Autumn Cruise: Day 16

There was heavy rain overnight, but by the time we were thinking of leaving this morning, it had stopped.  Before we set off I walked down to the lock to see what the river levels board was showing.  In Droitwich, part of the route uses the River Salwarpe, and it can go into flood quite easily.  The board showed normal conditions for both the Salwarpe and the Severn.

At the lock there was a CRT man running water down; the pound between the top lock and the middle one had been dry, probably because a gate hadn’t been closed properly.  So we waited fifteen minutes or so, then set off through the junction bridge to the top lock.

The first three locks on the Droitwich Canal have working side pounds, which save half a lock full of water each time.  I didn’t use it at the top lock, as the pound below still needed every drop of water it could get, but I did at the middle one.  You open the side paddles, and half a lock full of water goes into the side pound.  When the levels equalise, you close those paddles and open the bottom ones, as normal.  Then when someone comes up, they can use the side pound water to half fill the lock.

The staircase pair needed resetting, and for some reason seemed to be a haven for brightly coloured snails.  There were loads of them.

At the bottom lock of the initial set, there’s a sign to check the water levels below the lock.  However, the guide showing green, amber, or red levels is missing.  There was quite a bit of water about.  Heading for the very low M5 tunnel, we knocked the guide board, but confident that they’re usually pessimistic we carried cautiously on.

At first we were ok, but around half way through the tv aerial was touching the roof of the tunnel.  By the time we got to the far end it had been knocked off, and torn the cratch cover.  It was also raining a lot.  At the Barge Lock, where the water is often level at both ends, we had to work the lock this time, and the indicator board suggested the levels were in the red.  It took two of us to get a top gate open.  Once through, I couldn’t get the next swing bridge to unlock, as you need to push it one way at the same time as trying to get the padlock off.  We swapped and Adrian managed to do it, so he also did the other one.  There are no pictures as the rain was torrential; all the storm drains were putting lots of water into the canal, and a boat tied up on the towpath outside the basin was at an angle as the water levels were so high.  We got moored up at the basin, and needed a complete change of clothes.

Since then, we have bought a new type of tv aerial, which doesn’t seem to work but that may be because Droitwich is on the edge of a couple of transmitters.  We also made a couple of visits to Waitrose, and this afternoon we have reset the loo, and been to the rubbish bins — the first we’ve seen for days.

At lunchtime we had a visit from Andy Griffee, ex-BBC and now a crime author.  His first book, the canal-noir murder mystery Canal Pushers, was great fun and there’s a sequel coming next spring.  He had the tour of the boat, and then we all went out for a pie and a pint at The Talbot.

For most of the day we’ve been on our own in the basin, but in the past couple of hours six more boats have arrived.

2 miles, 8 locks.  (157 miles, 149 locks)

Going West: Day 5

We set off this morning at the usual time of around 8, having waited a few minutes for a drizzly shower to pass through. It was straight into the flight of six Stoke Locks, all of which were against us except the bottom one, where a Black Prince hire boat was coming up to return to base at the end of their holiday. The hire boats fill most of the canal just above the lock.

There's then a mile or so before the next locks -- the Astwood flight, which is also six locks. Here we caught up with a boat ahead. The penultimate lock has a cottage on one side and a pretty garden on the other.

A mile and a half further on we reached Hanbury Junction. We turned right off the Worcester and Birmingham onto the Droitwich Junction Canal.

This is new territory for Adrian, but I did this canal (in the other direction on Chance three years ago). There are three deep locks almost immediately, all with working side ponds to save water. Going down, to open the side paddles first, so half a lock of water goes into storage, to be used when the lock needs to be filled.

There was a boat coming up with two American couples on board; one couple has hired a boat each September for fourteen years. They and we were assisted by a very friendly and able volunteer lock keeper. At the top lock, there's a sign complete with flashing lights, showing the state of the River Salwarpe into Droitwich, and the Severn at Bevere Lock.

The next locks are a new staircase pair. Again, they're very deep locks.

One more lock takes you down to the culvert under the M5. They're not joking when they say there's limited headroom. Our radio ariel was touching the roof, and there were just a couple of inches above the TV ariel.

Another new lock leads onto the canalised River Salwarpe, which the restorers of the canal used as the original line had been built on. Then comes Barge Lock, which needed the gates opening and closing, even though the levels either side were the same. It also has a swing bridge over it. There are two more swing bridges to work as the canal goes through Vines Park. We moored up at Netherwich Basin, where we had the pick of almost any space.

It was just gone 1pm when we arrived, so we had lunch and went for a walk around Droitwich, before doing some shopping in the handy Waitrose. There's not much to the town, but in the older streets some of the buildings are incredibly wonky, thanks to subsidence caused by brine extraction.

A couple of other boats have arrived while we've been here, but it's still pretty quiet. We've made a start on cleaning the boat, by giving the roof a good scrub. Adrian has also spliced a rope onto the anchor chair, ready for the River Severn tomorrow.
6 miles, 20 locks. (50 miles, 112 locks)