New Year Cruise - Day Two

A real mixed bag of weather today, everything from winter sunshine to very cold rain showers, and the odd hail stone. We set off at 8.45, heading north. I have to admit that this is not my favourite section of the Shroppie. There are miles of moored boats, which makes progress rather slow, and much of the canal is in a straight line. However, the old Cadbury factory at Knighton looked lovely in the sunshine, and as we passed Goldstone Wharf a man on a moored boat called Andante asked if we were the Debdale bloggers.



The canal was mostly liquid, although there were plenty of sheets of ice floating in the water. They seemed to collect at bridge holes. The lock sides of the top two Tyrley Locks were like skating rinks, and I couldn't even get enough grip to properly close the top gate of Lock 2.

We stopped for water at Market Drayton, and as it was 1pm had lunch while the tank filled. We carried on for another hour or so, to the moorings at the top of the Adderley Locks. It's a nice spot, but we're a good eighteen inches out from the edge, thanks to the famous Shroppie Shelf. Once moored, I made some pastry, which I turned into mince pies. Although I'd remembered cutters and a pie tin, I hadn;t brought a rolling pin, so I improvised and used an empty wine bottle. Thank goodness there was one to hand!

14 miles, 5 locks.