Fazeley (no more muddy work clothes)



I was in two minds whether to have a cruise or not on Thursday.  My children had given me some independent restaurant meal vouchers for my birthday so I based my decision on whether the pub we are moored by takes them or not.  It turned out that they didn’t, so that meant Buddy and I would take a cruise.  Probably the best decision as the towpath is so muddy at Huddlesford that it’s making Karen’s walk to the car really tricky in the morning and evening especially in the dark.

By the time we got going three of the other six boats we were moored with had already set off so maybe we all had the same idea.  We stopped at Whittington to get some milk; a village Karen and I like as it doesn’t seem to have a ‘rat run’ road through it.


Moored for our walk into Whittington
As we neared Hopwas woods we had to avoid two rather large tree trunks.  They were too heavy for me to drag them out of harm's way so I had to leave them in the water,

We carried on another few miles and moored up for lunch in Hopwas.  We have always thought that Hopwas looked a good place to stop – another quiet village with good looking pubs.

The Tame Otter in Hopwas
I was quite surprised when Buddy and I walked around as it has a main road running right through it.  Also we couldn’t find any sensible places to leave the car so Hopwas has been crossed off our list of places to tie up for a while.

When we first left Huddlesford in the morning we passed the junction with the old  Wyrley & Essington canal. 

This used to run right down to join the Birmingham Canal Navigations in Brownhils but was abandoned in the 1950s and this little section is used for moorings.  The canal is being restored though and will be called the Lichfield canal.  Those of you who use the M6 toll road may have noticed an iron bridge crossing it that is not going anywhere.  It has a sign by it telling you it is the Lichfield canal aqueduct.  One day the restorers will join the canal up to both ends.

We stopped at Fazeley junction for boat services and then moved the boat over to the towpath side and moored for the day.

Moored at Fazeley junction opposite the boat services on the right
We will probably stay here for a few days as the towpath is not muddy and Karen can park the car at the end of this alleyway that leads from the estate up to the canal where our boat is moored at the end!

Karen is really enjoying her contract and has now got agreement that she can WFB on Fridays which is brilliant news.  

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