Return from Norbury

Return from Norbury

3rd August 2013

All that rain hammering on the roof gave us a broken nights sleep, struggling to get to sleep and then to stay that way. The storms also dropped the temperature and we woke shivering under a thin throw and went in search of the duvet to keep us warm.

We winded at Norbury, taking advantage of the water and elsan point, passing Sue Cawson (Historic Narrowboat Society) who emerged from her boat just as we had passed.

Whilst the wind had got up, the day remained warm enough for tee shirts and shorts as we journey through Gnosall and then Stretton, catching a fleeting glimpse of Montgomery on the hard standing.

Shropshire Union Canal at Stretton

Brewood was heaving with the visitor moorings rammed and the Overflow area to the north of the bridge packed for a long way towards Countrywide Cruisers. I'm not sure what was on my Brewood was clearly the place to be.

Montgomery under wraps

Brewood is also home to some interesting craft including Eric Bloodaxe, Citus and most recently Tycho - an old ice breaker with the most amazing ram on the front.

There is only only Tycho!

Our journey took us back past a long line of cherry trees which we took full advantage of. We pulled in to the offside and picked from the room, hanging on to the branched. Each time a boat came past we were sucked forward to the next tree so we gradually slid down the entire row. Of course, this attracted much comment from passers by who's curiosity was satisfied by a handful of cherries lobbed across the canal.

This was followed by a couple of hours of stoning and ended up with about 8 kilos of cherries which morphed into 50 jars of yummy Wild Cherry Jam.

It was a long day of travel and got back to the marina at 8.30, spending a final night aboard before leaving for church and another week at work. If you are attending Blisworth Festival next weekend why not seek us out and try some of the Wild Cherry jam for yourselves?