Haywood Junction
It was generally pleasant day - when sheltered from the breeze it was a warm and sunny. Before long we reached Great Haywood where the Staffs and Worcester branches off from the Trent and Mersey.
Tixall Gatehouse from Tixall Broad
Tixall Broad
A notice on one moored boat - Support the Stafford Riverway Link - caused us to look up details of this restoration project which we had not heard about before. It seems it is a plan to connect the centre of Stafford with the main network near Baswich, which once existed. It will only be a short arm, however, using part of the River Sow. It was not obvious that this is likely to happen any time soon! we identified the junction with some difficulty.
Start of Stafford Branch - towards left
At the main road bridge between Stafford and Baswich we moored up for lunch and a quick dash to a nearby Bargain Booze (actually as fuel station shop) for some milk and today's newspaper.
Approaching Deptmore Lock we could see that not only was a boat coming down the lock but that there was an unusual number of people in his-vis jackets. It turned out that the they were from Community Payback, painting the lock gates. several of the men seemed to enjoy being given the opportunity by Christine to help operate the lock and wind the paddles!
After passing Acton Moat Bridge a bright yellow helicopter noisily landed on the grass outside a hotel and took off again a few minutes later. We wondered what might have been taking place that justified such an expensive way of arriving or departing.
We found it hard to sort out a good mooring for our last night: not only is the M6 motorway well within view (and hence noise) but also a local road passes close to the canal just before Teddesley. Despite looking rather harmless on the map, it turned out to be a busy commuter road. However, it was Hobson's Choice . . .
The rest of the day was committed to sorting out breakables and stowing away safely for when the boat is lifted out of the water next week.
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