Another night of rain, so when it stopped at 09-20 am. we set off which was a little before our normal time. It felt cold and damp but was actually warmer than the last couple of days. We did about a quarter of a mile on the Trent and Mersey canal before turning left at Gt Haywood Junction on to the Staffordshire & Worcestershire Canal (S&W). The junction is the base for Anglo Welsh hire boats and of course at the moment they are all at home.
Tixall Wide was deserted with only a boat moored at each end, nothing on the wide its self.
After the wide is Tixall lock, as usual the bottom gate was wide open, it always opens its self when the lock is empty so when locking up you have to crack a top paddle to hold it shut, otherwise by the time you get to the head of the lock its wide open again. There is a mileage notice above the lock cottage door, I suspect this may be a recent addition.
The day remained very dank and the first boat we saw moving was extracting himself from a tight spot at Stafford Boat Club, we met another just after we had left Deptmore Lock. We only saw one other boat and he was in Park Gate Lock. Diana walked up from Shut Hill Lock while I came slowly through a fishing match, as I approached the lock the water was flushing out so I set my self up to go in as soon as the gates opened, when the opened there was a boat waiting to come out, so I had to back up a bit to give him room. Once up through the lock I winded in Teddesley Boat Co basin and then spotted the notice saying not to moor opposite and to wind at Acton Trussell, No way was I going down two locks and over a mile backward to wind.
We moored just above the basin on the tow path side and I wandered over to Midland Chandlers to get a replacement door catch and Fernox sealant, they had the catch but no sealant so that job will have to wait until we get back to Rugeley.
3 comments:
The "strange building" is the barn at Tixall Farm.
See http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1322212 and http://www.tixall-ingestre-andrews.me.uk/tixall/txlstd.html
Hi Brian
See http://www.tixall-ingestre-andrews.me.uk/tixall/txlstd.html#Originally for details of the buildings you are talking about at Tixall. It used to be Tixall Farm and the arches toward the East end was a brick built Dutch-style barn. The farm was sold for development in the 1980s.
DaveD
Brian
The building you refer to is a brick-built Dutch-style barn which was part of Tixall Farm. In the 1980s the farm was sold off for redevelopment and I presume is protected in some way as it looks as though it has been refurbished. The rest of the property has been converted into housing and there is a housing development (Tixall Court) the other side of the building.
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