There’s an east wind coming all the same, such a wind as never blew on England yet..

From Gnosall Visitor Moorings (south) to Ladybird Moorings, a distance of 14 miles, flg and 5 locks.

After the rain and wind that had made Sunday one of those days that make you wonder why you go boating Monday had to be better, and in some ways it was, but in many ways it wasn’t. Yes it wasn’t raining (which can only be described as a good thing) but the wind that had made the rain so nasty had doubled in intensity and, somehow, seemed to be several degrees colder.


Now the Shroppie is a beautiful canal and it has some amazing views out over Wales – but those views come at a price : there is no hiding place. Luckily the major embankments at Shebdon Embankment and Shelmore have quite a lot of trees so they are pretty sheltered but even on those there were times at which Mintball was crabbing as she moved along.

At times it reminded me of the time we were taking Mintball down the Leeds and Liverpool towards Maghull in what turned out later to be the tail end of a hurricane and we had to use ropes to pull the boat off the bank to get through the swing bridges

The Title comes from “His Last Bow” by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle:

“There’s an east wind coming, Watson.”

“I think not, Holmes. It is very warm.”

“Good old Watson! You are the one fixed point in a changing age. There’s an east wind coming all the same, such a wind as never blew on England yet. It will be cold and bitter, Watson, and a good many of us may wither before its blast. But it’s God’s own wind none the less, and a cleaner, better, stronger land will lie in the sunshine when the storm has cleared”

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