Reversing

The turn on to the Shroppie under the bridge at Autherley junction is very sharp. We managed it perfectly, only to find there was a crew-less boat in the stop-lock – she'd been dropping off rubbish while the water went down its normal 6 inches. So I reversed out of the bridge-hole to let her emerge. We were only going up there for water – Nicholson's Guide says the next water point down the Staffs and Worcs canal is a long way away, and we were needing to fill up, but the only tap at the junction is about 50 yards up the Shroppie. This can make taking on water a long procedure. The stop-lock often has a queue, and today was no exception, and then the next winding hole is about two miles further on.

Although, as I noted yesterday, we're in no particular hurry, I decided I wouldn't go up and wind. Instead, I reversed back to and through the stop-lock. There's a boat-hire agency here and lots of people doing things, but we managed to negotiate the space between the various boats and emerge with them, and Erin Mae, unscathed. Very satisfactory!

Back on track we stopped at Oxley Marine to get some machine screws replaced in the back-door lock. We hadn't met Dave (who did it) before but I was kicking myself afterwards for not having got a photo of him doing it. It seems mandatory for all the engineers at Oxley Marine to have long white beards. Orph and Phil have them and Dave's, if anything, is the longest of the lot. I wanted the evidence on the blog! That's twice in three days I didn't think quickly enough about getting out the snapper.

No particular hurry

We're heading for Kinver to get Wilson's to look at the pram hood cover. But we're in no particular hurry. So we allowed a few boats to pass as we packed up this morning, and then followed them at a leisurely pace. It was all very pleasant. The only excitement was at one of the bridge / sharp bend combinations on this stretch, where a 35-footer was approaching far too fast what was, for them, a blind corner. I saw their bows appearing, slowed and tooted. They slammed on the brakes, slid to the outside of the bend and didn't seem very aware of the difficulties with the angles they were creating as we came through. La-de-da and lackaday – what did it matter on a nice, sunny morning?

In spite of going at a relative dawdle, we nearly caught up the boat in front as they were about to enter the quarter-mile narrows on the run down to Autherley Junction. We'd noticed when they passed earlier that they had a Silsden boat – we got to know their base in Yorkshire pretty well last summer.

They're a long way from home if they really are hiring. But perhaps they bought a retired boat and hadn't yet got round to removing the Silsden Boats plaques on the side. Anyway, they and we came through the narrows without meeting anything coming the other way. We needed to visit the supermarket, so tied up on the armco just beyond bridge 67.

I still remember finding this spot the first time we came this way. We could hardly believe we were in Wolverhampton!

There's a large area of grass and trees between the canal and the Pendeford estate – it's all very pleasant. So after a walk to Morrisons and back we ate some lunch in the shade of a tree – and then the downpour came. It was all positively Brazilian and we felt justified in deciding to stay put. After all, we're in no particular hurry!

Not going anywhere

We slept well in this delightful, quiet spot and, having thought about it briefly, decided we should stay put for the day. We could relax, and get a few jobs done, and the evening meal was already in the fridge. It wasn't long before we were joined in our solitude by a visitor.

It turned out he'd brought his missus with him.

All very idyllic it was, but the peace was about to be shattered!

Such canoe-groups have become commonplace around this time of year. I'm sure parents who want to argue for the right to take their children out of school during term-time for a holiday could use them as evidence for something. You hear them long before they come round the corner.

The teachers would no doubt argue they are learning, though they might find it hard to specify exactly what. One child here was undoubtedly learning to swim – all part of the serendipitous activity of a school trip.

I don't think anyone could argue successfully that they were learning team-work. This photo (from Erin Mae's side-hatch) needs a sound-track – they were lined up across the cut, completely blocking the navigation and not going anywhere as two narrowboats approached, one from each direction! They were, however, having a stunningly enjoyable time. I expect that, for most of them, it beat the socks off learning how to spell leptospirosis.

Now they've just retraced their steps and, I have to say, they went past much quicker than the first time. Perhaps they did learn some team-work after all.

And peace reigns again.

Many meetings

Taking on water after coming up Penkridge lock we got chatting to Michael, back in this country on a trip with his New Zealander wife. She, being a high school head, had gone off to discuss some educational principles being used in a local school – leaving Michael to eat an ice-cream on this super-hot day and investigate canals and boating, courtesy of the CRT notice-boards and a conversation with yours truly. We also chatted about educational things, and he gave me a theorist's name to follow up on later. Thank you, Michael – I enjoyed it. Sorry I forgot to get a photo to put up here!

At Otherton lock we encountered a boat to add to my list of Tolkien-themed names. NB Frodo's Dream was coming down the lock as we waited.

