15 June

We beat everybody up today. By 6AM we had completed our first lock. We had breakfast in Penkridge around 8AM and Lynette had knocked off five locks to get there.

Then we went for a walk into the centre of the village. It was quite a pleasant little village but there was litter all over the place. One of the locals told us that the local council had run out of money and had cut the litter collection. We'd better not tell Len Brown because he'd be bound to do the same in Auckland. Lynette popped into a supermarket to get a plastic bag and had it half full by the time we had arrived back at the boat, about half a mile from the supermarket.

Lynette and Sue bought a couple of kid's fishing nets in Stone. These are to pick up some of the junk that is floating in the canals. Today was the first time that Lynette managed to use the net successfully. She fished a bottle out of the Otherton lock and snagged a couple of other bits from the boat as we were moving along.

It was another six locks and then we stopped in Gailey at the Roundhouse Canal Shop to look at some of the canal trinkets. It was now midday and we had about 15 miles to complete the day on schedule. Two locks had gates which Lynette found very difficult to move. Where was Sue!!!!!

On the way we had come across three Kiwi boats. The Kiwi Dragon was at Penkridge (NZ & Wales), and Jim could only wave to them as we couldn't stop. The Whaka Nui No2 met us coming out of a bridge so we could only say “Gidday”. A couple from the Waitakares (how you could not miss his Whangamomona t shirts) were on Musn Grumble and are cruising the canals for six months. What surprised us was that they never had a map. They did buy one at the Roundhouse at Gailey when we met up with them again there.

We have seen moored boats with signs advertising that they would sweep chimneys, paint on commission, serve light breakfasts and lunches and the last one today was selling brass Tiller Pins, the pins that hold the tiller to the rudder post.

We came across a section marked on the map as “Narrows”. This was basically a length of one lane canal with passing lanes in a few spots and of course, we met a couple of boats coming at us. We stopped for one and another stopped for us.

Then we came to Autherley Junction. This is the furtherest we would be from our start point in Anderton. Most of the first week was going down the Trent and Mersey canal. Over the weekend and today we were on the Staffordshire and Worcester canal and today we turned north into the Shropshire Union canal. As for the four counties, we started out in Cheshire, then went into Staffordshire, and touched the west Midlands at Autherley Junction, before going into Shropshire.

We had five miles to go from Autherley Junction to Brewood (pronounced “brood”.) We managed to complete it in time to watch The Chase on ITV. Our tally for the day was 19 miles and 12 locks.

Housework also featured today with Lynette hand washing and hanging it outside the doors to the bow section and Jim doing the vacuuming.

On the way up, we had another couple of “narrows,” but they were not as bad as the ones we encountered earlier and there was no traffic coming towards us. There was also a spot near a bridge that was impeded by the remains of a cabin cruiser in a rather sad state. We aren't sure what happened but it certainly won't be cruising anywhere in the near future.

In Brewood, we managed to find a spot near the Bridge Inn and were lucky as someone had just moved out. Lynette looked from the bridge later and there were narrow boats lined up as far as you could see on both sides of the bridge. Dinner at the Bridge Inn and then an early night.

The weather was up and down, but never rained. It was a brilliant blue sky start, but clouded over later, then we played “Coats off, Coats on again,” with the sun as we got to 20C and then sunk to 14C.

No internet or cellphone coverage here on the canal so Jim cannot download the photos and send this off tonight.

There's not much room when the boat is in the canal.  Only just over six inches on either side

The most common plants on the side of the canal are stinging nettles and blackberry

Penkridge High St

This was probably a coach house.  The big door would have given access for horses and carriages.

The morning mist on the canal

Some houses on the canal have fancy gardens

Morning reflections can be great on a still canal

The solution to Auckland's housing crisis could be bunches of trailer homes.

A heron taking an interest in us

A large hawk in someone's garden

A Penkridge pub

A little boat only 20' long

A permanent mooring with his own trees

The moles were busy overnight

An old lock keeper's house, now a canal store

Thee two containers can be found near bridges.  They contain planks that are about 12 feet long and three inches thick.  Oak probably.  If the canal loses water due to something like a breach or subsidence, then they put these planks across the narrow part of the bridge and block the canal.  Saves the canal from totally emptying.

The narrowing under a bridge

Some art ideas for Pauline 

A moor hen

The navvies dug the canal through rock like this with a pick and shovel and gunpowder 

There's lots of Canada geese about and they have large families

A sad cabin cruiser 

Our ideal boat name.  Are those NZ ferns? 

Some landowners demanded tall bridges going onto their estates.