Setting Off
Myself and my husband are itching to be on the canals again, so very last minute we look at what's available boat wise and choose a Dove class boat out of Gailey Wharf, near Stafford. I fancy a fairly easy lock free route; I have heard it suggested that Norbury and return is a good route over 3 nights, with only 2 locks out and 2 on the way back.
We have introduced ourselves to David the owner and manager of Gailey Wharf, and to Katie the administrator, who I speak to on a regular basis in my capacity as a booking clerk at ABC boat hire.
Trevor, an engineer, akes us through the boat, it’s all fairly standard and we have taken a few Alvechurch boats out before so we know mostly how it all works.
This boat is just beautiful though 2 full bathrooms and the 2 fixed cabins separated by the galley and dinette area. All the boats built at Gailey have special little tweaks such as the dinette double being slid out rather than using the table, better storage, and even the paintwork is a slightly different design to the Alvechurch boats at other marinas. We are very impressed.
Trevor is kind enough to help us turn the boat through some moored vessels. Katie has advised us that the normal first evening stop off is at the Fox and Anchor roughly 2 hours cruising away, but it is possible to get much further.
The canal is very rural here, fields of sheep and cows, beautiful little cottages and idyllic barn conversions and just a couple of short hours and we are cruising past the Fox and Anchor.
The Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal
The next morning, we are up nice and early, and then we are off again. The Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal is one of the oldest, and we are about to enter a very narrow cutting which was once called Pendeford Rockin' after a local farm.
We have introduced ourselves to David the owner and manager of Gailey Wharf, and to Katie the administrator, who I speak to on a regular basis in my capacity as a booking clerk at ABC boat hire.
Trevor, an engineer, takes us through the boat, it’s all fairly standard and we have taken a few Alvechurch boats out before so we know mostly how it all works.
This boat is just beautiful though 2 full bathrooms and the 2 fixed cabins separated by the galley and dinette area. All the boats built at Gailey have special little tweaks such as the dinette double being slid out rather than using the table, better storage, and even the paintwork is a slightly different design to the Alvechurch boats at other marinas. We are very impressed.
Trevor is kind enough to help us turn the boat through some moored vessels. Katie has advised us that the normal first evening stop off is at the Fox and Anchor roughly 2 hours cruising away, but it is possible to get much further.
The canal is very rural here, fields of sheep and cows, beautiful little cottages and idyllic barn
conversions and just a couple of short hours and we are cruising past the Fox and Anchor.
This is so narrow that you can only fit one boats width. I don't think you would get a wide beam through here! There are designated passing areas, but it is a good idea to have someone at the front on sharp lookout in any case.
Once past this we will be very near the turn at Autherley junction and we know from our guide book (Nicholsons 4 is the one we are using and the type we favour), there will be a shallow lock. The drop is so shallow it is actually hard to see whether the paddles need raising or not, but after a few seconds pushing at the gates in vain we decide they do!
Once we are past the bridge, we find ourselves at a Napton Narrowboats marina. The next stop we decide will be Brewood, (pronounced Brood), which looks to be a very pretty village worth having a look at.
We cruise steadily on and now we find ourselves in the real countryside. We have turned onto the Shropshire Union, and are now travelling North - parallel to the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal.
On our right, we can see the very tall and elegant spire of the village's 16th century church. Apparently, this village was originally a Roman fort built to defend Watling Street.
We arrive at Brewood, which is what I can only describe as extremely posh. Every house we pass is absolutely immaculate.
Much of the architecture in the square is original and apparently the entire market square is riddled with underground vaults and passages interconnecting Speedwell Castle on the square, and the public houses and eateries surrounding it!
We head back to the boat and start up again. Now we are coming up to Stretton aqueduct and this really is something as the aqueduct goes over the A5. They certainly don’t make them like that anymore!
We sail on and it is at this point that we realise that because we spent so long in Brewood, we are not realistically going to make it to Norbury without having a really long cruising day tomorrow. We decide we will turn back at a pub on the water's edge near Bridge 19 at Wheaton Aston, called the Hartley Arms, and decide we will eat there tonight and so turn at High Onn wharf just past Bridge 25.
Returning home
We manage to moor up right opposite the pub and it is a short walk over the bridge to get there.
The next day, it is time to trundle back; we stop at Brewood on the way to get some supplies for that night.
It takes about 45 minutes to cruise into Gailey Wharf, where luckily the marina opera
tives are on hand to help with the returning boats mooring up. It is very busy and the bo
ats are squeezed tightly together so it would take more skill than we have to not crash into something!
All in all, it has been a fabulous weekend. I would definitely recommend this route for a first timer or novice, as it is mostly straight and only a couple of locks.
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Marina: Gailey Boat: Dove | Blog written by Becky. |
