Cheshire, eventually: Day 8

There was some rain before we got up, but the forecast wet start to the day didn’t materialise.  We had a lot of locks to do today, so wanted to set off in good time.  At about 7.45 a boat which had come down the locks late yesterday afternoon and moored just above the bottom lock, came down — so I said he could leave the gates open, and we untied, crossed the junction, and went into the chamber.

The scene at the junction was very different last evening, when we were entertained by the Stourbridge Arm Canoe Club playing polo there.  They had a goal hanging on the bridge and one across the lock, and they certainly took no prisoners.

Back to today, and the middle part of the flight is very pretty, with old warehouses and sympathetically designed new build flats, the Red House Cone, Dadford’s Shed, and the old pub which is now a house.  There are also great views across the valley.

Locks 10 and 9 are very close together, like a mini-Bratch, with no proper pound between them.  The water is held in a big lake behind the lock cottage.

Until lock 8, all the locks had been empty which was great, but after that they were all full, so a little more work.  I guess this was where the downhill boat crossed with an uphill boat yesterday.

When we got to the penultimate lock, there was a man there from a boat waiting to come down.  The pound between the top two locks had been empty when he arrived, and he’d been running water down.  Fortunately there was now enough water for the two boats to pass.

We rose up the top lock, and the whole flight of 16 had taken 2 hours 20 minutes, which we thought was pretty good.  We then set off on the two miles of so of the Dudley Canal to the bottom of the Delph Flight.

When we got to the Delph, all the locks were in our favour, with no other boats in sight.  There wasn’t as excess of water around though, so the waterfall-style by-washes weren’t really running.

While each lock filled, I was going up to the next one to open the gates.  Then at one lock, something happened that we’ve never experienced before: a fisherman closed the towpath side gate so he could step across to the other side!  I had to go and re-open it, at the same time asking him what on earth he thought he was doing.  A bit further up, there was an egret fishing, and a family with a little girl watched us come up a lock.  Three locks from the top, three volunteer lock keepers emerged from their little building to lend a hand.  The eight locks took an hour.  We carried on and moored on the embankment overlooking the Merry Hill shopping centre.

We went for lunch in the M&S Cafe, then did a top up food shop there as well.  We’re sure there used to be a Sainsbury’s here, but it’s not here now.  (Research reveals it closed at the end of 2016, and was where Next now is).  We also bought some new kitchen knives in the ProCook shop, as ours were well beyond their best.  Two of them didn’t fit our block though, so we took them back and in the end decided to buy a new block as well.  Even though we were refunding the original purchase, we could still use the 15 per cent off voucher that came with it, so it was a win all round.

Back at the boat, I did an oil change on the engine, as was 249 hours since the last one.  Coincidentally, I also did an oil change on these moorings in 2021.

5 miles, 24 locks.  (55 miles, 81 locks)

West Mids Meander: Day 13

We decided that in spite of Delph Top Lock being closed for emergency repairs, we’d head up the Stourbridge flight and hope it was fixed by the time we got there.  A hire boat set off before we had breakfast, so we knew we wouldn’t be first up the locks — but when the boat moored behind us also set off (going to turn in the basin) we got our act together and got moving.  It was half an hour along the arm to the junction, and just after 8.30 when we turned into the bottom lock.

It’s a really pretty flight.  I’m pretty certain that one old warehouse had scaffolding round it last time we came this way, and is now offices and flats.

There’s plenty of history, with both the Cone and Dadford’s Shed, and a very pretty former pub.

Locks 9 and 10 are telescoped together, Bratch-style, with just a tiny pound in between — but a big side pound beyond the cottage.

We got to the top, marked by a tall chimney, in two and a half hours, which seemed not too bad for 16 locks, all of which had needed turning.

We turned right at Leys junction and were soon at the bottom of the Delph Locks.  There was no-one waiting, which we took to be good news.  Almost immediately, notification came through that the stoppage was over.  Sure enough, there were two boats going up in front of us, and reports of a number coming down (which turned out to be three).  The first one turned out to have discovered the problem with the paddle yesterday morning.  With so much traffic on the flight — a local told Adrian he’d never seen so many boats — most of the by-washes next to the locks ran only intermittently.  When they did, they looked impressive, and the ducks and moorhens seem happy to be swept over them.  When they’re not running, the birds have to walk up.

