On Friday October 3rd we only had two locks to operate, one at Gailey and
one at our destination, Compton so we had a relatively easy day. Our plan was to
meet up at the weekend with our friends the Kinnings who live near
Wolverhampton.
Gailey Round House
We don’t often pass along the Penkridge to Autherley section
of the Staffs & Worcester Canal and I had forgotten how rural and pleasant
it is.
Hatherton Junction Calf Heath
Pendeford Narrows - no oncoming boats - luckily
Autherley Junction
We moored up for lunch just past Autherley Junction in
sunshine. Our quiet lunch was somewhat interrupted by a scooter with a boy and
girl on board (of course not wearing crash helmets) riding along the towpath at
high speed. We have seen mini scooters on towpaths before but this scooter was
dangerous, particularly since a school party on a “fun run” passed by some
minutes earlier. I tried photographing the bikers – but to no avail.
Scooter on the towpath - no licence plate
We saw another kingfisher near Tettenhall and yet another at
Compton as we moored up. The next boat, Pensax was running its Gardner engine.
I had a very interesting chat to its owner, Don Grey, whose background in
boating was long and varied. It included owning a Bollinder and converting a
BCN working boat. His details on how to reverse a Bollinder were particularly
fascinating. I also liked his story of going from Wigan to Leeds on the Leeds
& Liverpool Canal over a weekend!
Although at lunchtime I had good internet coverage, again on
Friday evening, I couldn’t make a post – hey ho.
Fig tree in allotments, Compton
The 48 hr moorings at
Compton are very handy for local shops. In the evening we took the opportunity
to stock up on groceries and had some fish & chips from the local chippie. The queue was
long and their portions very generous.
