Below Lock 11 to Below Audlem Locks - Shropshire Union Canal

 Friday 30th April

We have had a nice few days moored below lock 11 and the weather has been kind.  We have been out and about walking, catching a bus to Nantwich and going to Market Drayton for the market with our friend Jane.

                                       

                                               

Today we are moving down four locks to take our place ready for the floating market this weekend.

We set off from our mooring to lock no. 12 and it was a lovely sunny morning. The lock was empty so I filled it up and opened the gate and Kev came in with the boat.  We were soon down the lock so I opened the gates and Kev went out, under the bridge and onto the services which are next to the Shroppie Fly pub.  We moored up and filled up with water and got rid of our rubbish.

When we were done, I went and set lock 13 for us.  These locks are not very deep so we were soon onto lock 14.  Unfortunately all the locks were against us today so I had to fill this one as well before I could open the gate and Kev could bring the boat in.

                                

                                      

We didn’t take long to go down the lock and then we were on to our last lock and the bottom lock in this flight of 15 locks.

There was two Canal and River Trust people doing some work at this lock so one of them helped with the gates. 

                                                                                  

Most of the other traders were already in their places, so we chugged past them to our spot, no. 8 of 10 boats. We moored up okay and we have a lovely open spot overlooking Moss Hall and a little pond and the infant River Weaver.

We will be staying here until next Tuesday or Wednesday then we will move on towards Nantwich.  The market is on tomorrow, Sunday and Monday so fingers crossed the sun will shine so we get lots of people come to see us and hopefully make lots of sales.

Audlem Top to Below Lock 11 - Shropshire Union Canal

 Friday 23^rd April

We had a lovely few days where we were moored. We walked up to the stall at the top of the locks a couple of times for an ice cream and walked into the village and met Jane and Harry.  We were going to go to the cafe for coffee and cake but it was closed so we had to go to the pub instead, well what else could we do!  We all had pizzas and they were delicious. We sat out in the sunshine a few times and chatted to passers by and even sold a couple of things.

                     

     

Today we are off down nine locks.  We had a message last night to say that the flight would be closed from 7am to 12 noon to repair a broken paddle on the bottom lock, but as we aren’t going all the way down this didn’t really affect us. 

As we were getting ready to leave, a chap from the Canal and River Trust went past to the lock so I walked down to check with him it was okay to go down.  He said the repair was all done, they had started early and took them a couple hours, they must have been up with the lark as he said it was fixed by 7am!  He then said he had to go back down the flight to his van and had to check the water levels on the way so he would come down with us and help with the locks, our lucky day I think.

                                                    

The CRT chaps name was Terry from Bury and really friendly.  We set the top lock and opened the gate and Kev brought the boat in.  Kev usually gets off and shuts the gate and opens the offside paddle but Terry did it all.  It was a bit like a Benny Hill sketch as when Kev had gone out of the lock, me and Terry shut the gates and Terry came across.  By the time I had stepped down onto the towpath Terry was halfway to the next lock so I was like a little dog running to catch him up, by the time I got to the next lock he had done most of it!  Kev said it looked very funny and he wished he had videoed it!

                                    

                                                                  

      It was an enjoyable trip down the locks and we had a good chat to Terry on the way.  We flew down the locks due to him and we left the boat following us way behind.

It was a glorious sunny warm morning, perfect for doing lots of locks.

After about an hour we were at lock 11, our last lock for today and was soon mooring up between locks 11 and 12.  We then said bye to Terry and thanked him very much.  He said he enjoyed it, much better than being in the office.

                                                                                  

                                                                                                             

We had lunch then in the afternoon, we walked up to see our friends Sheila, Tony and Brock and had a lovely afternoon sat in their garden chatting, drinking tea and eating cake and the we had a couple of cheeky gins and very nice they were too!

We are staying here now for a while as for the May Bank holiday we are attending the floating market at the bottom of the locks so we will stay in this spot as it is nice and sunny and do some trading over the weekend and then make our way next week down the locks to the moorings where the market is being held.

Adderley to Audlem Top (between locks 2 and 3) - Shropshire Union

 Monday 19^th April

We had a lovely few days at Adderley and the weather was really nice so we sat outside a lot.  On Sunday we went to our friends house for lunch and sat outside in their garden, we had a lovely afternoon eating, drinking and catching up.

     

Today we are on the move just a mile or so which will bring us to the top of the Audlem flight.  We are just going down locks 1 and 2 and mooring before lock 3, it is a really lovely mooring spot.

