A few days at The Anchor and then moving onto Bridge 47 - Shropshire Union Canal

Monday 22^nd to Wednesday 24^th April

High Offley Church

Monday – We did a few jobs in the morning then went out for a walk up to the church, it’s up a hill and the views are great from the church yard.

Lovely views from up here

The church was open, so we went inside. It’s quite small but very nice and has pews which is always nice to see as these days a lot of churches have chairs so they can use the space for other activities.

Inside the Church

We then walked back down another lane which brought us back to canal not far from where we are moored.  We walked up to see if the pub was still open and it was so we got a Cider and sat in the garden in the sunshine.

Bethsaida Covers

Heron on opposite bank

Chaffinch on the feeder

Tuesday – We stayed put again and walked up to Shebdon Wharf where Bethsaida Covers is located.  We are thinking of getting new covers for our boat as the ones we have are nine years old now and need replacing.  We went over to see if Tony was there and he was, so we had a chat with him and got a price and he also showed us the different fabrics he uses.  His wife came out and offered us a cold drink so that was nice.  We then walked back to our boat armed with a piece of fabric so we could see what it would look like as we are thinking of going for black covers this time.

Passing Martyn & The Anchor pub

Going by the many moored boats

Today (Wednesday) we are on the move just a couple of miles.  Before we set off a Heron came on the bank opposite, he was really big but didn't catch any fish.

Stop Gate At beginning of Shebdon Embankment

We set off along the canal, past the many moored boats and came to Shebdon Embankment which has stop gates at both ends. 

More moored boats

Chugging along Shebdon Embankment

Passing Bethsaida Covers

We passed Bethsaida Covers and on we went along the embankment.  At the end is the old Cadburys factory where they used to make chocolate crumb for the Bournville factory and transport it by narrow boat.  It is now owned by Knighton Foods and they make many dried milk products including Birds custard powder, Cadbury Highlights, Hartley’s jelly sachets and Angel Delight to name a few. 

Two more bridges

The old Cadbury Factory

Moorhen babies

We chugged on past there under a couple more bridges and moored up just past bridge 47 in some visitor moorings provided by the Shropshire Union Canal Society.

Mum & Babies

We haven't been near any shops for a few days and don't have any bread so we made some and it turned out okay and it was edible which was good considering we haven't made bread for quite some time.

Opposite the boat there was a family of moorhens and I managed to get a few pictures although the babies kept going into the under growth.

We are staying here tonight and moving on tomorrow unless it is raining hard as the forecast says, then we will stay out and move on Friday.

Moored at Bridge 47