Hack Green Locks.

                             

The cows came over to drink the canal water mornings and evenings while we were at Coole Pilate. One adventurous one waded right in to cool it’s bits. We enjoyed our time here as seats, picnic tables and barbeque facilities have thoughtfully been provided by The Shroppie volunteers. Being a popular mooring spot it was soon full of moored boats. Boats were also continuously passing us in both directions. I think the lovely weather had brought them out of Overwater Marina for the weekend. One lady boater told me that’s where they were from and they would be dropping down the two Hack Green’s locks to wind and return there by Sunday evening. How did we know that so many came out to do this, they had a marina poster in their windows and they all knew each other!

                             

On Monday it was our turn to do these locks and some refurbishment was going on there. Luckily our passage was made easy by exchanging locks with two boats heading south. After the early morning mist evapourated you can see by the clear blue sky that the morning was beginning to warm up. You could play noughts and crosses on those vapour trails couldn’t you?

Coole Pilate.

                    

We left out mooring very early hoping to beat the rush and to get moored somewhere before it became too hot. Luckily there are tall shady trees surrounding many of the thirteen locks we were descending. While pausing to take on water outside the Shroppie Fly Inn, I popped to the Co-op to get salad stuff and yogurts.

                      

Then we were off down to the last lock where Georges Pork and Poultry shop stands alongside. It was self service and the goods were looking a bit wilted, so I passed on that! After trying a couple of places to moor up that were far too shallow, we went on to moor at Coole Pilate. I wonder where that strange name originated from?

Audlem.

  

On reaching the top of the Audlum Locks we dropped down two and pulled in to moor, just as Osiris was leaving. The last couple of times we saw this boat it was down on the Sharpness Canal and being put up for sale. I chatted to new owner Vaughan after he had bought it and was bringing it up the locks from Whilton Marine. This was their first long trip out of their marina on her, so we wished them luck as they get to know her.

                

It was then that the heat wave hit us and it was time for some to lunch out on the deck, that’s the way to do it! The cabin boy was miserable because he had hay-fever for the first time in years and stayed inside Oakfield. So it was up to me to trudge down the locks to the Co-op for supplies and to Boots for some pills for him. The mooring wasn’t as quiet as we had anticipated as Police helicopters seemed to be continually flying over us. We thought maybe they had a training base nearby.

Adderley.

   

We were hoping to moor above Adderley Locks, but were unable to get to the side because of the ‘Shroppie shelf’. This is a concrete edging which sticks out about two feet and grates on your boat when there is any movement! I bought a Rhubarb Pie from the little Adderley Wharf Farm Shop beside the top lock. looking forward to eating that with some custard on it later! Then we descended the 31 feet down the five locks to moor at the bottom with a nice open view across a field with cows grazing. The then rain set in for the rest of the day, how lucky was that? You will also be pleased to know that the freezer thermostat has now been successfully replaced, perfick!

Market Drayton.

                                

We descended down the five Tyrley Locks in drizzly rain but it had brightened up by the time we moored up in Market Drayton. The Old Corn Mill makes lovely canal side residences with it’s intricately cast vent still intact.

                 

These nicely painted black and white mile markers stand at intervals along the towpath. We strolled into town and had a good look around, there are many small shops, including several charity shops, a few empty ones too, an Asda and Morrison’s. We went into Wetherspoon’s  Hippodrome for coffee as it was quite a long walk back to the canal. The poster inside the old cinema was advertising, ‘Those magnificent men in their Flying Machines and Born Free,’ but it didn’t say which year that was. The C&RT sign informs boaters ‘Overnight mooring only, except Tuesday and Wednesday pre-market days, when daytime mooring is permitted! Please respect moorers opposite.’ Well that’s a shame as half the permanent finger moorings on the offside were empty and some boats were moored on the towpath there over the weekend anyway.

    

There were several lovely old timber-framed Inns which we stopped to admire. We were waiting for a small parcel to arrive Poste-restante containing a replacement thermostat for our freezer. This promptly arrived then, away we went.