Bartimaeus

Friday afternoon was forecast to be wet, so we set off fairly early by our standards.  I wanted to get within striking distance of the shop at Great Haywood before the weather changed.  It wasn't very far, but our tendency to travel at little over 1 mph meant that it was going to take the rest of the morning.

The canal here is narrow and winding, it follows the River Penk north of Penkridge until the confluence with the River Sow near Stafford.  The significant aqueducts on this section often have plaques.  We made two right angle turns in order to cross the river.

There were a few boats coming the other way.  Inevitably we met them at awkward places, but most of this bit of canal is in that category.  As we approached an overhanging willow Clare alerted me to an oncoming boat.  We'd both concluded that it was just the wind blowing the leaves when we realised that there was a boat coming as well.  They seemed very reluctant to drive under the willow but made enough room for us to pass, and we had plenty of time to exchange pleasantries. 

The locks on this section of canal have been quite deep, but in contrast the final lock before the junction with the Trent and Mersey Canal is quite shallow.  It was nearly full when we arrived so it didn't take long to get it ready for Clare to drive in.  I walked to the tail gates to let the water out.

At the tail gates it was obvious why the lock had not been full when I arrived, the leak between the tail gates is considerable.

Leaky gates and a small drop meant the lock was ready very quickly.  I opened the gate on one side and then found that the roof of Bartimaeus made a convenient bridge to get to the other and to come back to lower the paddle on the first.

Clare drove out and waited for me under the bridge.  The back of Bartimaeus is not so convenient as a bridge, but having handed Clare the windlass I was able to step across from the closed gate to the open one.

It wasn't far to Tixall Wide, a section of canal that looks like a lake.  One story is that the owner of Tixall Hall gave permission for the canal only on condition that it was wide enough to look like a lake from the Hall.  Another version is that an existing lake was incorporated in to the line of the canal.

We considered mooring here, but the vacant spots along the towpath were all under tall trees, so would have shaded our solar panels.  We decided to press on to the junction and come back if necessary.

The moorings near the junction seemed crowded, but there was space on the water point, so we headed there first.  While the water was filling, I was able to have a better look and identified an excellent mooring spot behind us.  Just as we started reversing towards it, a boat cast off and headed back through the junction bridge leaving an excellent mooring for us that was even easier to reach - perfect.

We went across the bridge to the farm shop and cafe (other cafes are available) in search of lunch.  I pressed the button to set the generator to top up the batteries while we were out.  When we got back to Bartimaeus the generator had shut down and the rain was just setting in for the afternoon - great timing.