Below Shroppie Fly to Between Locks 3 and 2, Audlem - Shropshire Union Canal

Saturday 10^th to Monday 26^th October

We stayed at the bottom of the locks for a week and then moved up two locks to the moorings below the Shroppie Fly pub and stayed there and did some trading and we did quite well, we sold several things and had a couple of orders so it’s going okay. 

We visited our friends Jane, Malcolm, Sheila and Tony who live in the village and had a few lunches with Jane.  We tried the Shroppie Fly which had gone downhill over the years but have new people and are really making a go of it and our food was excellent and the service was good.  We had a couple of trips out to Nantwich and Market Drayton.

      

Today (Monday 26^th) we are moving up the locks to a nice mooring spot before the last two locks for a few days before we finally leave Audlem behind us.

It had been raining earlier but eased off to just spitty rain so we decided to go.  We untied and went through one lock and moored outside the Shroppie Fly to use the services.

By the time we had filled up with water and got rid of rubbish etc., it had brightened up and the sun was trying to come out so that was a good sign.

  

    A hire boat came up the lock so we let them go past and then we set off.  I walked up to the lock and waited for the hire boat to go out then I emptied the lock ready for us.  Kev came under the bridge and into the lock.  A boat was coming down so we left the gates open for them and went on to the next lock.

The hire boat was still in the lock and they had a chap helping them.  He told me he had been employed, I think by the hire company to give them tuition, but to me he was just doing all the lock and not instructing them.  There was three of them on the boat but he seemed to leave two of them on the boat and just one helping and they were just stood watching him and it was slow going!

  The pounds in between the locks were quite low so it was good we had a boat in front as I had to empty the lock to let us in and that lock of water filled up the pound a bit so we didn’t get stuck.

We did the next lock slowly so we would pull a gap between us and the hire boat and then we could do our usual routine.  I had to empty every lock as there were no boats coming down, it was very quiet today. I opened the gates then Kev brought the boat in and got off on the steps and he closed one gate and I closed the other, it saves me having to go back and forth over the lock.

We are doing 11 locks today so we worked our way up and after a couple of hours the end was in sight and we were at lock 3, our last lock for today.

The moorings between locks 3 and 2 were almost empty do we picked a nice spot and moored up.  It’s really nice up here with lovely views.

In the afternoon we walked up to the top lock as there is a house there that has a stall by the lock selling homemade cakes but it was empty today, but I expect as the canal is very quiet now and not many boats about she doesn’t bother this time of year, pity as it’s lovely cake and shortbread and home-made bread, we will have to wait until next year.

We walked back to the boat and within a few minutes of getting back, the heavens opened and we had a hefty shower so how lucky were we, not only did we do all the locks in the dry, we managed a walk as well and didn’t get wet at all.

We are staying here for a few days now and on Wednesday we are walking back down the locks to visit Sheila, Tony and Jane one more time before we leave Audlem and then me, Kev and Jane are going to have lunch again in the Shroppie Fly to see if its as good as it was when we went last week.