Lyra's Travels

The first 11 Audlem Locks

Audlem church

The Shroppie Fly

Saturday 14th May

We got a nice early start yesterday morning with the intention of dropping 12 of the 15 Audlem Locks as far as the village of Audlem. Once again, as so often on this canal the flight is very picturesque as it flows along its straight path for the first 11 locks of the flight. Here we decided to stop and have a look at the mooring between locks 12 and 13 before moving down further. We then felt that where we were was a better bet, except for the shelf just under the water's edge which causes us to tip over slightly.

I took a wander into the village for a look and found it to be quite small but with the dominating presence of a large church on a hill at the centre of the place.

Audlem is also the home of the well know 'Shroppie Fly' public house. the title refers to the fly boats which operated along this canal. They were the express cargo boats of their day, running day and night carrying perishables and other important loads. Cath is treating me to a meal there tonight (Saturday) for my birthday. The bar in the pub is built to resemble a narrow boat.