Shorter days, longer nights.

It seems that the nights have drawn in a lot this week, by six thirty it is getting dark. As a result the solars don't work as long and we are using more power. I surpose with the good weather we had last week it appears to have happened all at once. So as winter gets ever closer we get ever closer to our winter mooring. On Friday we left Coven Heath and moved on to Penkridge having stopped at Gailey to water up. Gailey was the first of six locks that would take us into Penkridge. At the side of the lock is a round tower that is the home of a craft and gift shop. Penkridge is a lovey little town and is a good place from which to visit Stafford. Taking this opportunity on Saturday we caught the 9-43 bus for the twenty minute journey into Stafford, returning to the boat for lunch. Sunday was a warmer day so we went for a walk over the fields finding paths to make it a curular walk taking about an hour. First thing Monday morning we did four and a half mile and four locks and moored near the village of Acton Trussell. This morning we only traveled two mile and one lock to Radford bank. From here you can walk into Stafford, which we propose to do tomorrow.

Unseasonable Weather.

First thing Monday morning we climbed the Tyrley flight of locks without any problems. Carried on past the moorings at Goldstone then couldn't find a suitable place to moor. Along most of the banks of the Shropshire Union is a ledge that prevents getting close in with the boat. We finally moored near bridge 47. While there I made the effort and painted some more of the roof. We arranged to have the engine serviced by a mobile engineer, we were to meet him at high bridge on Thursday. To check there was a good mooring we moved down there on Tuesday evening and found it was unsuitable, so we carried on to Norbury Junction for the night. Having over shot our meeting point we had to find another place to meet him. Wednesday was another warm and sunny day(we are doing well with the weather)so we did the two mile to Gnosall, then phoned the engineer to inform him of the change of venue. To our surprise he came that afternoon and did the service. So free to do what we liked on Thursday we decided to take the bus into Telford, now I know I shouldn't criticise places but Telford is just a large shopping centre surrounded by retail parks. In my defence Marlene and I thought we must have missed the town centre, however people we have asked about this say not, what we saw is what there is. Moving on on Friday after a walk along the old railway track at Gnosall we moored at bridge 25 before moving to Wheaton Aston for the weekend. More very warm weather caused us to have to call in the Hartley Arms after our walk, just to cool down. A warm day with a little more cloud on Sunday so our need for refreshment was not as great after our walk round the fields. At the start of yet another week(dosn't time fly by)we found a nice mooring where I could carry on with the painting without leaves blowing on it. This was just before Brewood,( pronounced Brood) but within walking distance of the village. In the afternoon a garden umbrella from the caravan site opposite blew into the canal. Attempts were made to retrieve it by its owners failed, in the end we untied the boat and with Marlene steering and me on the bow we drifted over and managed to hook it out with a boat hook lent to us by another couple. Staying a second day at this mooring we took a walk to a local reservoir to do a little bird watching, when we got the hides they were locked and a code was needed to unlock them,not knowing the code we left by a different path to discover you had to be members of a club to use these hides. Yesterday we moved down to the village moorings and had a night out in the bridge Inn. Today we came to the end of the Shropshire Union and turned left onto the Staffs and Worcester, it is windy and we are moored near Coven Heath. Once again we have an intenet conection, a rare occasion since my last posting. Today the unseasonable weather has come to an end, although it's bright it is cold and windy.