On the bows, where some have decorative designs and some have a name, we saw this.

I know enough to identify this as Elvish script, but not enough to offer a translation. Perhaps a reader could leave one in a comment…

Amazingly, between Gailey and the Hatherton branch we came across another boat for the collection. The list grows – I'll put it at the end of this post.

Opposite the Hatherton branch they were putting in some new Armco.

Nice to see some work being done, but I wonder if they'll ever be able to do anything about the depth of this section of the canal. They've done some good work between Great Haywood and Milford, clearing a section that had become very narrow and shallow. Perhaps there are extra complications here. We passed a boat that was trying to moor up, completely unsuccessfully, because they couldn't get in to the bank. We, on the other hand, have found ourselves a delightful spot to spend the late afternoon and evening. The map shows us to be in the middle of a network of roads, but all we can hear are the countryside sounds, and all we can see is the blossom and the fields beyond.

Anyway, here is the updated list of those Tolkien-themed boat names we've spotted.

Arwen Evenstar
Aragorn
Bilbo Baggins
Brandywine
Earls of Rohan
Frodo’s Dream
Galadriel
Gandalf
Goldberry
Hobbit
Lord of the Rings
Lóthlórien
Many Meetings
Riddles in the Dark
Rivendell
Shadowfax
Silmaril
Smaug
Strider
There and Back Again
Thorin

Out at last

We actually got out of the marina yesterday, but I wanted to write about Steve giving up smoking! We  cruised to Radford Bank, and then came on to Penkridge today in the sunshine. Hardly any traffic around, so we were surprised to find a queue at Deptmore Lock.

We were joined from behind by a family of Viking hirers, who helped us up.

In Acton Trussell the canal-side gardens, as ever, were in fine fettle.

We also found ourselves queueing at succeeding locks, not least at Longford, where one paddle was broken and the lock took an age to fill. But then it was just a short way to Penkridge, and we decided to tie up on the run in, even though the pound was down by about a foot.

We've never moored up here before, but we had an ulterior motive. The final of the French Open had already started, and it looked as though there would be good TV reception here! So we settled down and, as I write, Andy Murray has just lost. Perhaps we should have gone on to our normal spot above Filance Lock!

This being the second day of our trip, the real test of Erin Mae's 12 volt revolution has started. I'm happy to report that, overnight, the SmartGauge registered 88% for the batteries' state-of-charge, even though we watched a 90 minute episode of Hinterland last night. With two and a half hours cruising and the sunshine, the batteries are fully charged again, and the solar panel is doing what it should. It's all about balancing input and output, supply and consumption. So far I'm very happy.

Hero of the day!

Steve is the manager of Great Haywood marina, Erin Mae's home when we're not travelling.

Three days ago, after 43 years, he gave up smoking! Motivation? The grandchildren – especially the new one due tomorrow.

I don't have a clue what it must feel like – "buzzing in the head" is what he said today. Strength to your arm, Steve. You're a hero!

Toothbrush

How much would you pay for a toothbrush? Four for a pound from Tesco? £2.50 for something from Colgate because they're supposed to know about teeth? How long do you make yours last – and would you expect a more expensive one to last longer, or just reach the parts that other toothbrushes don't reach? When our dentist recommended an electric Oral-B some time ago, we bought the bottom-of-the-range model and loved it. Replacement heads are as expensive as manual toothbrushes, but you can usually find them for a reasonable price somewhere. We wouldn't want to go back.

However, I couldn't find any way to charge the Oral-B that didn't require mains voltage. It was going to be the one item on Erin Mae that needed regular charging via the inverter (apart from my archaic phone which I hardly ever use). Perhaps we could charge it every time we cruised, but this wouldn't be very satisfactory. So what were the alternatives? Toothbrushes with replaceable batteries seem to have gone out of fashion. Finally, I came across what must be the only toothbrush on the market which will connect to a USB source – you can charge it via your computer, or a 12 volt outlet in your car or in your boat! It's made by Philips. And the list price is £250.

It was, however, available on Amazon for £80. I nearly wrote "just £80", but corrected myself. That brought it down into (the top end of) the price range for other, mains-only models. But who sets the list price for these things? Granted, its charging systems are all rather nifty, especially the USB-connected case which both protects and charges it when you're travelling. But no way is there £250-worth of goodies in the kit. At £80, on the other hand…

In the end we decided to buy it, and it's charging as I write. It's cornered the market for USB-powered toothbrushes, and so can set its own price – but it does exactly what we needed to keep Erin Mae an inverter-free zone for long periods.

Only time will tell, of course, whether its results meet our dentist's approval at the next check-up.