Four Counties Odyssey
Part two, getting underway.
[Like the voyage itself, this episode is fairly epic in length, and may be too long for some emails. To read the whole, please open it in your browser]
Our journey around Four Counties Ring finally got underway on the 16th of April, as we first headed west, then a little more northerly, toward Great Haywood Junction to join the Ring itself. It felt good to be at the tiller again. All went well as we glided along, taking in the sights and scents of early spring.
Things got a little more ‘interesting’ at the junction, where we were aiming to water/fuel up at the Anglo-Welsh boatyard, situated right on the junction itself. I turned west and headed under the towpath bridge, from the Trent & Mersey onto the Staffs & Worcester, hoping to find the fuelling up point just after. There was only a single boat’s diagonal mooring available among all the other moored vessels, so I reversed Jubilee back to the jetty, only to be quietly told by a member of staff that the fuelling up point wasn’t here, but back through the bridge ‘hole’ and sharp left on the other side of their premises. After smiling politely and muttering a few choice words under my breath, I started to manoeuvre back out. I had to keep facing the same way we’d arrived and reverse back as there wasn’t enough space around the moored boats and the towpath side of the canal. As you can likely imagine, not the easiest task in a 60 foot vessel - there’s effectively no proper steering in reverse. All you have is the occasional nudge with the tiller and engine in the forward direction to correct any drift before continuing in reverse.
Anyway, once there, we did eventually spot a rather dinky notice mounted on a signpost next to the jetty announcing what was available. Well, I suppose we live ‘n’ learn and will know for next time. Once we were all fuelled/watered up, we headed off west again, down the S & W. We’d only travelled a short distance when the heavens opened. Time was getting on a bit, too, so at this point we decided to moor up for the night.
The following morning we found out that Viv and Graham on Hyperion had left their boat hook behind at the yard, so had to turn around at Tixall Wide (about half a mile further on from our overnight mooring) and head back to the boatyard to collect it. This gave me time and opportunity to have a little wander along the towpath to take a preemptive look at the Wide. It turned out that it’s really just a somewhat wider section of the canal, enough turn a boat. The walk back was rather more interesting. Next to bridge 108, there grow a number of fantastic ancient trees. The vast trunk of one in particular emerged from the base of the bridge itself. If I had to guess an age I’d probably place them not long after the time the canal was cut into the landscape, trees and bridge surviving the years together. Although it was somewhat overcast day when I saw these gorgeous elders, in my heart the sun was suddenly shining.
After a mostly enjoyable day heading through Tixell Wide, Tixell Lock and beyond (apart from thoughtless dog owners, if you get my drift), we eventually moored near Penkridge Lock.
The following day was another pleasant day’s boating, eventually mooring near Gailey. That evening we treated two of the avian locals, namely a robin and blackbird, to Percy’s food cast-offs. Our parrot’s a fussy so-n-so when it comes to his food, so there was a fair selection still for the little guys. We enjoyed watching them having a good munch.
The sun shone once again for us the next morning as we headed through the narrows near Coven Heath, a steep sided channel cut through the hill that’s little wider than the boat itself. It does a good job of keeping one’s mind focussed on the job in hand so that the boat doesn’t bounce off the sides. Eventually we emerged back to relatively wide waters, before turning off the Staffs and Worcester onto the Shropshire Union Canal via a stop lock. In case you’re wondering, these were essentially used to divide one carrying company’s ‘water’ from the next. The two of us on Jubilee were on our own at this point (Hyperion being a little further back), so we managed this lock on our own (little, if any, height change in water level). I took Jubilee through the bridge ‘hole’, then Irene was able to steer the boat into the lock, where I dealt with the gates and paddles. It turned out that the ironmongery on the upper gate was in rather poor condition (not an uncommon sight). Had I remembered to lift the fenders on the boat when we’d cast off first thing, all would have been well - sadly I hadn’t. We got the rope of one completely caught up in said metalwork, never to come free again. My only option was to give the engine a hefty dose of throttle to snap the rope and free us. The fender’s probably still there, even now, dangling from it’s torn nylon sinew.
Our mooring destination for the day was Brewood, pronounced ‘Brewd’, the canal itself a deep, sloping tree covered cut into the hillside adjacent to the village. Hyperion joined us again shortly after. This was a good opportunity for a top-up shopping trip to the local Spar and Co-op, both of which, fortunately, had quite a reasonable selection of gluten-free goodies between them, unusual for a relatively small village. As we pulled in, we were offered help with the ropes from a kindly chap called Peter, living on the boat behind us. Very friendly, very knowledgable and as it turned out, very helpful...
The next morning it felt like winter had returned inside the boat - no heating! When I checked, the domestic batteries weren’t holding their charge, dropping below the point where the heating boiler would function. As soon as it was eight o’clock I fired up the engine to start charging the batteries and bring some life back into the system so we could gradually thaw out. Chatting to Peter a little later was very enlightening about onboard electrics, something I had a sketchy idea of but little more. What to do, though? Well, fortunately the guy who carried out the work on the boat earlier also answers emergency call outs. He came to our rescue, delivering and fitting a new set of batteries. All was now well with the boat - for now.
Off we went a little later that day, through Cowley Tunnel and another narrow section, before mooring for the night at Shelmore embankment.
Here we met a swan with a sizeable appetite who joined us for tea, then supper, then came back later, tapping his beak on the galley window for more! Alas, too late, as we were going to bed by then.
Waking up to a comfortably warm boat the next morning put a smile on both our faces. I took a walk along the towpath a short way to have a look at a restored working boat, resplendent in it’s colourful livery before casting off again in convoy with Hyperion.
Today’s travels took us through the Tyreley flight of five locks, eventually mooring for the day before the two aqueducts.
Off again the next morning, full of the joys of spring and all going well. Then trouble struck again, this time with Hyperion, who seemed to be just limping along. We moored briefly to discover their throttle cable had snapped. Sadly, on this occasion, there was no Will to the rescue. As it turned out, despite this seeming catastrophe, we happened to be within limping distance of the chandlery near Market Drayton, where there also happened to be a replacement cable on the shelf and someone about who could fit it. Well, this somewhat extended stop-off allowed for another quick walk into town for a few more provisions we couldn’t get before. It also gave me time to get out ‘n’ about a bit with EM again and grab a few frames on film around the bridge and the adjacent old commercial wharf with it’s warehouse buildings. As much as I love the quality and convenience of using my dslr, using my old Yasicamat twin lens reflex just seemed somehow more satisfying and enjoyable, even with it’s foibles*.
A couple of hours later and we’re on our way again, heading down through the Adderley Five. We decided to take Jubilee through first. Once at the bottom I quickly moored and walked back up to help Graham and Viv get Hyperion through. The planned mooring for the night happened to be just beyond the bottom lock. Enough excitement, perhaps, for one day.
Thank you for joining me on this first ‘leg’. Hope you’ll come along again for the next part of this adventure as we visit Nantwich and onward along the Middlewich branch of the Shroppy.
Photos from this trip were mostly taken using my Canon 6D and the little 40mm pancake lens (a small number using the 24-105 zoom and one or two shots from my phone and iPad). The 6D/40mm combo proved quite effective in allowing one-handed operation for snaps while on the move. This will likely be how I work on future trips on the canals.
*The photos from EM will appear in their own separate article soon.
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What a great travel log!
An enjoyable read with great images. I have an old Yashicamat 635 and they’re a good camera. Unfortunately the slow speeds need some attention on mine.