Gnosall Heath and Newport

We were excited to moor near Gnosall because Will had bought his first house here in his early 20s on St Laurence Way.

It was a beautiful cruise through farm and woodland, our view filled with fresh green leaves and white blossom on cow parsley and hawthorn.

We stopped at Norbury junction for services and while sitting outside waiting for the water tank to fill, Leo and Tiger greeted a whole load of people and dogs, all in good spirits because of the warm sunshine. Even Abby came out to oversee the interactions.

Posters advertised Norbury Canal Festival taking place in a couple of weeks, over the bank holiday weekend. We hadn't visited a canal festival as livaboards, so decided to hang around at Gnosall Heath, just 2 miles away and return on the bikes.

We first stayed at a 5 day moorings, then shuffled a under a bridge to a stretch that wasn't restricted, meaning we could stay for up two weeks. Gnosall Heath is a really well cared for village and the canalside even more so. The council have adopted part of it, a volunteer group works to maintain the towpath and the homes with gardens leading onto the water certainly make the most of it.

There was plenty to do during our extended stay. Nearby steps led to the Stafford to Newport Greenway; a 12 mile stretch of old railway line repurposed for walking, cycling and riding. Will cycled both ways and Vicky accompanied him on a trip to Newport to get bits and bobs from Screwfix and some plants from the large Garden Centre. Being a little further away, we used the regular number 5 bus to visit Stafford a couple of times.

In Gnosall Heath there is a good fish and chip shop and two pubs; The Boat and The Navigation. The latter does particularly good beef burgers but poor jacket potatoes. Will cycled up to St Laurence Way to see his old home and took regular walks to the Premier, where we were also able to pick up more ebay deliveries. One of them was a can crusher, which helped reduce the volume of rubbish building up during our extended stay.

With no cruising to do, Will ploughed his energies into DIY, mounting our new external aerial on a 6ft pole that folds down for when we travel. Even when the pole isn't raised, the new aerial and a router to replace our mifi device give a massive boost to internet reception. BBC iPlayer have recently stopped program downloads, meaning we need to stream, but this is rarely a problem with the new setup.

Our computer monitor is on the port side of the saloon, but the nearest port side socket was in the dinette. Leo had occasionally shown interest in chewing the live wire 🤯. Will therefore put his electrical knowledge to work and fitted a new socket directly behind the monitor. It not only looks neater but we have peace of mind that our little munchkin won't get a big shock.

Finally Will fitted some extra wall hooks in the galley for his cooking apron and oven gloves, or wet coats to dry on rainy days. Outside he attached a J hook to the stern to hang our life ring and save it taking up space on the roof.

Phew! Well done Will 😁

One of the best things about our stay at Gnosall was that we were joined by our good friend Jenny, with her dog Boy and cat Amber. Leo and Tiger loved popping over to The Black Cat for cups of tea and Jenny brought Boy over to ours for a few pizza nights and fish and chips. The latter was to celebrate 1 year aboard Rainboat! It has been a wonderful year and we feel so happy to be living on the water.

Bank holdiay weekend was warm and sunny for the Norbury Canal Festival. Though a relatively small event, there were more boats trading than we'd expected, some of whom we'd met before. We made an effort to support as many of them as we could and enjoyed feeling part of this community.もっと詳しく