Adderley to Norwood Junction (Tuesday 2 Sept)

Another glorious morning. Plenty of sunshine and blue sky. There are a few grey clouds about, but most of them are behind us. We set off at 7:10 and were through the five Adderley locks by 7:50. There was no one else about.

We were aiming for the coal yard just before Market Drayton. Their diesel has always been reasonable in the past and they didn’t disappoint us this time. It was 69.9p a litre, compared with at least 80p on the Trent and Mersey. We filled up – it took 178.5 litres. Then we stopped off in Market Drayton to do a spot of shopping. Market Drayton is a pretty town with many of the old buildings surviving. We always seem to miss the famous market, which is on Wednesdays.

Tyrley locks were busy with a boat coming down in each lock as we went up. This makes the flight easier as there is no hanging around. Both boats come out of the locks at the same time and cross in the pounds. Very useful on this flight as the pounds are shallow at the edge and it is easy to get stuck. Carl had to help a boat that was grounded just above the first lock as he had pulled in to wait for us to come up and he was stuck fast. Carl had to push the boat away from the side with the pole. We met an impatient boater at the top lock, they couldn’t wait for a few minutes while we came out of the lock below and they turned the lock against us, so we had to wait in the middle of the pound while they filled the lock and came down. They didn’t gain anything though because there was a boat in front of them already in the pound. All they did was waste a lock full of water.

We thought the bye washes on the Audlem flight were strong, but Tyrley’s bye washes were positively fierce. It took a great effort to get past them and into the locks without being forced into the side. We did very well; we didn’t bash the boat at all!

Woodeaves cutting is a magical place. Steep rock sides, trees growing out of them at strange angles, their branches meeting overhead in places, the sun filtering through. The canal is so narrow here that boats almost touch each other as they pass.

The kingfishers were playing with us again. We saw several of them along the stretch between Market Drayton and Norbury Junction. They sat still just long enough to get the camera ready and then took off just as the zoom and focus were right. I missed the shot every time. They are definitely camera shy.

We arrived at Norbury Junction at 3:10. We found a mooring in the sunshine and thought we would enjoy a lovely evening sitting on the towpath. Wrong! Just as we were about to get the chairs out the rain started along with thunder and lightening. It looks like it will be sunshine and showers for the rest of the evening.

At least there is a reasonable signal here for the Three dongle so I was able to post yesterday’s entry.

17 miles. 10 locks