Three Bears and Four Counties: Part Three - Sunshine and Showers

 When we woke up the next morning, it was quite foggy.  Over breakfast, Grizzly said we had quite a long journey ahead.

'You might recognise the junction we'll pass very soon,' said Grizzly, settling us into the cratch, and he was right.  We had been to Norbury Junction earlier in the year, after we visited the snowdrop woods at Loynton Moss, and we'd had a nice lunch at the pub.

Although it's not really a junction now, the old Shrewsbury and Telford Canal used to run west from here.  You can see a little arm under the bridge which used to lead to a flight of locks, but is now just a boatyard.  However, there is a busy little society campaigning to restore the canal and there are some sections in water further along the route that we hope to visit one day. 

A little further down the canal, we came to a village called Gnosall.  Polar and Grizzly went ashore to see if there was a local shop where they could get some Brasso for cleaning the lamps and tiller, but there wasn't, so we were soon on our way again.

We saw another boat with an interesting name, which set us chatting about The Hobbit and trying to remember the riddles Bilbo and Gollum told each other.  When we looked up, however, we had a shock, as it looked as though we were going into a big cave.

'I hope there aren't any dragons in there!' said Endon. 

Of course there weren't, because we were actually in a short canal tunnel, hacked through the sandstone.  Uppie's new headlight worked very well.

We had lunch at Wheaton Aston, then Polar and Grizzly took Uppie through the lock, which was our last one until the little stop lock at the end of the Shroppie.  

Gradually, the sun came out and the day got warmer, and soon it was very hot out in the cratch.

'Let's ask Polar and Grizzly if we can go up on the roof,' I suggested.  'We'll be roasted bears if we stay in here!'

Polar and Grizzly said we were welcome on the roof, as long as we put our life jackets on, so we quickly slipped them on and enjoyed a lovely afternoon cruising down to the village of Brewood, where we stopped for the night.

The next morning was bright but cool, so we bears decided to have a day in the cratch and watch the scenery from the bow of the boat.  It was very still, so the reflections were very pretty.

We knew we were nearly at the junction with the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal when we went under the M54 motorway.

It wasn't long before we were back into peaceful countryside, however.  It was hard to believe that we were now quite close to the busy City of Wolverhampton.

After a few more miles of very quiet canal, we saw some moored boats and the stop-lock at Autherley Junction in the distance.  Perched on top of one boat was a huge heron.

'I hope he doesn't do a poo on that boat,' said Hanley.  'Polar and Grizzly say it's very messy when ducks, geese or herons poo on your boat!'

When we reached the junction, we had to turn left to head north-east, up the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal.  If we had turned right, that canal would have taken us all the way to the River Severn.  Perhaps we'll go that way another time?

We passed another old canal junction, Hatherton Junction, where there used to be a canal leading to into the coalfields around Cannock, and stopped for the night just after passing Gailey Wharf.

We bears were looking forward to another day when it might be warm and still, so we could go up on the roof, but the next morning was so wet, Polar and Grizzly decided not to move off until after lunch.  They settled down to read and do some chores on the boat.

'What can we do?' asked Endon.  'We could play dominoes, perhaps?'

'No, that's boring - let's play football!' said Hanley, getting his Stoke City ball out of our basket and dribbling it across the wooden floor.  'You're the goalkeeper, Sonning!'

Hanley and Endon passed the ball backwards and forwards between them a few times, until Hanley thought he could surprise me with a shot - but I just saved it, with the tip of my paw!

We found the new floor was great for playing football, although Polar gave us a hard stare when one of Hanley's enthusiastic headers sent the ball up onto the kitchen worktop when she was getting lunch.

After we all had lunch, our human guardians decided to set off, as the rain had eased a little.  There were several locks to work through to reach Penkridge and the M6 was close beside us a lot of the way.

We thought about stopping in Penkridge, but decided to press on, which meant working through three more locks to get to a quiet spot away from the motorway.

'We should be back at the Trent and Mersey Canal tomorrow,' said Polar.  'But we'll still be on a section the smaller bears haven't seen before.'

'It's been brilliant so far,' said Hanley Bear.  'Although I like it when we see more mills and steam railways.'

'There is still so much of the canal network we'd like to explore,' I said.

'We'll make sure you do, little bears,' Polar said.  'Now, who would like rice pudding for tea?'

And we all cheered.