Fradley Junction

A fine morning but very overcast, I was surprised by the number of owl calls I heard yesterday evening.
It was about half ten when we set off just after a boat had passed. Rugeley was absolutely packed with boats unlike last week when we came the other way. We did have a slight amount of drizzle but not enough to put a coat on.  We had a clear run through Armitage tunnel but after that we started catching up with the boat ahead, the one that had gone by just as we were about to push off which was strange as they had been well ahead until now. As we got closer we could see that it was a change of steerer, but not going terribly slow. At Kings Bromley Marina we started meeting more boats and the boat ahead had changed steerer again and had speeded up. JF Boat Building at Kings Bromley Wharf had their crane in use, there are not many places around here where you can get a boat lifted in or out. Also it give you the ability to put a boat on stands so you can get underneath for survey or blacking.

At Woodend Lock the boat we were following had only just entered the lock due to the bottom paddles being drawn as he came against the lock mooing. There were another couple of boats below waiting to come up, so it was just one for one. Down at Fradley Junction the Volockies were on the locks, as we approached Shade house a boat was just coming up, but at Middle lock the Volockie turned it ready for us with no more traffic about. The fungi are doing well on the off side with a fine collection of different specimens.

At the junction we turned into the Coventry Canal, Diana hopping off at the bows to open and close the swing bridge, we were lucky in that there was room to moor after about 4 boats, other than that it looked quite full.

Today’s Journey

8½ miles, 3 locks in 3½ hours