The Plum Pudding, Armitage to Fradley Junction (top of locks) - Trent & Mersey Canal

Wednesday 15^th and Thursday 16^th July

Our Main Courses

Yum, I'm Going to Dive in There!

Yesterday (Wednesday) we stayed put and in the morning we walked up to the Butchers/Bakers shop, to get a few things. We then went to lunch at the Plum Pudding and the food was delicious as always.  We sat inside as the weather was a bit iffy, you go in the front door and they take you to a table which are all spaced out and take your details for track and trace, it was all very well done and quite relaxed.

Today (Thursday) we are moving on a few miles to Fradley Junction and have at least one lock to do.

Hope No Ones Coming!

Passing the Toilet Factory at Armitage

There are five locks at Fradley but hopefully we can moor at the top of them and save them for another day.

Under We Go

Nice Flowers on the Canal

We untied and set off along the canal going under a few bridges and passing through Handsacre where there is a canal side pub and moored boats.

Young Cygnets

Another Willow Curtain!

The canal is very busy again this morning but they all seem to be going the opposite way to us so that’s good, mind you a lot of them like hugging the centre of the canal and don’t want to move over expecting us to get into the side but that doesn’t happen anymore and Kev holds his line to the right of the centre and they have to get over or risk scrapping their shiny boats!

Coming to a Bridge

In Wood End Lock

We chugged on and then came to Kings Bromley marina.  On past there we went and then we were approaching Wood End lock.  There was a volunteer lockie on the lock and a boat just coming out so then it was our turn.  The lock is not very deep so it didn’t take long to go through there and there were three boats waiting to come up so we are going the right way today.

We went on, around a bend and then was approaching the top of the locks at Fradley Junction. There was plenty of room in the moorings at the top of the lock so we easily found a place to stop.

Lots of Trees on this Section

Baby Moorhen

In the afternoon, we walked down the locks and had a walk around the Fradley Pool Nature Reserve.  It was created as a reservoir by the Trent & Mersey Canal Company in the 1780s to store surplus water.  In recent years the nature reserve has been classified as a Site of Biological Importance for the floral composition of the woodland and pool. You can walk all the way around it and there are benches dotted around. There were lots of ducks and geese and also some very young and teenage moorhens.

Geese at the Reserve

After our walk, we stopped at the Laughing Duck café and had a coffee sat by the canal.  We then walked back up the locks to the boat.

We are staying here until Sunday then down the locks we go and onto the village of Alrewas.

Moored at Fradley Junction at top of the locks