Tag Archives: Wyreley & Essington

The Grand Tour

Day 107 – A Blinder Of A Day As Temperatures Peak

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A misty and chilly morning at 7.30 when we cast off, we had doubts as to whether it would warm up as predicted. We retraced out steps, turning left at the junction and back on new territory. In three hours, we only saw one moored boat and a handful of runners and dog walkers.

We turned at the junction towards the Black Country Living Museum and had everything crossed that there would be a mooring, yey, we got one! You can see how close we are to the museum, it worked out perfectly. A number of the scenes from Peaky Blinders are filmed here, our timing couldn’t have been better with the latest series airing this weekend.

With it being the hottest bank holiday on record, it was certainly busy.

We saw steel being shaped at The Foundry….

….and chain links being made. So good were the chains from Birmingham, they were asked to make the anchor and chain for the Titanic.

We’d heard the fish and chips cooked in beef dripping at Hobbs and Sons were legendary, so we got in line and queued (along with everyone else!) for 40 mins, and boy they were worth the wait, absolutely delicious.

There was a street of shops including a tobacconist (I overheard some interesting conversations with parents and little ones as to why they don’t exist anymore – or maybe they do, we just call them vape shops now), a dispensary, a sweet shop (rhubarb and custard sweets duly purchased) and a bakery.

The Grand Tour

Day 106 – The Wolverhampton 21

We were up at 6:30 this morning, and off by 7am, so we could hit the Wolverhampton flight before the day got too hot – with the forecast set to rise to 30C and full sun later, even I can get out of bed early!

One little stop lock to warm us up, a right turn at Autherley Junction and then left at Aldersley junction, and then we were onto new territory for us.

We started with lock no. 21, and soon met a cyclist coming down who told us that one or two pounds up around lock 9 had been emptied overnight by some jokers. Shortly after we saw the CRT man working his way up the locks – we understand they check every day because empty pounds are such a common occurrence.

The good news for us was that every lock after the first was set in our favour, and by the time we got up to lock 9 any issues had been resolved, though one pound was rather low.

We passed two boats coming down, and saw another three up at the top near the services, where we pulled in for water just to keep things topped up. The water was incredibly clear, with lots of weed growing on the bottom. It feels like not many boats come through this way, which is a shame as we quite enjoyed it.

Taking advice from Fred on nb Chyandour, we turned off our route at Horseley Fields Junction and turned left up the Wyreley and Essington as far as Wednesfield. Here we found a lovely mooring on bollards by the retail park, with some trees offering shade. Sarah turned us around and we moored up for the rest of the day.

Sarah went to Sainsbury’s for supplies, whilst I left the boat but stayed near to check Eira was ok. After some initial whining, she calmed down once she saw I was still around, and then when I moved out of sight again later she was fine. We’ve not left her alone on the boat before, so it was good to know she seemed ok.

The three of us then chilled out in the shade, a glass of pimms for me (cheers Barry!) and a cup of tea for Sarah. I followed the cricket on the phone, and was delighted when England just squeaked out a win, to bring the Ashes level at 1-1.

We’ve only seen one other boat on the Wyreley and Essington all day, and that was moored up. No need to worry about anyone going past too fast!

A quick update on the bread from yesterday. It could have done with a bit more time in the basket to prove at room temperature, but as we had the locks coming up it went in as it was. The bread is tipped out of the basket, and slashed across the top to give room for expansion. It then gets 20 minutes in the oven (most people would say 30 mins, but Sarah likes a thinner crust). The first 10 mins I have a tray with some water in the bottom of the oven to add steam, and then take it out and turn the loaf around for the last 10 mins.