Homeward bound on the Staffs & Worcs

 We are now on our way home.  We do not want to arrive back on Monday as our marina is closed which means we cannot empty the waste tank and refill with petrol, so Tuesday it must be.  After all our work in the past few days this gives us a highly welcome leisurely journey of no more than 3 hours travelling each day.

The first of today's activities was to empty our waste tank as we cant last until Tuesday of next week.  The pumpout point is on the Shropshire Union Canal just off the Staffordshire & Worcestershire. So we went through the stop lock separating the two canals, got the tank emptied for £20, the highest charge we have ever met, and then skilfully reversed the boat back into and through the lock to return to the Staffs & Worcs.

Narrow cutting on the Staffs & Worcs

Then we were on our way cruising in bright sunshine down this familiar but attractive canal for the next 2.5 hours, finally mooring out in the countryside in time for lunch.  The picture shows Densie travelling through a cutting on the Staffs & Worcs which is only wide enough for one boat, though there are a couple of passing places.  Brindley's route took the canal through an area of very hard rock so the canal was built narrower there presumably to reduce costs.