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Published: August 25th 2008
Michael
Michael taking on fluid and at peace with the world by Bridge 31Michael suggested some weeks ago that we could cycle along the towpath of the Shropshire Union Canal from somewhere near Telford and turn off at the junction of the Llangollen canal with the aim of going to Llangollen! Having been caught when my defences were weak I duly agreed and today we semi-dismantled our bikes (well, took off the front wheels) piled them into Jen's can and headed for Wheaton Aston.
After some difficulty in, first, getting the right wheels on the right bikes, the correct way round, we then had to cope with misaligned brake blocks. For natural engineers, such as Michael and me, this was the work of but a few moments.
The tow path was of variable quality throughout but, for most of this first section, it was freshly-mown grass with surprise bit of mud of indeterminate depth every now and again. The tracks of cycle tyres was encouraging since there was no sign of bikes having sunk so deep in the mud that only the handlebars and saddles were evident. Buoyed by this happy state of affairs, we proceeded to pass the time of day with skippers of narrowboats and to try and avoid the
Norbury Junction
The truncated Newport Branch rods of hitherto-blissful fishermen who answered us with dignity and good humour when we asked them questions about the contents of their keep-net and complimented them on the size of their carbon fibre rods.
High Onn Wharf was interesting, but not so much that I could be bothered to dismount and unpack my camera. Some tastefully restored canalside commercial buildings. I did, however, photograph Michael at bridge 31 which is just before we entered Cowley Tunnel which is, evidently, not only eighty-one yards long, not only unlined, but it is also the only one on the Shropshire Union Canal. Next up was Gnosall Heath (silent "g" - in Gnosall, obviously!) a taster for Gnosall proper, an attractive village sporting two waterside pubs, some modern housing abutting the canal and a couple of bridges. Still with spring in our step we reached Norbury Junction where we decided to rest at a pub called, appropriately,
The Junction. A pint of
Thwaites Lancaster Bomber satisfied our thirst, Michael spoke to a couple of folk he knew, I took a picture of the Newport Branch of the Shroppie which gives Norbury its Junction and we pressed on.
Grub Street cutting is some eighty feet deep
Tied up
Narrowboats moored at Norbury Junction and is over a mile long and, at its southern end, the A519 bridges the road with an unusual double-arched bridge which supports a tiny telegraph pole, a survivor from the line that once marched alongside the Shroppie for most of its length. Shortly afterwards we stopped the Anchor Inn which advertised proudly its sale of
Wadworths 6X. We decided that the limited throughput of this quaint pub didn't enhance the flavour of the beer, and one's first pint (at Norbury Junction) is usually better than subsequent ones. It was interesting to note that a camera crew, boasting a foreign language that we couldn't readily place, was snapping away in the snug. Having taken a photo of the mini-Anchor in the garden we pressed resolutely on.
The scenery was rather less dramatic now. Put bluntly, it was boring. Flat farmland to the right of the embankment, thick trees to the left. Even the excitement of the former
Cadbury factory so positioned at Knighton in order that it had access to the canal's "transport solutions" did little to lift our spirits nor distract us from the increasing awareness that we were out of training. Neither of us had cycled for a
Tiny telegraph pole
At the southern end of the eighty-feet deep Grub Street cutting, the A519 bridges the road with an unusual double-arched bridge which supports a tiny telegraph pole, a survivor from the line that once marched alongside the Shroppie for most of its length. I'm heading towards the bridge. while and aches and soreness where beginning to manifest themselves in ways that cannot be tastefully described on an uncensored blog! We decided that, rather then pressing on to Market Drayton, we would call it a day at Goldstone Wharf. We knew there was a pub there because Pearson's 1991 guide described it as "one of the Shroppie's most popular pubs". Unfortunately it had closed for the afternoon, and we took a seat and advised all the other disappointed potential customers as they pulled up (or cycled up) and then drove off. One kind soul who was holidaying in a camper van in a field opposite advised us about the muddy state of the towpath en route to Market Drayton and was so sympathetic about our drink-free plight that he, shortly afterwards, popped back from his van with a couple of bottles of
Kronenbourg 1664. Not, possibly, our first choice of refreshment, but very welcome nonetheless. Jen collected the weary athletes for the journey home to Much Wenlock.
Despite our calculations it seems that, using
Jim Shead's authoritative website, we travelled 15.2 miles today. We now plan to start from Goldstone Wharf and go past Market Drayton and on to Audlem en
Special
Me and my Specialized hybrid bicycle. Oh, and my high-visibility trouser-containing velcro ankle straps. Fashionable, eh? route for Hurleston Junction and the Llangollen Canal.
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