Thursday 9th August 2007
Stafford Boat Club - Brewood (19¾ miles, 12 locks)
We had travelled up the night before, arriving at the Boat Club with enough time to set up the satellite dish before watching "Heroes" on BBC2. The boats in the club are moored at an angle of 45 degrees and the boats move a few degrees either way in the breeze, making a slight mockery of aiming the dish at the satellite orbiting 22,300 miles up in space.
We all got up early the next morning and just before 6am we slipped quietly out of the Boat Club for the last time. It was not raining for the first time in weeks and the sun was starting to burn away the early morning mist.
Tim and Tess had their biscuit bones for breakfast, but Tim thought that Tess was trying to steal his, so he leapt over the side of the bows to escape from her, forgetting that we were now on the move. Hearing the loud splash and seeing Tim swimming towards the side, I brought the boat to a stand and then swing the stern round in a perfect manoeuvre, allowing me to drag Tim out of the canal where he was struggling to climb out over the slippery steel piling. He still had his biscuit in his mouth...
We had bacon and egg rolls for breakfast which we managed to eat without anyone jumping in the canal.
Tess was very confident running across the lock gates, so it was only a matter of time before she fell in. Fortunately the lock was full and she was easily retrieved. She is not normally too keen on water, so perhaps she will learn from the experience. Tim, on the other hand, loves water. He jumped in twice more for a swim. I think dogs get inoculated against Weil's Disease as part of their annual jabs.
At Gailey, we bought ice-creams and a couple of brass plaques to add to out collection, although I shan't fit them until after I have re-varnishing some of the woodwork.
At Pendeford Rockin' the canal is very narrow due to the hardness of the rock that the navvies had to cut through. Luckily, we didn't meet any boats coming the other way before we reached the end.
At Autherley Junction we turned sharp right onto the Shropshire Union Canal, through the stop lock and headed north.
We moored for the night at Brewood, which I believe is pronounced "brood", and then went to the dog-friendly Bridge Inn for dinner. The staff were really friendly, but I'm afraid we weren't too impressed by the food.