Page updated 24 October 2005
The Mill House Bar and Family Restaurant Milford Drive, Stretton Park (Tel: 01283 535133) lies canalside west of Bridge 29A, with moorings, and is open all day.
The correct BW name is Barton Turn Lock, not Barton Lock.
Add a boatyard symbol for the Barton Turn Marina between Barton Turn Lock and Mill Bridge, on offside.
Little Haywood village has a PO and stores with a good range of groceries.
Staffordshire and Worcester Canal
The Woolpack is slightly further south than its symbol indicates. As the text says, it is actually on The Green. It is a Banks chain pub and serves good food, although not home cooked.
Weston PO stores is straight over the bridge and continue down the busy road for 5mins. Stocks fresh vegetables.
Moorings are at a premium near the Star Inn.
There are useful shops a short distance west of the bridge including a launderette and dry-cleaning shop."
For town shopping moor to the rings between Locks 41 and 42. Go down the little street to main road and turn right. Tesco's is 300yds on the left and the town centre a little further on. It may be wise to avoid an overnight stay.
The field on the off-side at Rode Heath is good dog walking country. There are a number of the appropriate bins in the area! Known as Rode Heath Rise, it is owned by the County Council as public open space. A local group manage the area on a day to day basis and also run a huge bonfire tableau and firework event in November. The site was formerly a rubbish tip and before that it was a salt mine and works. The shaft collapsed many years ago. The babbling brook at the bottom of the slope may look attractive but there are times when it runs some very interesting colours. Unusually the brook does not have a name. Even the locals only refer to it as the stream.
When approaching or leaving the services, beware of boats emerging from the marina entrance immediately west of the services. The entrance is a difficult narrow bridge, perpendicular to the main line of the canal and largely obscured by bushes.
My correspondent postulates that Leader Williams, being chief engineer of the Manchester Ship Canal, pointed to the map and said, "Yes, I think we'll put a boat lift... here. Now run along and set to designing and building it, Mr Clark, if you'd be so kind". However, Nicholson suggests that it was only later that Leader Williams was engineer at the MSC.
Barnton Wharf (not mentioned in the 1997 edition) is at the east end of the tunnel: Water Point, Diesel, pump-out, solid fuel, engineering etc. Tel: 01606 783320. The mobile number (in the 2000 edition) no longer works, even in modernised 07xxxxxxx form!
The Talbot Arms has been renamed Tunnel Top. (Delete the duplicate entry for Talbot Arms in the 2003 edition.) Meals are now lunchtime and evening on Mon-Thu and all day Fri-Sun. Vegetarian food available. The new desription calls it a family pub and deletes reference to discos and quiz nights, but now specifies a large garden and children and dogs welcome.