The sun was shining and it was a glorious morning as we set off from our mooring.  We chugged along going under a few bridges and then came to a wooded section.  We went on along there and then was approaching the top lock of the Audlem flight.

                                      

  There was a boat in front of us so we had to wait for them to go down the lock.  At the top lock there is a house which sells home made cakes and cream teas and sometimes loaves of bread.  Yesterday when we walked by there we chatted to the lady there and she said she would make us a loaf of bread and we could pick it up when we were passing tomorrow morning.

                                           

              

We picked up a cream tea and saw the lady but she had forgotten to make our bread, we said not to worry but she said she would make us some this morning and asked where we would be moored.  We said below the next lock and she said she would drop it down to us later, how kind was that.  

           

                                                             

                                   

We filled the lock and opened the gates and Kev took the boat in.  We were soon down the lock and on to the next one.

There was a boat coming up the next lock so once they were up and out of the lock, in we went.  We shut the gate and opened the paddles to empty the lock.  Once empty, I opened the gates and Kev went out of the lock and chugged onto the moorings while I shut the gates and walked down to where we were going to moor.

There was only a couple of boats there so plenty of room for us and we got our favourite spot near a bench with a nice view over the fields.

                                                

                                      

We moored up, had lunch then in the afternoon we had a walk down the locks.  We went in The Mill craft shop and got an ice cream and sat in the lovely warm sunshine by the canal.

We then walked back up the locks to the boat.  There were only a couple of boats going up the locks, the canal still seems very quiet, we thought it might be busier now boating has resumed again but we aren’t complaining as it’s always nicer when it’s quieter.

The lady from the house at the top of the locks had brought our bread and left it in the back.  There was two Focaccia loaves, one white and one brown, how nice was that and I can say they both tasted lovely because of course we had to try them straight away.

                                     

                                     

We then had our scones, jam and cream we bought from the stall at the top lock this morning and that was delicious as well.

Later on in the afternoon, our friend Jane and little Harry walked up to see us so we all had a cup of tea together and a nice chat.  We will see Jane later in the week when we venture into the village.

We are staying here now for a few days then on Friday will go down a few more locks and moor up a bit closer to the village.

Market Drayton to Adderley below Locks (Shropshire Union Canal)

 

Thursday 15^th April 

We are finally on the move today after spending the last five and a half months in Market Drayton due to lockdowns and restrictions.  It is a lovely friendly town and we have made some good friends, Sue, Steve and Monty the Westie, Ray, Iris and Bella the Jack Russell, John, Irene and Lacy the Staffy and Penny and Sally the Lurcher, it was sad saying goodbye but we will all keep in touch and we will be back in Market Drayton at the end of May so we will look forward to seeing everyone again then. We feel quite sad leaving today as we have got used to being here and having Lacey, Monty and Bella turn up everyday for treats and have started to feel like locals, also we have got used to having the shops nearby so could go down for anything we needed and now we will have to start planning again to get to shops, etc., but we are looking forward to going to pastures new now we are allowed to move again.

  

      

We untied and went across to the boatyard, Talbot Wharf to get diesel.  Tim and Lisa who run the boatyard have been so friendly and helpful and we would definitely recommend them if you need anything boat related. We had a nice chat to them and also Geoff who moors there.  We then said our goodbyes and headed off under the bridge leaving our lockdown spot behind us. 

                                            

We were soon going under the A53 and leaving Market Drayton behind us.  The sun was shining as we chugged along passing a long line of moored boats and going under a few bridges.

     

There was a heron on the towpath and everytime we got close, he flew in front of us I think he was guiding us probably as we haven’t moved for so long he thought we might need him to show us the way!

We passed a couple of boats coming the other way but the canal was much quieter than we thought it would be. 

We then came to turnover bridge which takes the towpath from one side to the other.       

We went on then we were approaching Adderley locks.  There are five locks in this flight.

                      

            

The gate was open so we went straight into the lock. Kev got off and shut the gates, we then went to the bottom gates and opened the paddles to empty the lock.  There was a boat coming up the next lock so we left he gates open for them.

We were soon through the next lock and onto number three.  There was a chap walking his dog so he helped with a couple of the gates so that was nice of him.

                                                                                                                       

As a boat had come up, all the locks were set for us so that made life easy.

We went through locks 3 and 4 and then we were at lock 5, we were soon through there and while I closed the gates Kev chugged on to the moorings below the locks.  There was only two boats there so plenty of room for us.

We moored up and then had some lunch. We enjoyed our cruise today, it was lovely moving along again and doing some locks and especially nice as the sun was shining.

 We are now going to stay here for a few days then at the beginning of next week we will move on to Audlem.