Fradley Junction is another place we could easily have stayed in for another day, but we have a couple of meet-ups planned so need to be a little further south. Before we left this morning I walked down to the rubbish compound with the full set: general waste, recycling, and food waste — plus a yellow water bottle for the Elsan. Then we got going at about 8.45 in generally nice conditions. The canal here is lined with trees, and one had a squirrel in it, who just stayed there as we went underneath.
Our first encounter with the A38 was at Bridge 89, where the traffic was thundering overhead.
However, the road is closed by Streethay at the moment for big HS2 works, and the result of that appeared first when there was a huge amount of traffic on the small lane past the pumping station. Many vehicles were then held up at the level crossing, by a very rare train on the railway there. Just before Streethay, the A38 runs right alongside the canal, and the closure meant it was eerily quiet.
Unfortunately for the moorers there, work was also being done right there, with automated instructions from some of the machinery for people to keep away. On the finger moorings, we were on the lookout for a familiar boat: Briar Rose, poised to start life as a trading boat next week.
Andy and Helen have done a lot of work on her over the winter, and I reckon that while the outside still looks similar, the inside is very different. We went past King’s Orchard Marina, where we handed over BR back in November, and were surprised by how few boats were moored near The Plough at Huddlesford. The traffic past the pub was plentiful though; this lane isn’t the official diversion, but the locals must know it would be quicker. Then it was through Huddlesford Junction.
It was getting increasingly windy, and in some of the more open sections we were slightly crabbing down the canal. After Whittington we met quite a few boats coming the other way, but all of them at relatively easy places. Our target for the day was Hopwas. Normally we moor on the far side, past Dixon’s Bridge, but there was a nice looking space just before the moorings by School Bridge, so we grabbed it.
It’s been surprisingly sunny this afternoon which has been good for the solar, and much better than the forecast which was for rain pretty much all day. We’ve taken Macc for a walk along the towpath into Hopwas, and he was pretty good both ways. There have been plenty of boats past (you can tell it’s the Easter holidays) and the towpath is also very popular with dog walkers.
Finally a note to say the latest podcast episode is out. This one is about the Wharf building at Marple, which is being restored and turned into an exhibition, cafe, and wellbeing studio.
8 miles, 0 locks. (64 miles, 36 locks)