Sunday, 20 June 2021

Norbury Junction to Gnosall - Shropshire Union Canal

 Friday 18th June

We had a nice few days at Norbury, going out for walks, sitting in the sun and having lunch in the pub which was really nice, but time to move on today.

                                            
We are just going to Gnosall a couple of miles down the canal.  This is a really nice village with a great local shop called The Bakery which sells everything and always has lots of bargains.  Also our friends John, Sharon and Smugs have moved to Gnosall and we have been invited to their new house for a meal this evening so that will be nice.

It was a dry morning but not very sunny.  We untied and went under the bridge, past the pub and the cafe and stopped in the services to get water, get rid of rubbish etc.

                                                       
 Once that was all done, we set off along the  canal, along the Shelmore Embankment which is a mile long and has flood gates at each end, to close off the channel in case of a breach.  These were closed each night during World War II as a precaution against bombing.

On along the canal we went and past Shelmore Wood with lots of trees overhanging the canal.

                                          
 We went under a couple of bridges and then was approaching Gnosall.  We went under the old railway bridge and moored up in the moorings before the water point.

In the afternoon, we walked into the village and went in the Coop and The Bakery to get a few supplies.  In the evening we walked to John and Sharon’s house that is on the canal and they can moor their boat at the end of their garden.  It was nice to see the three of them and after we had a guided tour of their gaff, we had a lovely evening having drinkies and food which was delicious, it was great to catch up and I am sure we will see lots more of them while we are here in Gnosall.

                                                      

We are staying here for a few days.  Tomorrow (Saturday) we are getting the bus to Newport which is about a 20 minute bus ride, we haven’t been on a bus since about last September but hopefully it won’t be busy and it will be fine.  Monday we will be getting the bus to Stafford to do a food shop and on Tuesday I am finally having my hair cut so really looking forward to that.

                                                                       
Then we will be ready to head on.  We were just going down the canal to Brewood then turning around and heading back here to Gnosall for a festival the weekend of 16th July to trade in the floating market, but due to the final step of the Government road map being delayed, the festival has been cancelled for the second year running, fingers crossed it will be third time lucky next year, but who knows!

So now we have decided to carry on and do the four counties ring which will take us through Staffordshire, West Midlands, Shropshire and Cheshire.  We haven’t done this ring for some time so will be nice to visit different places again.




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