Drayton done and on our way

I'm not sure if it was the turn of the weather that prompted me to have a look at the stove after mooring up yesterday but as the catch to close the door had seized up and broken I thought I had better fettle it as I had bought the bits a couple of months ago.

The old one came out much easier than I was expecting after a liberal dousing of WD40. The old one is at the bottom and you can see where the nut on the end of the spindle has sheared off.

I have a spare glass too as I thought I may break it getting the handle out. The glass is a little loose so I may have a go at it later, after letting some more WD40 soak in. I'm not sure whether I should replace the rope too.

Last night we went to the Red Lion, the brewery tap of Joules Brewery, and had the Chippie Tea special. fish and chips and a pint for under £10. This allowed me to try three of the beers on offer.

We walked back into town as Helen wanted to get some of the Billington's Ginger Bread. We had read that Market Drayton was famous for it's gingerbread, but there appeared to be no sign of it when we were here the last time but they had a stall at the Nantwich and Cheese Show. She wanted them for presents. It was first made here in 1793 and may have had something to do with Clive of India, a local lad, and the Spice Trade routes, but the commercial operation started in 1817. The recipe has been passed down and sold on . It is called Billington's but this name didn't happen until 1864. It is now made on an industrial estate in the town.

Once underway we were soon passing the new moorings on the outskirts of Market Drayton. It is all relatively new but used to be the site of Lady Line that ran a hire business, boat sales, chandlery and moorings before going bust. The land has been sold for housing and the moorings have been revamped. It is quite unusual as the pontoons etc are all open to the housing next to the wharf.

Betton Mill was built in 1905 for James Henry Jones as a warehouse for corn. He later also became a miller and there was a engine attached to the building to drive the machinery. In 2000/01 it was converted to offices and apartments. I love the ventilation grill at the apex of the building.

Next to the mill was the old Market Drayton Wharf. It has always been split into two with one half been run by the Birmingham and Liverpool Junction Canal Co and the other half occupied by a coal merchants. Part is now called Talbot Wharf and it is here that in the 1950's British Waterways manufactured the concrete sections that go to make the shelters for the stop planks found by locks and bridges in the area. I love these old buildings and they look like they would make an interesting conversion.

Just the other side of the bridge is the pill box that was one of many by the canals of the system as the waterways we used as 'natural' stops to advancing enemy, and afforded time to regroup and recover and pin the enemy down.

The run up to the Tyrley Locks is cut through a sandstone cutting. The locks were constructed from rock from Woodsheaves Cutting. The grey and white beams at the locks are painted grey and white in this area, rather than the more usual black and white, and have been so since about the 1920's.

the bottom couple of Tyrley Locks are well known for their vicious by washes and unforgiving rocks sides to land on. We had a lucky trip up as there was a boat to cross with at each one. I lingered until the boat was well clear so that I could cram on a bit of speed to get me through this torrent. 

Tyrley Wharf was built by the Twemlow family of nearby Peatswood Hall. The canal company forced them to build it above the lock to save water. It developed into a little community and the Canal Co. built a stables on the tow path side, since demolished, but traces can be seen in the car parking area. In 1911 it was used to load churns of milk from the estate to take on to Knighton and the Cadbury factory. Other farms brought their milk here too, or loaded at the other locks. Cadbury's leased the wharf from 1917 to 1932.

Is this the smallest complete narrowboat. It looked like there was just enough room for somebody to lay down and an engine.

Next comes Woodseaves Cutting. This is the longest cutting in all the canal system and was all dug by hand. It was not actually opened up as wide as it should have been and so is too steep and has continual avalanches, in the past as today. It is a SSSI for its geological interest as it is a good site to study the late Cambrian sandstone that was laid down in a major river channel.

The depth of the cutting requires tall bridges and a speed limit to reduce the chance of a wake washing out the base of the cliffs. Passing should be done with care. It is narrow enough as it is so I reckon a little offside tree pruning is required this winter.

The land opens up into rolling hills with extensive views across to The Wrekin. Combines were in the fields but there was plenty of uncut wheat waiting them. I hope the weather dries up again to help the northern farmers get their crops in.

There are plenty of bridges on this section of the canal and many of them are 'accommodation' or 'occupation' bridges that had to be provided when the canal cut a farmers land in two so that he had access to both parts. You can also see the rubbing bars on the edges of the bridge parapet to protect the stone from the tow lines. They are particularly deeply grooved on this section so whether this means the iron was softer or the traffic was greater I don't know.