Two old canals on the Staffs and Worcs

Having come south down the Shropshire Union we then turned left going north again on the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal as far as Great Haywood. So this posting is about a few days on the northern section of the Staffs and Worcs:

We moored on Monday (23rd September) at Hatherton. This was once a canal junction with what is now called the Lichfield and Hatherton Canal and used to connect with the Birmingham Canal Navigations, and might one day do so again. It would provide an alternative route to Huddlesford on the Coventry Canal where we aim to be tomorrow evening. We took our bikes and explored the remains of the first part of the Lichfield and Hatherton. This view is looking from the first bridge towards the junction with the Staffs and Worcs. Leo is moored just out of sight to the right from the junction.

From the junction we cycled under the M6 and soon came to this bridge which is over the course of the old canal. The water still flows towards the Staffs and Worcs and the L&H still acts as a feeder.

Further on the road crossed this bridge over the old canal. The low headroom suggests the bridge has been lowered and, although it doesn't show up in the photo, some of the bricks looked as if they were part of an arch bridge originally.

Here, near Four Crosses, the canal crosses under the road by means of a sump, so there is no navigation at all at this point.

On a wet Tuesday morning we carried on to Penkridge. This picture shows Gailey Lock which is the first lock down from the summit level of the Staffs and Worcs. The round house allowed the lock keeper to see boats coming. There is now a tempting souvenir shop on the ground floor.

In Rodbaston Lock later that morning Helen rescued a toad that was trying to get out of the lock.

The canal twists through the village of Penkridge dropping down two more locks. There are good pubs and shops including a bakers where we bought delicious pies and cakes. This view is of a cottage (left) and the old gaol (right) which is open a couple of days a week, but not on Tuesdays.

Here we are on Wednesday morning heading into Penkridge Lock.

"I don't believe it" in Victor Meldrew tones comes to mind at this sign above the lock at Penkridge!

We moored on Wednesday evening close to Acton Trussell and went for a walk. It started out cloudy but the sun soon came out and we had to carry all our excess clothes. The rain we've had recently has swollen the rivers. This is a very full River Penk.

Thursday we stopped briefly close to where the Stafford Canal Link once allowed boats to lock down from the Staffs and Worcs onto the River Sow and into the centre of Stafford a couple of miles away. After the rain stopped we walked to where work continues on restoring this link. The plan is to reinstate a canal basin here and at the far end away from the camera a narrows will lead to an aqueduct over the River Penk into the River Sow which leads to Stafford.

And by the side of the canal basin the footings have been built up where the lock keeper's house used to be.

The valley where the Penk and Sow meet was quite flooded and we saw cows wading belly deep through the floods. Apparently this is normal after a few days of heavy rain.

This wall is alongside the Staffs and Worcs and you can just see where the parapet rises where a bridge used to cross over the Stafford Canal link.

This sign has been installed by the junction. River Canal Rescue (the boaters' AA or RAC) do in fact have an office here and perhaps they sponsored the sign.

Here is a turnover bridge where the towpath changes to the other side of the canal. Turnover bridges with spiral ramps were designed so that a horse towing a narrowboat could cross the canal and continue towing without the rope having to be detached.

Here is we are waiting for the small lock (only a four foot fall) at Tixall. Even on a gloomy day it was still pretty.

Tixall Wide is an expansive stretch of water crossed by the canal. It was not an existing lake that was used by the canal builders but was built with the canal to enhance its appearance from the big house nearby. It is a good place to moor but we decided to carry on to Great Haywood.

The big house for which Tixall Wide was built has now gone but the gatehouse shown here can be seen across the fields.

On the left after an aqueduct over the River Trent and just before the junction is a large Anglo Welsh hire boat base. Beyond the bridge is the Trent and Mersey Canal.  Left leads to Stoke on Trent but we turned right heading for Fradley.

Having moored just round the corner on the Trent and Mersey we walked into the Shugborough Estate, once the home of Patrick, Earl of Lichfield. The route there leads over Essex Bridge which crosses the River Trent just beyond its confluence with the River Sow. In the photo the Trent is to the right and the Sow in the middle. To the left is an artificial channel that runs from the Sow through ornamental lakes as part of the formal gardens of Shugborough Hall. The Trent was running brown and muddy but the Sow was clear.

We had a look round the house. This is the ceiling of the Red Dining Room.

Brothers Thomas and George Anson made a number of improvements to the house. George was a renowned admiral who circumnavigated the world in 1740-44 and came back with plentiful plunder and a keen interest in architecture and art from around the globe. He had this Chinese House built on the estate after his voyage.

So now we are on the Trent and Mersey Canal which we have not seen since we left it at Middlewich quite a few weeks ago. Our aim now is to go south once more for a short way to Fradley Junction where we will turn onto the Coventry Canal. We still have a couple of weeks cruising to look forward to before we set down our windlasses for the winter.