Gnosall to The Anchor (High Offley) - Shropshire Union Canal

 

Tuesday 21^st September

We had a nice few days in Gnosall in the sun shine so we did some trading which went well.  Jane and Malcolm came on Sunday afternoon to collect Harry.  It was nice to see them and we had a good catch-up.  We really enjoyed having Harry to stay and will miss him I’m sure but I expect he will visit again soon.

                                                    

We are on the move this morning about five miles. It was a nice sunny day as we set off along the canal.

We went under the bridge and past the Boat Inn and up to the water point where we pulled in to get water.  Once the tank was full, we carried on.

                                                    

 We then came to Shelmore Embankment where there are 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. 

                                                        

                                                                                                    

We went on along here and then was approaching Norbury Junction.  We stopped in the moorings to empty the loo then set off again.  This was once the outlet for the Shrewsbury, Newport and Trench branches onto the rest of the Shropshire Union canal system. There was a long flight of locks from the junction down to Newport, but these are now closed, except for the top lock which is now used as a dock.

                                                    

We passed the boat yard where there is a cafe and also passed The Junction Inn and went under the bridge and on along the canal passed lots of moored boats.

                                                     

We then came to Grubb Street cutting and passed under High Bridge which has a masonry struct, carrying a small telegraph pole, built across its tall arch.  The next bridge we came to was Double Culvert bridge which carries both a stream and a footpath.

We went on a bit further then moored up just before The Anchor pub at High Offley

                                               

Kev spent the afternoon making stock for the floating market at the weekend at Market Drayton and as it was a lovely sunny day, he was able to work outside.

We are staying here tonight then moving on in the morning