Little Onn

Last night we ate at the Wharf Tavern at Cholmondeston, it's about 25 years since we have been here when they kindly let us leave our car for a few days in their carpark. Today it says “No overnight parking”. They also have a large caravan park that is getting bigger by the day. As expected on a sunny July evening a canal side pub was bursting, in the dining room most of the tables were used twice and the girls were kept busy. Even so the meals were served in good time and the service friendly and unhurried.

CRT or rather Rothen Group have fitted new stop locks along here in case of an Embankment failure. The last one fell completely to pieces and would have done nothing to hold back water if the embankment developed a leak. Click Here to see what it was like.

We stopped for a while to chat with friends Muriel and Jerry, both still very active and both well into their 80s, I just hope we fair as well.
Everyone has to photograph this bridge with its old telegraph pole complete with insulators.

There is a boat on the Norbury Wharf long term moorings that has an Owl living, last time I photographed it there was a long eared owl, today its a Barn Owl.

CRT must be quite concerned about these embankments, not only have they replaced the stop gates, on the off side below Norbury Junction  they have cleared the trees.

This canal is quite well know for its Kingfishers and today we weren't disappointed. This one splashed into and out of the canal before landing on the

mooring lines of this boat. As well as ones flying ahead we passed at least one who just sat and watched us go, I wonder how many more did that, of course we were passed before I could think of picking up the camera. Likewise Herons Buzzards and Red Tailed Kites.
This weekend is the Gnosall festival and as you can imagine the canal is full of boats trading for theweekend. We have friends Anne and Oli there so we pulled alongside their boat and had a quick chat before pressing on. Lots of traders are now using small push tugs to trade from, this gives them an overall length of 70 feet so can go through a lock as a unit but gives them somewhere outside their living accommodation to trade from.

A new one for me today, a field of poppies, I had never considered where poppy seeds for cooking come from, I always assumed abroad, but maybe this is where that start life.

Things have been going well as far as prop fouls go but today I was just coming out of a bridge hole with a day boat coming the other way, shouldn’t have been a problem but they hit revers and slewed right across the cut, I engaged revers and after an initial slowing down nothing, I had this carpet round the prop.
We moored at little Onn just beyond Reyhill Bridge 22. We hadn’t been here long when I heard an old working boat coming towards us  and it was towing what I can only describe as a mud hopper behind with a chap sitting on a folding chair steering it.

Today’s Journey

14 miles, no locks  in 5¾ hours