Much cooler this morning, but still quite nice to start off with. We got a load of washing going, and set off once the wash part of the cycle was done. Gothersley Lock was just around the corner and had a surprisingly large bridge given the road seems quite small.
Before long we were at Stourton Junction. We stayed on the Staffs and Worcs; the Stourbridge Canal goes off up four locks on the left.
There are lots of moored boats at the junction, so we were going slowly through the bridge and past the moorings. A boat came off the visitor moorings straight in front of us — in fact even though I was on tickover, I still had to go in reverse to avoid going into the back of him. I’ve seldom seen anyone untie their stern rope so quickly. With Stewponey Lock right there, it was rather annoying, as well as being bad manners. The guy’s wife was setting the lock, so he fiddled around in the middle of the canal while we went onto the lock landing. I went up to help, saying to her that I was doing so in spite of her husband having pulled out right in front of us. She was very apologetic, even if he said nothing. Then there was a question about what a boat below was doing: were they wanting to come up, or were they tied up? They were at the very far end of the lock landing, and no-one was heading for the lock, so we decided we’d turn it for us. Of course once all the paddles were open, someone arrived from the boat below, although even she admitted they hadn’t really been clear about what they were doing. After we’d gone down, the man with the boat made no effort to go into the lock — if fact we’d gone out of sight round the corner, and he was still faffing about. The lock has a sort of tunnel taking the towpath down below the bridge.
Dunsley Tunnel is just ahead, but at only 25 yards long I didn’t even bother putting the tunnel light on. While this end has a brick portal, it’s pure rock inside.
The next lock, Hyde, has a cottage alongside with surely the most photographed garden gates on the network. I think it’s compulsory to take their picture.
The boat in front pulled in for water at Kinver, but we carried on. Kinver Lock still needed turning though. I then walked on to Whittington Lock, passing the lovely cottages up on the hill, with cliffs behind and their gardens down to the canal.
Whittington Lock itself has a cottage right alongside.
A little further on, we crossed from Staffordshire into Worcestershire. There’s a boundary stone, and we moored there in 2021 with most of the boat is Worcs but the saloon in Staffs.
We’d already had a brief shower of rain, but now it became more persistent. In fact in the Austcliff area the rain came down in stair rods. Cookley Tunnel is slightly longer, at 65 yards, and has houses built across the top. At least going this way you can see if something is coming.
By Debdale Lock the rain had stopped. It’s the one that has a cave in the rock on the offside.
Below the lock, the canal is lined on one side by stone cliffs. There are lots of sections like this, some of them quite narrow.
We had lunch on the move, then went down Wolverley Lock, with a little lad helping to push a gate, making his day. We both had decent phone signals below the lock, so we pulled in on the visitor moorings where there are rings that are actually usefully spaced. We went for a walk round the village. The church sits high on the hill and is visible for a long way around.
The village itself is tucked below, and has lots of pretty buildings, some of them built into the rock.
We had an ice cream at the cafe by the lock, and returned to the boat. The wind has really got up this afternoon. We also had a stoppage notice come through to say that the canal, behind us is currently closed because of a road accident at Dimmingsdale Bridge. Part of the parapet is in the water and part is unsafe above the towpath. I realised that this was the bridge I put on the blog two days ago, which has a huge arrow alongside it. Someone probably failed to notice it in time.
8 miles, 7 locks. (29 miles, 29 locks)