Wheaton Aston

Captains Log Canal Date 3rd October 2010 Travels 14 Miles 23 locks (A very long day by our standards) Current Location Wheaton Aston OS Ref SJ 855 129 The forecast was indeed right and it poured with rain almost all day so we did not go far on Friday. Saturday started fine so we set off on the next leg. That was to complete the Wolverhampton 21 flight and head down the Staffs & Worc’s canal. At lock No. 7 we were met by Ro, she had volunteered to help us down the locks, a most welcome site indeed. With Ro’s help we completed the flight in less than 3 hours. At the Adderly junction we changed the plan. We decided to go to Wheaton Aston for fuel. This is about 3 hours out of our way and that sound daft. I do not think that I would go 3 hours in the opposite direction to save a few pence a litre on fuel in my car, but as I wanted about 200 litres and this place sells it at about 14p a litre cheaper than any other mariners it is well worth it. A saving of close to £30.00. Well, that will buy me a few pints in the local. We arrived at the end of The BCN at 3.00. It is a good 3 hours to Wheaton Aston so it was decided that if we made reasonable progress and did not stop at any of the pubs or villages we could make it before 6.00. I did not imagine that any petrol station would close before that on a Saturday. Yet again, I was wrong. We arrived just after 6.00 only to find that they close at 2.oo on Saturday and do not open at all on Sundays. It is a nice enough place to spend the weekend. So to pass a little time we went to the local pub and managed to have a beer and we were forced to have a pub meal. That’s all the fuel savings gone then! Once again the weather turned to persistent rain on Sunday so we did not venture very far from the boat. All I managed to do was replace some chain holding the front fender in place that I managed to break somewhere down the locks. Tomorrow – Monday – We shall fill the fuel tank, exchange the gas, and then set off towards our original route. I hope to make it to my second home of Dimmingsdale near Wombourne. I expect we shall remain there for a few days.