Great Haywood (below lock) to Great Haywood Junction - Trent & Mersey Canal

Yesterday (Friday) we stayed put and got the bus to Stafford to do some shopping and also to renew our train pass as we are off back to Weston again next week and then to Plymouth for another funeral, Kev's aunt so we need the train pass to get our discount.

Leaving Our Mooring

Today, we are moving up to the junction so we untied and set off to Haywood Lock, there was a boat coming down and he was a single hander so we helped him through and then it was our turn.  This lock is not very deep so we were soon through there and we went around the corner and moored up just before the junction.

Views of Shugborough Hall

We had lunch then went for a walk up to the Spar shop in the village and popped in to the farm shop on the way back to get some bacon for our breakfast tomorrow.

Lovely Views Today

We are off into the marina on Monday where we are leaving the boat while we go back to Weston and so ends our trip for this year.

It has been really good especially with all the lovely hot dry weather.  We left Great Haywood back in April and are now back where we started.  We have covered three Counties, Staffordshire, Warwickshire and Leicestershire and done 225 miles and 102 locks.  We spent several weeks on the lovely Ashby canal which we really enjoyed, it is so rural and has many small villages and some great farm shops and tea rooms.

Coming into Haywood Lock

We met up with our friends Gerry and Honor who moor on the Gloucester & Sharpness canal and spent a great evening with them, we also met up with Pat, Patrick and Poochie on Diligent Too and spent some time with them on the Ashby, it was nice to see them again and we saw our good friends John, Sharon and Smuggler several times over the Summer, a couple of times they came by car and the other times we moored up together, it is always great to see them and spend time together.

Coming from the Lock

We had lovely little Harry the Jack Russell to stay and Sheila, Tony and Brock brought him to us and we had a lovely day with them, then when it was time for Harry to go home, his mum and dad Jane and Malcolm came to fetch him and then took us out for a fantastic meal, we had such a lovely evening with them, good food, great company and lots of gin, just perfect!

Great Haywood Junction

We are going to be staying on the Staffordshire & Worcestershire canal and part of the Shropshire Union canal for the Winter, the same area as last year as it worked out really well for us.  Hopefully I will be starting work shortly and Kev will spend the Winter chugging around and staying put for a few days and doing jobs on the boat.

 This will be our last post for a while but we will post from time to time so you can all see how we are getting on.

Thanks again for following us, it makes doing this worthwhile when we know our friends and family enjoy seeing what we are up to, we will be back travelling the canals and rivers next year and hope you follow us then.

Moored at Great Haywood Junction

 Kev & Sheila
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Wolseley Bridge to Great Haywood (below the lock) - Trent & Mersey Canal

Thursday 1^st November

We are on the move this morning, it was drizzly and overcast at first, then it cleared away and the sun came out so we set off from our mooring.

Another Bright Day

Cows by the Canal

We chugged along the canal and soon came to Colwich lock where there was a boat just going in the lock.  I got off and walked up to the lock and helped the chap.  Another boat came the other way so the boat in the lock went out and the other boat came in.

Waiting Outside The Lock

Coming into Colwich Lock

Then it was our turn  and Kev brought the boat in, I shut the gates and started filling the lock.  As I was doing this, three boats turned up to go down the lock and not one person came to help until the lock was full and I was opening the gate, never mind par for the course these days!

We came out the lock and went on our way past Little Haywood and then we were approaching Great Haywood and moored up in a nice open spot with views of Shugborough Hall.

In Colwich Lock

We had lunch then went for a walk up to the village and popped into the Spar shop then walked down to the farm shop and had a wander around there and then went in the café for a coffee and sat on the terrace by the canal as it was a sunny afternoon.

We then walked back down the canal to the boat.

We are staying moored down here for a couple of days then we will go up through the lock to the junction on Saturday.

Moored at Great Haywood