Tuesday 18 June 2019 Day 53: Penkridge to start of Tixall Wide

We set off at 9.15am after Mike and Tim returned from a shopping expedition for vital supplies.

And less than five minutes later we were back out in the countryside

Although we were soon joined by the M6 on one side of the canal (and the River Penk on the other). The continual roar of the traffic came as a bit of shock after the quiet of the of the past few weeks.

The canal continued to snake

it's way along the east side of the Penk valley

Very desirable canal side house

with its own private mooring

Some concentration required here

I'm going to bore you with some more heron shots

This is the first coot baby we have seen

Effigy at Acton Trussel

And another. If I remember correctly, witches and wizards was the theme when we last cruised through here.

Once through Acton Trussel we cruised through more countryside

Reminder of the recent rains

Radford Meadows which form part of the River Penk's floodplain benefited from the rain. The Meadows are administered by the Staffordshire Wildlife Trust as a nature reserve and public access is is restricted to special events, which is just as well when you see the housing crowding along the Meadow's margins.

Soon after passing the end of the meadows we pulled up just after bridge 98 about 12.20pm for lunch at a conveniently placed canalside pub. One could choose from a carvery or regular pub menu. With the large variety of veg at the carvery looking fresh and tasty we all opted it. And it certainly made up for missing out on Sunday Roast and having to eat my miserable sausage concoction instead.

Around 2.30, we untied and set off again, heading for Tixall Wide, although we were doubtful of finding a vacant mooring.

This post marks the site where there once stood a lock through which boats would go down onto the River Sow, which having been dredged and realigned could take boats into the heart of Stafford.
There are plans afoot to restore the long lost route to boost the county town's economy. (But don't hold your breath - most canal restorations seem to take 30 years plus, relying as they do on fund raising, grants and a volunteer work force)

Scary new housing development marching across and gobbling up former farmland.  Tim and Mike tell us it is going on all across England.

The canal now meanders through the valley of the River Sow

Crossing the Sow Aqueduct

 Lovely mature garden with and ugly new house - most unfortunate

Lock cottage at our last lock of the day, not that there were many, Tixall Lock

We didn't quite make it to Tixall Wide, find an isolated spot  100 metres in front of this boat, which coincidentally we met on the Macclesfield Canal. After mooring up I walked the few hundred metres onto the 'Wide' and decided we'd made the right choice - although there were a couple of moorings available the Wide was pretty choc a bloc and where we were between two bends, nobody could moor directly in front of behind us.

View from the bow

8 miles. 5 locks, 6 hours