As forecast, today was generally bright and sunny although not quite as hot as earlier in the week. In the afternoon a pleasant breeze also arrived.
We intended to make a reasonably prompt start as we hoped to reach Norton canes at the end of the Cannock Extension Canal, somewhere we have not been for a long time. The last time we had the opportunity it was raining so heavily that we at out a long lunch break at the junction before opting out of the diversion!
However, Mike thought to check the prop as part of his checks, thinking that we were going rather slowly as we neared our overnight mooring. true enough, there was quite a bundle mangled around, mainly a tough hessian style plastic carrying bag with heavy duty handles. It did not want to be removed!
As a result it was nine before casting off.
The Wyrley and Essington is mostly a pleasant cruise but, of course, with a contour canal there are plenty of tight and blind bends but no locks! As a result, there is not a long story to tell today as we just cruised and cruised, carefully re-calculating the time at frequent intervals!
With a clean prop we managed a much better speed than yesterday afternoon and kept ahead of our schedule - the calculation last night was that we needed around nine hours.
We passed a number of junctions. The first was Sneyd although the other canal that once joined here has long since been abandoned with just the remnants of the bottom locks. Just beyond the junction is a service block and a number of moored boats. Given the pressure on mooring spaces in London, it is quite a surprise that along this canal there are hardly any moored, either at permanent moorings or as continuous cruisers.
We did meet two moving boats today - the first came as a surprise to both of us, not least as we met at a blind bridge hole! the other boat was just five minutes later. Apart from that we had the canal to ourselves - apart from plenty of people fishing, walking and cycling along the towpath.
There is a lot of new house building on sites adjoining the canal - mostly large sites packed with incredibly minute properties. The design quality varies but here is one that we definitely did not appreciate! as we first approached them this row (the rest of the site was even more unharmonious - spell check says I cannot use that word, but I am going to invent it if necessary!) looked as if it was intended to resemble a factory building that it no doubt replaced.
Next came Birchills Junction where the line to Walsall goes off and eventually meets the Main Line where we had to turn around a couple of days ago.
The white water lilies now dominate entirely. Close up they are pretty but at a distance they look too much as if they are more of the detritus that sometimes clogs urban canals, with lots of floating polystyrene! As it happens, most of this canal was mercifully clear of rubbish, although the space around some bridges appear to be general dumping grounds.
The landscape became at times quite rural although we then returned to more urban sprawl.
Just before Pelsall Junction, a sturdy bridge gives a reminder of the long lost reason for the canal at this point and the once highly successful manufacture of cast iron bridges installed right across the network.
Commonsense would have suggested that we turned around at this point and headed back to Wolverhampton but our calculations showed that, so long as we did not stop for lunch, we should be able to go down the Cannock Extension and still be back at Horseley Fields for a few minutes after six o'clock.
The bridges around here look as if they owe something to the railway builders.
The next bridge looks very similar and by now we could see that this canal runs dead straight for about a mile and three quarters with no 'curly wurly'.
At one time this canal went much further but it now comes to an abrupt end in front of the A5 and the M6 Toll roads. As a result we failed to take a photo to show this non event! However, it also means that there is no historical winding hole at the end but, fortunately we did not have to reverse half a mile to the last official point as CTS kindly allow boats to turn at the entrance to their dock.
So now it was time to re-trace our steps. At the junction there are two buildings one of which appears to be the toll house of cottage. The other, we are not sure about its history, but it seems that someone is doing a lot of work on it to create a new house from it.
At least we now know how far we have to go today! Sadly, it is not possible to reach Hatherston along this route although the northern end of it at least is actively being restored so one day it may just be possible to not have that finger painted out!
A patch of the much more delicate small yellow lilies . . .
and one small clump of pink ones, perhaps escaped from cultivation!
The bridge at Goscote indicates that this works site was once important - how long before it too succumbs to the inevitable march of the housebuilder?
Christine spotted on the way out this painted local map underneath one of the bridges. Alas, at speed, we did not manage to capture all of it but at least this gives a taster.
We made a lightning stop at Sneyd Junction for the full range of services. It is three days since we last took on water so we were a little concerned to fill up even though it took a little while.
The afternoon continued bright and sunny . . .
We also stopped at Wednesford where Christine had spotted a Sainsbury very close to the canal. proper mooring was not possible as the bank was shallow so Mike pulled the boat onto the mud and held it there whilst Christine went shopping. We later discovered that had we gone under the bridge we would have found a much better bank for stopping!
As we approached the sculpture shortly before Horseley Fields we spotted this young chap using it as an alternative bridge! He slid down the final section to join his mate on the motorcycle!
A short while later - on our original timetable despite the two short stops - we turned back onto the Main Line and found an overnight mooring on the secure site in the centre of Wolverhampton. The only problem with this mooring is that it is so secure it is not possible to get out other than by water! However, we will deal with that in the morning - we plan to go to church in the town centre. the weather forecast is for heavy rain in the afternoon so it seem s likely that Mike will do the car shuffle then, rather than on Monday. We shall see.
23.2 Miles - 0 Locks
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