Rammed

Its always busy at Tixall Lock

We cast off at 8.15 though the Captain woke me at 6.00 clattering around in the kitchen. Apparently Lottie had woken him and asked for her duvet to be put over her, and he made a cup of tea as he couldn’t get back to sleep.

but it is a peaceful place

We had only four locks remaining on this trip, the first one was ready to enter. It was lovely to enjoy the views on this part of the canal; normally we have done this section in stiff winds and heavy cloud. We reached Tixall Lock in time to see a boat emerging, however a man on the lock side closed the gate and ran to open the paddles to drain the lock. When this happens I am happy to stand around and watch the crew work the lock, clearly they were in a hurry. He was. He hustled his posh boat in and closed the gate then ran to my end to start filling.

“You’ve left a paddle up,” I said. He ignored me and started winding the top paddle. “It won’t fill with a paddle up,” I repeated. He turned his back on me.

view from the Wide

His wife heard me and called him back but he shouted, “Its fine.” She pointed to the raised paddle and he sprinted back to lower it. Just then a hire boat hurtled into the bushes below the lock. Clearly the barrier across the canal had come as a surprise to the helmsperson.

Posh boater worked the lock red faced while I watched the hire boat crew punt their way out of the bushes and return to the lock pins. Silently the posh boater lowered the paddles my end and opened the gate. Then he stormed off to rejoin his wife. If that’s the way the posh crew work I’m glad to be a commoner.

As I closed the gate behind our boat an eager boy ran up from the hire boat below and put the paddles up. A man from the hire boat behind me told me I could get Lottie back on board as they would open the gates for me. Both hire boat crews seemed far happier than the grumpy man in a hurry.

plenty of spaces at the other end

We were surprised by the lack of boats moored on Tixall Wide but not by the wind that blew across it. I hadn’t noticed the wind before so Tixall Wide wins the booby prize for the windiest mooring. We went past the moored boats and turned onto the Trent and Mersey canal. After going straight into Great Hayward lock we cruised past Shrugborough House. 

I waved to a lady with a buggy and two hounds  just before we moored opposite Shrugborough park.

Shrugborough House

While we were mooring I spotted a doll lying on the tow path. From its immaculate condition it hadn’t been there long. I called after the lady with the buggy but she couldn’t hear me. Hampered by cyclists whizzing past and Lottie trying to sniff the hedgerow I called to the boaters to stop the lady.

The call went along from one boat to another then a third. The lady turned round and the man on the third boat pointed to me. I held up the doll.

and our quiet mooring further along the park

The lady came back and reclaimed her daughter’s lost toy. Apparently she had retraced her steps along the canal to look for it but must have turned back just before our mooring spot. She was delighted that the search was over and her daughter was happy again.

We were having lunch when an Anglo Welsh boat rammed us at full speed. The cupboard doors flew open an the glasses tipped over but nothing broke.

“How can you swerve into a boat on a long wide straight bit,” The Captain yelled. He looked over the side but there was no obvious damage on our steel hull. The Anglo Welsh boaters were apologetic but it was strange how they lost control on an easy bit of canal. I guess they were travelling far too fast.

We had a quiet evening apart from the cows lowing. Tomorrow we have an easy cruise back to base.