Norbury Junction to Gnosall - Shropshire Union Canal

Thursday 24^th to Friday 25^th October

Stop Gate

Thursday – We are meeting our friend Jane today at the Junction Inn for lunch. We walked up to meet her in the car park and when she drove in, she had a passenger, it was her husband Malcolm, we were surprised to see him as we thought he would be working but he had pulled a muscle in his neck which was very painful and he couldn’t move his head and as he drives a tractor he can’t work at the moment, it was lovely to see him and Jane and it was a lovely afternoon with excellent food and great company.

Shelmore Embankment

Coming to a Bridge

Friday – We are on the move today only about two miles to Gnosall but we wanted to go early to beat the rain that is forecast so we set off just after 9am in the dry although it was quite damp and overcast.

Line of Ducks

We chugged along Shelmore Embankment which has stop gates at each end and past Shelmore Wood.

Nice Views

We went under a couple of bridges.  The canal was very quiet today and hardly any boats were moving, we had the canal to ourselves.

Another Bridge

Soon we were approaching Gnosall and went under the old railway line which is now a walking trail and moored up before the next bridge just as it was starting to rain.

We went for a walk up into the village in the rain but it wasn’t too heavy.  There is a pub up in the village called The Horns which when we were last here wasn’t open but today it was so we went in for a drink.

Lots of Trees Here

Mile Marker

Going under the old railway line

Moored at Gnosall

The Landlord was very friendly and said it had only been open three months, it was very nice inside and also very clean. There is a picture on the wall telling the origins of the Horns Inn which basically says that Humphrey Bannister and his father were servants to Stafford, Duke of Buckingham.  The Duke  rebelled against Richard III, the rebellion failed and Richard III offered £1000 to anyone who would turn him in.  Bannister dobbed him in and the Duke was beheaded but Bannister never got the reward as he was deemed a traitor

Bannister then came to Gnosall where he kept a pot house and called it The Horns.  He continued here for a few years and then was publicly executed at Stafford for manslaughter.  An interesting piece of history.

Picture in the Pub

We then walked back to the boat.  We are staying here now for a few days as we are off back to Bristol on Monday for my nephew’s wife Narissa's funeral.  Unfortunately she lost her battle with cancer but she was so brave and such a wonderful person and fought right to the end, she will be greatly missed but always remembered. When we come back, we will move onto Wheaton Aston, a few miles down the canal, where we started our trip back in April.

We have had a lovely trip this year, we especially enjoyed the Llangollen and Montgomery canals and always enjoy the Shroppie.  We have covered three Counties, Staffordshire, Shropshire and Cheshire and we crossed into Wales over the Chirk Aqueduct.  In total we did 203 miles, 119 locks and 19 lift bridges.

Lovely Harry

Ruth and Peter

We managed to meet up with our Audlem family, Jane, Malcolm, Dave, Anthea, Sheila and Tony, Harry and Brock lots of times this year which was great.  I had my 60^th birthday and they helped me celebrate.

We did some dog sitting for friends, we had Smuggler to stay for a month and Harry for a couple of weeks and we thoroughly enjoyed them both staying. 

Jess

Rosslyn, Michael & Griffin

We met up with friends Ruth and Peter who we know from the G&S and also Martyn also from there and met John, Sharon and Smugs in Nantwich and spent a couple of days together before going our separate ways. We made new friends Paul and Jess.

Kev's cousin Lorne and hubby Trevor visited us and we had a lovely evening with them catching up as Kev had not seen her for a long time.  Another of Kev's cousins Rosslyn, hubby Michael and Border Collie Griffin came up for a week and stayed in Overwater Marina in the caravan park and we had a great week with them touring the area by car and also a couple of day trips on our boat.

John, Sharon & Smugs

Audlem Family

Lovely Smugs

Kev's Wares

We experienced the wonderful but terrifying Pontcysyllte Aqueduct and felt like we were floating in the sky! We found new places to visit, lots of cafes, pubs and farm shops.  The weather wasn’t so good this year but it didn’t stop us getting out and about.

Going over the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct

Our Advertising Boards

We are now going to be staying on the Staffordshire & Worcestershire canal and part of the Shropshire Union canal for the Winter, the same area as the last two Winters as it has worked really well for us.  I am working in Bristol again in the week over the Winter and Kev will spend his time chugging around and staying put for a few days doing jobs and making stock for the floating markets we intend to do next year as we are now official Roving Traders called Gordanneus Crafts making personalised wooden names, photo frames, wall art, animal silhouettes and lots of other things so that should keep him busy over the Winter!

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 of the UK next year and hope you follow us then.

Kev & Sheila

xx