centre for the Saturday morning market. Once moving again we came across this boat moored outside a marina, trying to deter speeding boats.

It was getting close to the end of the day when we turned on to the Shropshire Union Canal at Autherley Junction. Under the bridge and into the stop lock, only one foot deep but enough to stop your boat and 200 years (or so) ago pay the toll, gauged by weight, to the canal owner.

We finished the day on a nice rural mooring just outside the village of Brewood. There ae lots of beautiful deep cuttings on the SUC, this heavily wooded cutting was no exception. Although, not so good if you are needing the solar panels, a long day for us so no such issues the batteries were fully charged.

Serafina from the bridge

Mile post at the mooring

The bridge in the photo above is much more ornate than the standard bridge on the Shropshire Union Canal. It seems that wealthy land owners required the new bridge to be a little more special in return for allowing the canal builders to build the canal on their land. I'm sure two hundred years ago it was very grand but the years have taken a toll. We took a walk next morning to see why the land owners wanted this 'special' bridge.

On top of the bridge

On top of the bridge

After walking a well defined track through woods for around two kilometres we came to the gates of Chillington Hall.

Chillington Hall is a Georgian country house built in 1724, it looked at least another kilometre away from the gates.

After our morning walk we set off again heading for Gnosall Heath, another bright sunny day. The Stretton Aqueduct carries the canal over the A5 to Holyhead and into the Saturday fishing competition. Fishermen for a few miles!

Through the 81 yard Cowley Tunnel blasted out of solid rock.

Cowley Tunnel signaled the end of our cruise for the day, mooring up a few hundred metres past the tunnel in a sheltered position away from the hot sun. It was time to lock up and have a walk around Gnosall Heath, The Boat Inn next to the canal at Gnosall early on in our walk around town.

 And further on into town was the used gypsy caravan lot.

We did a circuit and ended up on a Right of Way in a farmer's wheat field.

I did get a chance to finish a few jobs while we were moored in Gnosall. The port side hatch needed some touching up around the doors and rust repair at the base. The fairlead (rope guide) base was also badly rusted but is now ready for a new fairlead to be screwed back on.

Port side Hatch before shot (primed)

Completed Port side hatch

Fairlead base before

Fairlead base completed

 We will be on the Shropshire Union Canal for quite a few weeks, we've only started our journey.

Cruising the Oxford and Coventry Canals

Still cruising with our friends from NB Dunslavin we pulled into what were basically the last two moorings in Thrupp, it had been like this when we first came through here. Thrupp is always popular with boaters, probably because it's an easy few hours cruising to Oxford or a mooring on the Upper Thames. An interesting phenomenon while as we were getting close to Thrupp, a dozen or so birds of prey circling as we approached a farmers field. A farmer was plastic wrapping his already baled hay and as the wrapping machine lifted each bale the birds swooped in on what I assume was an abundance of field mice.

We worked our way back up the Oxford Canal with similar stops to the stops we made on the way down with a stop at Lower Heyford where we dropped off one of the passengers from NB Dunslavin to catch the train here. We also spent another couple of days in Banbury, one of our favourite moorings. By then NB Dunslavin had moved off the day before and is well ahead of us as I write. We may catch up again later on on the Staffs on Worcester Canal.

We trundled on making our way to Cropredy, met this guy along the way.

 Interestingly, as we came through the Cropredy Lock, it is the first time I have seen the Cropredy Moorings completely empty. We picked up fuel as we were coming into Fenny Compton, at the marina, before finding a mooring for the night just passed the pub. The days have been beautiful, some even quite hot and as we headed for the Napton Lock Flight it was another beautiful day so after the first three locks we pulled up at another of our favourite mooring spots near Bridge ??, it was around 1pm and that was it for the day. Later on when it cooled off a little I did get a chance to wash the boat.

We moored at another of our favourite moorings after doing the first lock on the flight. After a break I gave one side of the boat a wash but that was enough for the day.

 Sunday was another fine day as we headed off all the way to the bottom of the Napton Lock Flight. I was glad we got underway early as Kevin from Dunslavin had rung to say there was a water shortage on the lock flight and they had shut it down for half the day on Friday. The short pounds between the locks were all quite low, we bottomed out on a lock landing as the lock was emptied. It took quite a bit of pushing, shoving and rocking to get Serafina afloat again. We had planned to pickup water once at the bottom of the flight but with a queue of five boats we just headed for Braunston.

We had phoned ahead to the cratch cover repairers earlier in the week so first thing Monday it was off with the cratch cover and down to the workshop for two of the four zippers to be replaced.

Serafina, cratch cover off

It was going to be a couple of days so Rachael and I got stuck into the rust removal, sanding and painting that we had started in Lechlade.

Side doors and sill

Fairline or Cleat removed

Applying rust converter

With the cratch cover complete we headed off on a four hour cruise to Rugby, but first was a stop for water, actually we were so close to the water point I pushed Serafina across the canal and tied up on the other side. While Rachael managed the water fill I nicked into Midland Chandlers and bought two new brass fairlines to replace the old ones I removed to get at the rust underneath.

Came across this boater in a hire boat trying to wind (turn) in the shallows near Braunston where there are lots of wide points in the canal but the water depth outside the main channel is little more than 30cm. By the time we had sorted him out there were three boats waiting to get through.

A couple of days in Rugby food and clothes shopping at the retail parks next to the canal and we were off again in another fine sunny day heading for a mooring in Hartshill.  We arrived in the early afternoon and it had clouded over and was a little cooler so we headed off on a public footpath through a farmers field and up the hill to the village of Hartshill for a look around.

The village green and local pub

The start of the village

The view from the top

Back down the hill to the CRT work yard complete clock

It's just a short run to Atherstone from Hartshill where we headed down the eleven lock flight. Coming into Atherstone, the old abandon warehouse is running out of windows to be broken.

Waiting for Lock 5 on the Atherstone Flight

Bridge 47 Atherstone Flight

After a rather long day rounding Nuneaton and Tamworth we finished our day at Fazeley Junction, the junction of the Coventry and the Birmingham and Fazeley Canals. We plan to spend a few days here, tomorrow we take a bus into Birmingham.