Narrowboat Vegvisir

Festival complete, our voyage continues. Our future base is at Nuneaton, so we are unlikely to return to these waters any time soon. It was a beautiful morning, of course, with the bank holiday over. From Norbury we cruised to Gnosall to top up our water tank. From there down to Brewood for some shopping and an overnight stop.  The South Shroppie is dead straight, striding over embankment and through cuttings with barely a need to move the tiller. And fairly quiet, not many boats on the move. Those we did meet, inevitably,  were at bridge holes. The right of way belongs to whoever is nearest, so there is always this weird dance 80 yards apart, as each boat tries to work out who hangs back and who pushes through. The day was sunny but cold, so we pushed on through, looking forward to soup, hot showers, and a siesta to warm us up. By early afternoon we were almost there And then through the stop lock and onto the Staffo...

Thursday dawned beautifully sunny, and since the forecast was not so good for Friday, we decided against a day off exploring Market Drayton in favour of getting down to Norbury Junction to find our allotted mooring. We're the IWA Support Boat, don't you know. Tyrley locks are always picturesque  despite their notoriously fierce bywashes. Even Woodseaves was doing its gloomy best.. it is a very deep, heavily wooded cutting, shallow and narrow. And i was at the tiller so could not take time to find a pretty view. But we did snap local celebrity, Henry the Heron. A quiet afternoon on board, very much the calm before the storm. Friday 1st May - set up Display stand, banner, A frame, teardrop banners, tables, literature, bric a brac, you name it, everything turned up in the back of a car.  Except for extras, which are always legion.. to display a jumper, a hanger from on board.. a bit of wire to display a watercolour.. a bolt to replace a missing one.. each ...

The final break made with our landlords at Nantwich marina, spare keys handed back, refund off the electric meter, and away. No rain but a cold north easterly wind, and 14 locks to get through.   As is our usual practice, we take turns, 7 locks each.  The cooler temperature made lock working quite pleasant,  but standing at the tiller can get chilly. The  wind also gave Andrew pause for thought when stopping at Overwater Marina to take on diesel and pump out our black water tank .. an expensive but necessary call.. So after 5 hours cruising we were glad to stop by a sheltering hedge at Cox Bank above Audlem for the night. Wednesday morning, still windy but much  milder with a completely blue sky. We had seen steam tug Tixall and dumb barge (no engine) Kessel go by the previous evening and soon caught  up with them at Adderley locks.  Tixall had gone up the flight of 5 and were bowhauling Kessel.. a slow process. Another boat cau...

First evening on board for this year's voyage, and our last for the foreseeable future at Nantwich,  which has been our home mooring for 14 years. I have no idea why this photo has gone in upside down. Hopefully sorted by next time Tomorrow we head south down the Shroppie and towards new waters. From the look of the sky, in waterproofs.

Started the morning gently as Anna due with her big sister Ruth at 11am. Soon started kicking myself for not saying half ten, because she's prone to having disasters and therefore arriving late. Today was no exception as she forgot her phone with the directions on! Only 30 minutes late in the end. Here I need to apologise as so much yakking went on I forgot to take photos... As they arrived, yoo-hooing across the water, a boat was about to go into the double lock, so I hailed them, to ask if they would hold for a moment while I joined them  (relax, I had done my engine checks at 11am in the expectation of moving). They obliged so I slipped in with them while Anna navigated her way, from the housing estate in which they were ensnared, around to the lockside where they could more easily come aboard. It was Ruth's first time on a narrowboat, although both go yachting, so we had the Grand tour as we brought their things on board. Which included vast amounts of food, so I hardly nee...