Day 48 - to Audlem and out of Shropshire.

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12 locks, 270 in total.







We enjoyed our overnight mooring, watching all the cows and rabbits in the field opposite. The cows mooed and grazed till it was dark – gone 10pm and were awake at dawn again. Several boats went past us from about 7am – obviously wanting to get through the Audlem locks (15) before the projected rain. We settled for our usual routine of leaving about 8.45 which worked out well – several others were coming up the flight as we went down so this halved the work on some locks.



We are now in the dairylands of southern Cheshire and hopefully out of wooded cuttings for a little while.



Each of the locks had a side weir – called by-weirs in this area – and these threw out a huge torrent of water which at first pushed us sideways and then rushed us headlong towards the next lock at a faster speed than desirable – whitewater narrowboating! We stopped at Audlem Wharf, after lock 12, for a look round and food shopping. At the Wharf are 2 pubs and an ex-mill that now houses a craft and gift shop. One pub is called The Shroppie Fly, named after the old work boats. We didn't go in (honestly) but apparently the bar is designed like a narrowboat, complete with a cratch one end. Audlem is a well-kept canalside village with a good variety of shops and housing. At the centre is an eye-catching church.





And then the rain came so we decided not to finish the lock flight but read our books instead.

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Photos

Grey and white lock beams....
....as opposed to the black and white on all the other canals.

By-weir and turbulent water.
This one didn't cause much of a problem.

By-weir that did cause a problem.
The canal was very narrow as it approached a bridge.

Audlem Wharf
The Shroppie Fly in the foreground and Kingbur Mill in the background.

15th century church.
It seems to spill down the hillside in battlemented layers. At the bottom right, and I nearly cut it off, is the old stone-pillared butter market, ow used as a bus stop.

Comments

[Jan & Jan]

Interesting updates thanks!
Have enjoyed catching up with all your news. Is that Peter the computer wizard you visited? I bet you were pleased to enjoy some modcons but the adventure still looks exciting. We have sold the big motorhome having had a disastrous few days in Tewkesbury when it hammered down with rain and I had decided that this wasn't any fun anymore. It was the right decision as we just weren't using it enough. You are doing exactly the right thing with your extended voyage - enjoy! Luv J & J xx