Iconic Shroppie sights on the way to Goldstone Wharf

Wednesday, 25 March 2009 18:03

It was blowing and raining this morning but we still set off late morning. Was this to prove that we are not "fair weather boaters"? No, we just wanted to get going, so wrapped up for the weather! It has been said there is no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothing.

Due to the blustery conditions, it was single traffic working between the moored boats at Norbury. We had to hold Epiphany on her ropes against both the wind and the effect of passing boats, ready to set off  when we could see the water point was free. The other boat behind us gave up waiting and moored!

The water tank was pretty empty, and we were heavy on diesel and so it was an uphill walk to the bows! Definitely time to fill up with water. I swapped some books in the lobby of the posh BW sanitary station - are 3 loos and a shower (in the ladies, I did not dare investigate the Gents) really necessary? It is not for the general public, as it can only be opened with a BW key.

Les (Nb Valerie), moored outside the Junction Inn, thought we were mad moving in this weather! I began to wonder as it became more and more blustery in the open countryside. In fact, my "slight" (9 and a half stone plus a bit!) frame might have been blown over a few times, if I had not been standing inside the profile of the boat on our back steps.

I had to do as others do and take a picture of a few of the iconic sights on this bit of the Shropshire Union!

The sun came out for High Bridge

We had a bit of shelter in Grub Street Cutting which follows and passing High Offley up on the off side we sighted another icon:

Anchor pub

One day we will sample the simple delights of this famous watering hole. We see it is now advertising a canal gift shop too.

The large Shebdon Embankment was next, another impressive piece of canal building. At the NW end is Knighton Wharf, famous for the transport of chocolate crumb to Cadbury Bourneville in Birmingham. Working boats moored under its canopy give some flavour of what it must have been like in its heyday.

Knighton Wharf in the rain

Following this there is line upon line of moored boats on the offside. Fortunately the canal is pretty wide as we had to keep our revs up to counteract the head on wind and the gusts that whipped across. At one point I spotted white horses ahead of us and it took a lot of concentration to steer the boat.

We were glad to reach the relative shelter of Goldstone Wharf. There were only a couple of moorings spare, not helped by a BW work boat taking up a 48 hours one. This is a very popular spot, especially in the summer, as the Wharf Tavern has a good reputation for food. There was once a coal wharf and warehouse which has been transformed into the Tavern.

Tyrley locks tomorrow - let's hope the wind dies down and we do not have too much rain. There are a couple of very exposed locks and the by weirs can be fierce.

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