Four Counties Ring

30th June 2007
Four Counties Ring - Clockwise
Whateley's wanderings

109 Miles
94 Locks
6 Days

Martin and Adam celebrated Adam's end of school with a boat trip round the Four Counties Ring. It should have been a nice trip but the summer of 2007 happened to them in the form of torrential rain - it was the week Sheffield flooded and nearly trapped the Captain in his car.

The pair were delayed on the Middlewich Branch when a landslide including a tree blocked their path. Notwithstanding this delay, they still managed the ring in six days. This pair are fast!

Mr Truth's lads week away

16th to 23rd June 2007
Black Country Ring clockwise, plus extras
Staffs & Worcs, Trent and Mersey, Coventry, Birmingham & Fazely and the BCN

132 Miles
113 Locks
7 Days

Mr Truth is a core and founding member of the "boat boys" and has a great enthusiasm for organising weeks or weekends away. Sometimes its fishing, sometimes boating and sometimes even riding bikes from one end of the country to the other.

Mr Truth organised this trip with a relay of crew members, whit himself being the only constant factor. He had good weather till he attempted to make a one day return journey from Kidderminster under a constant torrential downpour. After 12 hours of rain even his enthusiasm for boating started to fade. He, and two very energetic crew members attempted a record descent of the Titford flight, managing 23 mins top to bottom (the two of us managed 29 mins a month or so earlier). Is this a record?

Diversions included a trip to Tardebigge Top Lock and Kidderminster, having passed out of the BCN via The Delph.

On his return I heard the first murmurings of discontent about the smell in the loo. More about that in later posts.

Grub Street and back

9th to 11th June 2007
Calf Heath to Grub Street
Shropshire Union

Day one - to Fox and Anchor at Coven

2 Miles

0 Locks

My mother, Matilda, was over for the weekend so a boat trip was in order. The problem was Jeff - he has a youth group trip planned to Waterworld in Stoke, so our departure was much delayed.

In the event Matilda, Tilly and I drove over the Calf Heath after lunch and I set about painting on one side of the cream coach lines. It was a sweltering day so whilst I sweated in the sun, Matilda and Tilly wandered off to find some shade.

In late afternoon I returned to Sutton to pick up Jeff and returned to Wand'ring Bark with just enough time to trundle down to the Fox and Anchor and a drink in the cool of the evening.

Day 2 - Coven to Grub Street and back to Gnosall

26 Miles

2 Locks

We made the very familiar run to Gnosall on a glorious summer day, mooring at the Navigation Inn at Gnosall, where we met up with Belle and shared a pub meal in the garden to the rear. With Tilly and Jeff whisked off back to school, and lots of light left in the sky, Matilda took little encouragement to cast off and take a trip through Norbury into Grub Street cutting. Time was short so we winded in the hole mid way down the final stretch of cutting and returned to Gnosall for the night.

Day 3 - Gnosall to Calf Heath

18 Miles

2 Locks

A routine return trip to Calf Heath, filling up with diesel at Wheaton Aston as we passed by.