It was pretty chilly this morning, and we put the Webasto on for the first time this autumn to take the chill off. It’s so long since we switched it on that I had to re-download the app on my phone, but the good news was that everything worked and the radiators got hot. It was a lovely clear morning when I first took Macc out just before 7; he had his breakfast and then we went for a proper walk — but in the intervening fifteen minutes mist had started rising off the canal. It was still misty when we left at about 8.30. It was also chilly in the shade, but showed signs of warmth when you were in the sun. Just outside Fazeley, we passed under the bridge that recently had quite a dramatic vehicle strike. The canal was technically closed for several days because of all the bricks in the water, although it seems plenty of boats made it through. Goodness knows what the vehicle was, but they’ve managed to take out the parapet on both sides of the bridge.
We got through Hopwas without meeting a boat coming the other way, which is always a relief because it’s narrow, bendy, and has lots of moorings. Then it’s into Hopwas Woods, which clearly wasn’t being used as a military firing range today as the gates were open and plenty of dogs were having walks there.
We hadn’t seen another moving boat, then all of a sudden there were three coming the other way. Then as I began to turn one corner I heard a horn, and there was another one coming round a moored boat. We managed to pass without touching anything. The canal through Whittington was fairly quiet too, and then we came to Huddlesford Junction and the Lichfield Cruising Club.
On the moorings beyond The Plough was Tycho, a historic boat. It looks fairly normal from the back, but at the bow is a massive ice breaking protrusion, which must look quite threatening if it’s coming towards you.
We passed Kings Orchard Marina, which was where we handed over Briar Rose to her new owners, and then Streethay Wharf.
The A38 runs along the next section of canal and is pretty noisy. Then the waterway moves away a bit before swinging back and going underneath the road on a rather tricky bridge.
By Bridge 90 there were a couple of waterways traders set up. I thought one of them hadn’t properly thought through their name — they can’t have said it out loud to themselves before going with it, surely.
There were a couple of moorings before Fradley Junction, and the one I was aiming for had a day boat just leaving. Then they saw us approaching and went back in again! I signalled that we weren’t going past, we wanted their space. It’s on a bit of a bend, like quite of lot of the mooring is here, so I rigged up a spring line at the bow to stop us pivoting every time a boat went by. We had lunch and then took Macc for a walk. A boat was heading for the junction so Adrian asked if they wanted the bridge swung, which they did. They then turned right, only to find another boat just about to go into the lock.
We walked round the Fradley Pool nature reserve, where there are some nice paths and a big lake. It’s all part of the Trent and Mersey’s efforts to stop the Coventry Canal taking their water. T&M water goes round the junction via the lake which then supplies the locks further down.
We’d normally have taken two days to get from Fazeley to Fradley, but we’ve done it in one just in case Adrian’s appointment comes sooner rather than later. It took around four hours to get here, and seemed like quite a slog. It now seems unbelievable that in our very first trip out on Debdale, we did this trip in the morning, had lunch at the cafe, and then did the whole journey back to Fazeley in the afternoon! It was because we hadn’t ever been to Fradley Junction and wanted to see it.
11 miles, 0 locks. (246 miles, 153 locks)