We filled the diesel tank today. It cost about £131 ($171), which seems like a lot, but the last time we filled it was May 26th near Leeds, so that means we are spending about £3.45 ($4.50) a day in fuel. In fact our fuel costs are cheaper than the cost of traveling by train to the same places. We also stopped for groceries at Gnosall Heath, a fact which I mention only because it is pronounced NO-zull. The Shroppie…
Tyrley (pronounced TUR-lee) Locks must be some of the prettiest in the country. There are five of them, with the lowest cut into sandstone bedrock… … and the upper one with a pretty cottage. They are also difficult to get into because of the vicious side weirs which push you off course, the worst we have seen yet. The first one was particularly nasty, and it was only a couple of locks later that I worked out what I should…
Today was a hard slog up twenty two locks, with a flight of two, a flight of fifteen, and a flight of five. We have climbed from the Cheshire Plain to the Shropshire Plain, over a distance of about ten miles. These were all narrow locks with only room for one boat, and only a few inches clearance on each side. It took both Paula and I a few tries to get our precision steering chops back, especially as most…