part 3 - The Return - in stages

I felt much more relaxed on leaving Market Drayton, as at least I knew what was in front of me as I retraced my wake. The weather, which at the beginning of my journey would have suited Noah and his ark, had steadily improved and as I left Market Drayton, the sky was blue, the temperature was climbing and all was right with the world.

We skipped up the Tyrley lock flight, without unfortunately pausing to take a photo . The only challenge at these locks was presented by water gushing out at great speed from about 3 feet up the cliff wall as we approached the bottom lock. This had the effect of pushing the boat to the left, spoiling my line to enter the lock. The only way to negotiate the lock entrance was barreling through at speed and hoping I had judged it correctly. Fortunately I managed it with my paintwork intact.

Next we faced the infamous Woodseaves cutting for a second time. I felt more anxious on this return trip as I knew exactly what was coming! This time the fates were not so kind as I met 3 different boats coming towards me, two of whom decided that I would be much better at reversing than they would! On the first occasion I managed to back into what was laughingly called a passing place, which I would describe as a mere niche in the cliff. The second time the boat approached was on a bend and my reversing skills were tested beyond their limit. I had to grab my rope, jump over 5 foot high nettles onto the tow path and stern haul her to the gap. I was unbelievably grateful to the final boat when its skipper waved me forward as he neatly slipped his boat into the undergrowth which concealed a passing place. As the light returned and the canal widened, it felt a bit like escaping from the River Styx!

I moored about a mile on, near absolutely nowhere, for a late lunch. After giving Bonny a well deserved run, my appetite for moving on waned and since we were no longer on a timetable I decided to stay for the rest of the day and explore the countryside. It was a lovely feeling not being under any time pressure. The rest of the day was spent mooching about and sunbathing whilst sipping a cold glass of wine - perfection!

One of my more inspired ideas came in handy the next morning. It had got really hot and Bonny was finding it difficult on the roof, but really didn't want to go below. Before I left I had thought about this and had brought the weighted bottom of my parasol, together with a large golf umbrella - a gift from my golfing brother. I popped the brolly into the parasol base and Bonny had a shady area to lie in. The only downside was that the brolly was just a bit too tall for some of the Lilliputian bridges which meant I needed to remember to whip it out of the base before we reached each bridge. I only forgot once, but that was enough to almost dislodge both the base and Bonny from the roof - my brolly hasn't been the same since.

By this time, we had slowed to an absolute crawl and after only 3 hours cruising I tied up for the day back at Norton Junction to enjoy doing absolutely nothing, bar watching the water world go by!