Cheshire, eventually: Day 5

An odd day weatherwise: sometimes sunny, sometimes cloudy, and often very blustery.  We were up and away at 8, and we had a bit of luck at Wolverley Court Lock, as a boater walking her dog opened the gate for us as we approached.  In contrast, when we got to Kidderminster Lock, the bottom gates had been left open with the paddles up.  It appears to be a lovely setting, with the church behind.

In the other direction is the inner ring road and a retail park, so a bit less photogenic.  Below the lock there are converted carpet factories.

We moored up outside Tesco, and were able to get the space right by the steps.  I went off to do a couple of shopping trips, while Adrian waited for a visit from Keith Wilson of  Wilson’s Covers, who was coming to make a template for a new cratch cover, as the current one is falling apart.  All of that was done soon after 10.30 so we set off again.  Below Falling Sands Lock, there is duckweed all across the canal, all the way to Stourport.  It’s very thin though so easy to cut through, but it just closes back up behind you.

There were very few boats moored above the lock in Stourport, and we went down the lock into the basins.  The two moorings there were taken and there was a boat on the water point, so we went down through the basins to the narrow locks down onto the river.

There was a boat coming up the top staircase, and there was also a lot going on at the dry dock.  Adrian went to investigate who was going in and who was coming out, so having gone down the top lock we just waited until the coast was clear.

The two sets of staircase locks are at completely different angles, making getting from one to the other a bit tricky.  There was also a tremendous cross wind today, so as soon as I was out of the top staircase we went down through being blown sideways.

We were soon down the bottom staircase and going out onto the river.

We went just a little way down, then turned around and moored up on the pontoon mooring below the Angel pub.

This afternoon Adrian went for a haircut (probably the most successful of the three he’s had so far), and we walked round the town and through the Riverside Park, where in spite of it being Monday and most things being closed, we eventually found an ice cream place.

On the way back, we helped some Americans in a hire boat, who’d spent ages in the top staircase up to the basins.  They’d somehow managed to end up with far too much water, and the two locks wouldn’t make a level.  Counterintuitively, I got them to lower the level of the bottom lock so the water wasn’t going over the weir, in the hope equity would be reached.

6 miles, 9 locks.  (35 miles, 38 locks)

West Mids Meander: Day 10

A lovely sunny morning, and we set off at about 8.45 with tannoy announcements from some event at the race course ringing in our ears.  The river looked lovely in the sunshine.

At Bevere Lock, the lock keeper told us to watch out for a boat that had run aground above the lock, having apparently not taken sufficient notice of huge great signs advising boats to keep to one side.  The person on board seemed to be hiding.  The lock keeper had told us that help was being organised.

At Holt Lock we were joined by another narrowboat, Free Spirit, who then took the lead on the next reach.  We started meeting quite a few plastic cruisers, and one of them was all over the place and came very close to hitting Free Spirit.

A huge cruiser was coming out of Lincomb Lock, and we were surprised to find there were three more boats behind it.

At Stourport, Free Spirit were going up the locks to their home mooring in the basin, but we wanted to moor on the river.  The pontoons were busy, but we circled round again and by asking a cruiser to move back a couple of feet, we just about fitted onto the pontoon outside the Angel Inn, only overlapping the lock mooring section by a foot or two.  We went for a walk and found Amy Jo on the water point, so had a catch up with Chris and Steve. We had lunch at the pub, then went for a walk.  Stourport is under the impression that it’s a seaside resort, with a funfair, crazy golf, and ice creams.

We walked through the fun fair and up the riverside path, where the River King trip boat was just setting off on a Motown Cruise.  It headed quite a long way up the river before slowly turning around.

It later came past up heading down towards the lock, and then back, very slowly.  Up the river is a Motor Yacht and Bungalow Club (!) and a huge caravan site with loads of spaces for tourers.  Back at the boat it’s been really warm, and we have been sitting out in the well deck, wishing the Boat Club on the other side of the river would turn their music down a bit.

7pm Update:  Adrian had just commented that he couldn’t remember seeing River King make it’s final return to base (scheduled for 6pm) when we saw boats heading up the river — including, as it turned out, River King being towed by a cruiser.  There were cheers from people on the bank as the rescue mission passed by, and the passengers on the trip boat were melodramatically calling for help.

11 miles, 3 locks.  (114 miles, 146 locks)

Autumn Cruise: Day 17

There was lots more rain in the night, but the forecast promised a dry but dull day.  We set off from Netherwich Basin at 8am, the first boat to leave.  There’s a couple of miles through the outskirts of Droitwich and then the tiny village of Salwarpe before the first lock.

