We had two locks close to each other as we left Alrewas, but to our surprise there was a real queue at the first. We were the 3rd of 5 boats going up and there were 3 boats coming down, so it took almost an hour to get through the first lock. The second was much quicker as the previous boat was just leaving as we approached. It was not far until we arrived at the first of 3 more locks at Fradley Junction which is where the Trent and Mersey canal goes off further north and we turn south onto the Coventry Canal.
This is the first of the 3 locks we went up just before Fradley Junction, and you can see the next lock in the dark bridge in the distance. The weather was very kind and getting warmer which meant that it was really pleasant driving the boat, and a bit hot being the locks man!
This is the Swan pub which is very much photographed as it is quite a landmark on the canal system. We instead had our lunch at the Laughing Duck Cafe. We had a really good conversation with some CRT volunteers who had just finished their work for the day at 1.30pm, but had started at 7.30am. A long day for volunteers. They commented that it had been very busy, but much enhanced by a 4 year old lad called Arthur who is clearly in training to become a volunteer. They said it had been very busy for a Monday which clearly bore out our experience.
It is possible to get good photos here - lots of foreground interest! After we had come through this lock we turned left to go down the Coventry Canal which we had done before in 2020. I had remembered this junction well enough but not so much the rest of the canal we travelled today.
The weather was really wonderful, and gave rise to very clear photos of reflections, very much characteristic of the best of canal views I think.
And this too offers great reflections. The canal winds gently between fields of arable crops and pasture. There was one field that had enormous sheep in it, many of them lying down - they must have been hot - and they looked like great big white pillowy blobs!
We passed a junction where the remnants of a canal were visible - it had been designed to set off toward Lichfield. It's now mostly used for moorings and there has been some attempts to restore it. A lot of work, I suspect.
We then moored in Whittington (no link to the Lord Mayor) and walked past a stone that is placed to mark the legal spot where the Coventry Canal becomes the Birmingham and Fazeley canal. We have moored here because I want to visit Lichfield tomorrow, a city I have never visited and it's only two miles away so we shall get a bus and see what it is like!
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