All things bright and beautiful . . .

At the end of yesterday's jollifications Gwyneth brought me back to Chyandour as she has early commitments today and I want to get to Penkridge for tonight if at all possible. As it turned out I slept on a bit longer than usual and did not get away from the mooring until just after 7.00am. It did turn out to be good timing because, having made the turn at Great Haywood onto the Staffordshire & Worcestershire Canal, I was able to take on some diesel fuel at the Anglo-Welsh Boatyard before they had to deal with their hire boat changeover day.

The Staffs & Worcs Canal is one of the prettier canals and, before very long I was passing Tixall Wide. This amazing section resembles a lake more than a canal and is renowned for its population of Kingfishers, although I did not spot any today.

One other "feature" of this canal is that, where it is bordered by woodland on both sides, it tends to be rather shallow and it is easy to get mud-bound, especially if, like Chyandour, your boat sits low in the water. I managed to avoid getting seriously stuck, but I was able to help a Viking Afloat boat that was rather immovable, by towing it backwards off the mud shelf on which it had stuck fast.

Canal boating is recognised by many as a contact sport!

The weather remained reasonably clement, and I moored up on the outskirts of Penkridge at about 1.00pm. That turned out well because, by late afternoon and into the night, the rain came down with a vengeance, and I was glad to be inside.