Great Haywood

On Monday morning I was eating my breakfast in the cratch with this cow watching me the whole time.

Maybe it was interested in our herb and vegetable garden.

During the day we cruised for about seven miles and went down three locks.  This bridge at Weston Upon Trent was quite ornate for a canal bridge.

We soon arrived at Great Haywood junction and stopped for water with Buddy guarding the hose pipe as usual.

We had travelled the southern end of the Trent & Mersey canal from Nottingham up to this point in the winter and turned down the Staffs & Worcs at this junction to head for Birmingham.  In the last few weeks we have travelled along the northern end of the Trent & Mersey so have now covered the entire length - 93.5 miles and 71 locks.  It also means we have inadvertently completed the Four Counties ring – this is a cruising ring that many boat people like to travel.  It links Staffordshire, Cheshire, Shropshire and the West Midland covering 109 miles with 94 locks over five different canals.

This is looking down the Staffs & Worcs as we went through the junction.

After passing the junction we dropped down one more lock (no picture as we have been up it before – phew!) and moored for the evening outside Shugborough Hall as shown at the top of the page.  We sat watching a mink for 45 minutes after mooring.  Unfortunately they are pests and have decimated our water vole population.  Otters are the only animals that prey on them but there are far more mink than otters.  Water voles are also known as water rats.  This was the best shot we got with an iPhone – you can see its rear and the tail.

Here are the three new locks we went down today.

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