Autherley Junction

A stop Lock start to the Shropshire Union Canal

A stop Lock start to the Shropshire Union Canal

Autherley Junction and Autherley Lock, 7th July 2022 (Author’s Collection).

As regular readers of this continuing series of rambles along the Shropshire Union Canal will attest, I am nearing completion of roughly 2/3rds of the canal this Summer, or at least well over halfway. With this edition and my proposed stroll tomorrow morning northward to Nantwich and possibly beyond, I will have walked and completed almost every Lock, Bridge and beautiful canal bend this waterway has to offer between the very start here in Autherley Junction and Nantwich, an ostensible 2/3rds marker and as far north as I’ve been on this particular county canal in the heart of England.

Sadly I have to report that Autherley Junction was rather disappointingly unexciting and not what I was expecting or hoped for. I rarely do any homework before any canal trip and simply take in what the ancient waterways have to offer. I was hoping for a scene similar to Norbury Junction and a place I often return to if simply to observe an hour of a bygone age and way of life roll on by. Norbury Junction is forever busy, bustling with people, a working junction for passers by and boaters alike, beautiful village houses and a large public house right beside the canal.

Autherley Junction was very ordinary and yet as a stop/lock junction from the adjacent Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal as well as being the very first port of call for the entire Shropshire Union Canal, it was, to criminally repeat myself, disappointingly unexciting. No public house, minimal amenities for boaters and tourists alike and, despite this evening being the hottest and sunniest of the summer so far, there was not a soul to be found or any of the bustling, hive of activity I expected to see.

You win some. You lose some. And during these past weeks of canal strolling in the heart of the English countryside, I’ve won every time.

My usual disclaimer:

As per my previous articles on the canals in the picturesque UK county in which I live, I don’t claim to have any experience of either a canal boat lifestyle or the inner workings and trials and tribulations of life on a houseboat/canal boat or narrow boat (whichever you prefer). I just find the peace, tranquillity and the quirky nature of an almost bygone way of existence and determination to live your life in this way, and in a floating house too, endlessly fascinating. I also bask and prosper in the sunshine, love the sights and sounds of canal life juxtaposed with the earthy nature and countryside that surrounds it, and simply discovering a new piece of the canal waterways puzzle never fails to raise a smile on my face. Guaranteed (Guaranteed) to receive oodles of smiles and “Hello’s” and “Good Afternoon’s” from the human beings you meet and watching dogs leap into a canal in search of a well thrown stick or ball can’t fail to amuse the child in all of us.

So much for all that.

*All images captured by me on the evening of 7th July 2022*

Great Haywood (Left) and Stourport (Right) on the adjacent Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal. Or in the direction of Chester and the first Bridge and Lock of the Shropshire Union Canal.

One of my favourite aspects of these time capsules from a bygone age.

A turnover bridge style for the very first bridge or “Autherley Junction Bridge” of the Shropshire Union Canal.

View from beneath “Autherley Junction Bridge” and the stop/lock beginning/end of the Shropshire Union Canal.

View from atop Bridge Number 1 at Autherley Junction.

As the sign so aptly decrees: Welcome to the Shropshire Union Canal.

A rather pleasing image captured this evening, and a rather pleasing image with which to be met as you pass through Autherley Junction to join an entirely different regional stretch of the UK waterways.

Once through Autherley Lock, you have a further 46 Locks and 146 bridges to navigate along the 66 mile stretch of canal before it merges with the Manchester Ship Canal.

Onward to Bridge Number 2 or “Bathurst Bridge” after a long opening stretch of canal.

Back toward the Stop/Lock and Bridge Number 1 of Autherley Junction.

A particular favourite image captured this evening.

The colours of a late evening English summer from the year 1782!

A final pleasing image of what you can expect as you reach the end of the Shropshire Union Canal.

Thank you Autherley Junction. See you again someday.

Your humble narrator captured by his beautiful (if grumbling and bored!) teenage son at Audlem Locks, end of June 2022.

Thanks for reading. For a more comprehensive breakdown of well over 12 miles of the Shropshire Union Canal, please see the articles linked below:

Market Drayton to Adderley Locks
A morning of “Perfect Timings” on the Shropshire Union Canalmedium.com

Wheaton Aston to Brewood
Before the thunder and lightning of 30th June 2022medium.com

Norbury Junction to High Offley
Saturday 2nd July 2022medium.com