As we progressed down the locks, which all needed to be turned, we encountered increasingly grumpy fishermen.  Some of them told us the Severn was shut; we suspect that really they just didn’t think we should be disturbing their fishing.  The lady who lives in the cottage by Lock 4 was worried by the amount of water above the lock — it was pretty much level with the lock landing.  While in the lock, I phoned the lock keeper at Holt Lock on the Severn, who said conditions were normal and the river very much open.

At Mildenham Mill Lock a boat was approaching the come up as we left.  It turned out it was a hire boat we’d also crossed with the other day as we came out of Worcester, because they said exactly the same today as then: they looked at the Lord Vernon’s Wharf on the side of our boat and told us they live near there.  It makes a nice change from people asking where it is, which happens very frequently.

At the bottom two locks, the electronic boards said the Severn was in the green in the direction we were going, but had rising levels in the opposite direction.  This changed to falling levels while we waited.  The Severn had more of a flow on it today though, as it was a bit of a job to get off the side and turn up the river from the bottom lock.  Adrian likes the house which overlooks the lock and the junction.

Of course we could have come past here on Sunday — Hawford Junction being just four miles and one lock up the river from where we turned off at Diglis in Worcester.  Instead we have done 16 miles and 32 locks.

Once out on the Severn the sun came up, much to everyone’s surprise.  I fired up the VHF radio and called the lockie at Holt Lock as we approached, so he could set the lock for us.  Just before it is Holt Bridge, which had some nice reflections underneath off the water.

Above Holt Lock we passed the Edward Elgar.  It’s a strange looking boat — it’s not immediately obvious which is the back and which is the front.

The Hampstall Inn looks pretty smart, but the elaborate sign on the front sports a good example of a greengrocer’s apostrophe.  For some reason, though, only the real ales get one while the wines and spirits have to do without.

I radioed Lincombe Lock, and the lockie there said we were already in sight.  There is a camera pointing down the river, because the lock itself is round a corner.

We arrived at Stourport and stopped on the pontoons on the river so I could go and set the locks up to the basins.  There are two staircase pairs, and you have to check there’s no-one coming the other way because there’s no room to pass in the middle.  Having done that I set the bottom lock and signalled to Adrian to bring the boat in.

The two staircases are strangely aligned and it’s a job to get cleanly from one to the other.

As the boat came into the top lock the heavens opened, and we got drenched again.

I walked round to the other side of the basins while Adrian brought the boat.  We’d decided that if the one visitor mooring was free we’d stay in the basin, but if not we’d go up the lock.  A boater was looking on nervously; it turned out he’d set York Road Lock but then waited for the rain to pass, and was a bit worried we were going to go straight into his lock.  We moored up with a great view from the galley window, and the new tv aerial also works here.

14 miles, 14 locks.  (171 miles, 163 locks)

Going West: Day 12

It rained in the night and was still raining this morning, so we were in no rush to get going. While having breakfast, we watched loads of rowing crews from the club just behind us starting their Saturday morning training. We set off around 9.15, with most of the crews heading back the other way. We went up Bevere Lock and past the entrance to the Droitwich Canals. Shortly afterwards, it rained quite heavily; I could see it coming, so was able to put off a coat and close the rear slide a bit, before it started. It soon stopped, though, and the sun even came out at times. At Holt Lock, a boat had just come out, and the lock keeper saw us some way off, and left the gates open for us.

The final river lock was Lincombe Lock. Just above it, we saw a kingfisher in flight, which dived for a small fish and then sat on a branch to have his picture taken. It was at full zoom, but even so I was quite pleased with the result.

On reaching Stourport, we moored on the river pontoons, and as it was 12.30 went for lunch at the Windlass Cafe, of very tasty toasted sandwiches. We had a walk round the basins, and noticed that the one visitor mooring spot in the basin was free. We'd intended to come up off the river anyway, so we went back to the boat; I grabbed a windlass and headed for the locks, while Adrian brought the boat along.

The route up into the basins is via two staircase pairs. But they're not aligned, so getting from one to the other is tricky, especially with a bit of breeze blowing, and gonzoozlers watching.

Once up in the basins we discovered that the mooring spot had been taken, but as we had plenty of time we stopped on the water point and filled the tank. The basins really are very attractive, especially accompanied by the striking of the clock on the Clock Warehouse.

Once the tank was full we went up York Street Lock. The moorings immediately above were full, but there was space beyond the bridge. This afternoon I've topped up the cupboards from the new Tesco just a couple of minutes walk away, and we've washed the towpath side of the boat.

12 miles, 8 locks. (163 miles, 135 locks)