Tuesday 13 May 2014

No zull

 

After a good nights sleep on Sunday night we pulled pins at 09.30 0n Monday morning and came upon the biggest fall out we have ever seen on our travels.

to gnosall 002Just after bridge 8 on the Shropshire Union canal it goes very narrow and the boat in front of us entered the bridge ole and as it always happens there was a boat coming the other way. The approaching boat had a lady skipper and she absolutely flipped at the boat in front of us for entering the narrows while she was in them. He flipped back at her and all hell broke loose. The language they used was worse than mine , so that tells you how bad it was.

to gnosall 007                     Carolyn thought it was funny, but she did go onto the bow to make sure no other boats were in the narrows as we entered them.

to gnosall 008Bridge 10 is a very ornate balustrade bridge. When the canals were built rich landowners demanded that if the canals were going to cross their land they wanted only the best looking bridges that could be built.

to gnosall 017                                                The bridge also comes in very handy as somewhere to shelter when its raining.

to gnosall 040After an hour of cruising we arrived in Brewood and after mooring we headed off in to the village to pick up a few supplies. It has everything you need from a Spar shop ,Co-op,  Bakers , Butchers and several pubs.

to gnosall 033               No visit to a Town or village is complete without a visit to the local church and an opportunity for Carolyn to search for my final resting place.

to gnosall 046                                                                                            Our mooring in a cutting for the night at Brewood.

to gnosall 054                             On Tuesday we pulled pins at 08.30 and passed what has to be the smallest narrow boat we have ever seen.

to gnosall 065to gnosall 090

                                                                             Some more good boat names.

to gnosall 087This is how we expected the Shroppie to be except for having the worse towpaths we have ever seen. Carolyn usually likes to walk Molly and Hamish for an hour or two but there was no chance of that along here.

to gnosall 070                                                                    One of the many cuttings on The Shroppie.

to gnosall 092                                                                          The narrow approach to Cowley Tunnel

to gnosall 102                                                       And entering the Tunnel which is carved out of solid rock.

to gnosall 116                              From the northern portal,  Cowley Tunnel is only 81 yards long but there is something very special about passing through it.

to gnosall 120                                                            We picked up this mooring at 13.30 on the far side of Gnosall (pronounced No zull)

The afternoon was spent cleaning the roof on Inca. After a winter of burning coal and wood it was in a bit of a state, but after a few hours of hard scrubbing it cleaned up a treat. We rounded off the day with a walk along the the disused Stafford-Shrewsbury railway line.

                                                        Happy Days

4 comments:

  1. lblog was really good. I loved the scenery the trees and and the colours. it was very interesting. I think I would have enjoyed that trip xxxxx

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  2. Lovely photos! Looks great!! :) enjoy following the Incas trails!! Love Gabbs or as uncle Gary says... Gabberz!

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  3. Great photos. Love reading the updates from the Inca trails!

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  4. Hi Gaberz. Bet your glad to be back home in Scotland..I keep telling your mum there is a world outside of Totnes..Hope you both enjoy your camping trip .....

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