Fradley Village

Last night we ate rather more than we should have of an Indian Takeaway from Indian Cottage, the Bengal Chicken was on the warm side, but the beef dish really tender. About 11pm I was getting the tv aerial in and the moon had just risen above the bridge by Tesco, shame about the clouds.

A quick visit to town before setting off a little after ten. We met several boats in the course of the morning and there was one ahead of us who came by just as we were setting off, the next time was saw him was as he left Fradley Middle lock.

The have been building this rather posh shed for probably 5 years, it looks as if it may now almost be complete.

There is a sign like this by the aqueduct the other side of Rugeley, this one is opposite Ashtree Boat Club but looks to be facing the wrong way

On to Armitage Tunnel, well its actually a long cutting, there was a tunnel once I believe, with a concrete road bridge over it, but its still called a tunnel and CRT spends a lot of money with tunnel warning notices.

This is the actual bridge at the end of the long cutting.

The chimney at the Armitage Shanks toilet factory looks as if its expecting a visit from Fred Dibner. I have just received a stoppage notice saying they are going to demolish it. I bet they don’t knock a hole in the side and then light a big fire .

Between Kings Bromley Marina and Woodend Lock I saw something I haven't seen for several years, a jet black Mink scurrying along the offside bank. Just after Woodend Lock before the bend there is a lot of activities going on with excavators etc. I couldn’t see what was happening through the undergrowth, but I can’t see how it ties in with HS2. This was the site 3 months ago. Harnser's Travels: Rugeley 
The only low water we have experienced was the short pound between Shadhouse lock and middle Lock, I did wonder if Diana would need to let water down from the lock above to get into middle lock. Thankfully she didn’t and I entered without touching the cill.

At the junction we turned onto the Coventry Canal and nearly all the visitor moorings were free, Ideal I thought. This is the reason.

We stopped anyway, well they are not going to turn up this afternoon are they. We had lunch, I went and removed the tiller, took my boots off and what cam chugging through the swing bridge from the junction, a tug pushing a flat full of ballast. We were away before he was ready to pull in and made our way just past bridge 90 to moor for the night in Fradley Village.

Today’s Journey

8¾ miles with 3 locks in 4 hours