Grubb Street Cutting is colourful on the cut

Gnosall to Old Lee, Shropshire Union Canal, 5 miles 0 locks

If there is one thing I just hate about this boat is its length when we moor.  At 67 feet, it is a long way from the stern to the bows, and I have to walk there if possible you see.  I like to put the pins in at the stern and tie up, then walk to the bows to help Vic do the same.  But so many times on that journey I walk in a load of dog poo.  Why or why do people just take their dogs out along footpaths to let them poo all over the place not caring one bit about it.  After all it is not their back garden so why should they worry..

This last couple of weeks I have stood in so much of the stuff when mooring I lost count.. but it hasn’t all been bad today. We pulled the pins this morning from Gnosall, and I let Vic take NP on to Norbury where we planned to put water onboard, while I took Shank’s Pony with Lucy and Meg.  But just before we left a narrowboat passed that I think John and Fiona of NB Epiphany might know about.. hope this pic brings back some memories you two!..

Walking the towpath gave me an opportunity to take some late Autumn pics …

The above just after we left Gnosall, and this one as we reached the Norbury embankment….

You can see how the gate, on the far side there, can be swung over to shut off the canal if there was a breach along the embankment, stopping the water from escaping through that gap and out of the breach.. and it does happen… the most famous this year on the Mon and Brec in Wales.

We stopped at Norbury for water and had lunch too before setting off again towards Shebdon.

This canal is full of embankments and cuttings, and here the next pic as we reach Grubb Street cutting..

The colours of the cut are still very vibrant, although it was very noticeable today that the leaves are giving up.  In the breeze they are falling like huge snowflakes onto the towpaths and into the canal.. ha … some of them are the wrong type of leaves for narrowboats too, and they jam up the spaces around the prop, making the boat move slower and slower.  But a sharp change from forward to reverse gear usually chucks off most of them..

High bridges too are a feature around where we are at the moment, I am still in awe at the work that was carried out to actually build this canal.. with no machinery all this lot cut out..

This is called Double Culvert Bridge.. But I fear this weekend we will say goodbye to these lovely Autumn colours, storms are brewing I hear.  Tomorrow we will be topping up our roof with some wood that we spotted when we were going the other way, probably then taking a couple of days off cruising finding a nice quiet, remote mooring to enjoy.