The views from high up the flight are fantastic, with the Stour valley and the hills beyond.

Just below the top lock there’s an old arm, which is where the old locks used to be.  There used to be nine, whereas now there are only eight.

The eight locks took an hour and a half.  We moored on the embankment overlooking the Merry Hill shopping centre.  It looks rather different from six years ago, because there’s new cladding, and some of the shops have changed.

We went for lunch in the M&S cafe, then picked up an item from an Amazon locker.  We’ve been having trouble with the tv antenna for a while, and earlier in the trip in stopped working completely.  Having seen the neat one on Debdale, we got one delivered to a locker in Worcester — but it had the wrong size connector.  Today’s package was an adapter — which works.  The new one looks very neat, so we’ll see how it fares where the signal is less strong.

As the engine was still warm, I did an oil change which had just become due.  For once, I got the old oil filter off very easily.  I checked the oil in the gearbox which I know hasn’t been changed for a while, but it still looked very clear, so as the process is a bit of a nightmare I decided it could last a bit longer.

6 miles, 24 locks.  (136 miles, 189 locks)

Going West: Day 14

Plans for today changed somewhat over dinner last night, when Adrian announced that he'd broken a tooth. A chunk had come off one of his molars, so we thought it probably needed looking at. So this morning, we set off at 8, heading for Stourbridge. Once the local dentists opened, Adrian started ringing round to try to get an appointment. The most convenient one said they'd be able to see him on Friday, but one a bit further away could do 9.45. We moored up between the Stour Aqueduct and Wordsley Junction, and Adrian went off to get a taxi to the dentist at Quarry Bank.

While he was gone, I ran a load of washing, washed the side of the boat, swept the chimney, and started a fire -- to try to harden off the stove blacking, which come sometimes produce a bit of smoke. After Adrian's initial assessment, the dentist said he'd have to wait if he wanted a filling done today -- but the wait turned out to be only twenty minutes. When it was all done, they called him a cab to bring him back to Stourbridge. Adrian was very impressed with the dental practice; maybe we should come to the West Midlands for treatment in future.

Consequently it was rather later than planned when we set off up the Stourbridge locks. There was a hire boat just coming down the bottom lock, and we met a few other boats returning from the Black Country Boating Festival, so they were all in our favour. The best part of the flight is about a third of the way up, where there's the huge Red House Cone, now a glassmaking visitor centre, and Dadford's shed, with a boat yard attached (where we spotted the butty, Kildare, out of the water having work done; it's usually paired with the steam powered motor boat, President). Then there's The Dock, a very pretty general store and off licence, although I'm not sure whether it still opens.

There are great views back down the flight at this point, too.

Lock's 9 and 10 are just a few feet apart, like a mini Bratch, with a huge side pond behind the adjoining cottage.

We completed all sixteen locks in a little over two hours, which seemed like pretty good going, and we had risen 145 ft. At the top is a junction, and we turned right to stay on the main line. It's very twisty, and at one bridge our chimney came to a bit of grief as it wouldn't fit. I'd realised the problem some way back, but still couldn't stop quite in time to prevent a small crunching of the chimney, until Adrian could go and take it down do we could proceed. To my surprise we passed a couple of hire boats along this stretch. We had lunch on the move during this interlude between locks.

Then we got to the Delph Locks. There are eight of them, although there used to be nine -- which explains why the bridge at the top is called Nine Locks Bridge, and the pub at the bottom is the Tenth Lock. In 1856, six new locks were built to replace seven old ones in the central section of the flight. They rise steeply up the hill, and there are dramatic overflow weirs alongside. Water levels weren't that high today, so the bottom couple were dry -- it was only further up that they began to flow.

Again, all the locks were in our favour. We met a boat at the second lock, and a Viking hire boat towards the top of the flight. From the top, the views must be really good on a clear day.

Just below the top lock, the course of the old locks can be seen. There's a typical Horsley Iron Works bridge over the old arm.

It was at the top lock that the rain started. As it had been forecast to be pretty bad all day, we'd done quite well so far with only having the odd bit of drizzle. The flight had taken us only around an hour, thanks to being able to set ahead easily. We carried on just a little further, and moored on the embankment overlooking the Merry Hill shopping centre. Remarkably, given the late start, we were all secure by around 3.30.

7 miles, 24 locks. (182 miles, 173 locks)