Shroppie to Norbury Junction

Monday

We pushed back to the boatyard at 8:30 as planned and made contact with the man Christine has spoken to at the weekend. He quickly measured the window and made arrangements with his nearby glass supplier. It was promised for 10:30 at the latest!

Meanwhile, Christine followed instructions to Morrisons, mainly to find a cash point but also some milk and bread. Perhaps a little further than expected but she returned well before the window! It seems that Wolverhampton time is about as accurate as Cornish time! Still, it did eventually arrive and was duly fitted. Mike also identified that we would be able to order a matchigngreplacement from the original manufacturers. Alas, by the time we had sorted out why the email address on their web site was not working, we had moved on and remained out of braodband connection for the rest of the day, even at our final mooring.

We set off but there was a queue at the stop lock onto the Shroppie so it was not until just before midday that we actually began serious navigation!

The canal is quite remarkable for its engineering achievement - long straight sections with few locks. In fact, today we only passed through one 'real' lock at Wheaton Aston, almost 7 miles from the start. The next pound is 17 miles! At times the canal runs through deep cuttings or steep embankments. As we reached the short (81 yards) Cowley Tunnel, we could see from the profile ahead the massive amount of rock that had to be removed to create the cutting. Inside the tunnel itself, the rough rock face showed how much labour went into its creation.

Unfortunately, a blocked sewer at Wheaton Aston meant that the disposal facilities were out of order - although we did pick up water. This meant that we needed to reach Norbury Junction - but that was the plan anyway. Another shower greeted us as we sought a mooring just north of the junction but by the time we were tied up, bright sunshine had returned.