West Mids Meander: Day 9

The Astwood mooring was very pleasant and quiet, and today for the first time we woke up with blue sky showing.  We set off about 8, with a few miles of lock free cruising to do.  Shortly, we passed the junction with the Droitwich Canals, which we have taken a number of times before — today we were heading for Worcester.

After Hanbury Wharf there are several sections where the canal is very African Queen, with reeds both sides.

A rather unusual boat was moored at Tibberton.  The leading edge of its wheel house appears to have suffered a number of bridge strikes.

At Offertom Locks we were following a boat down and had another behind us.  After that, the outskirts of Worcester come into view, but the canal is still very green and pleasant.

We moored near the Commandery Museum and went in search of lunch.  Their cafe was right there, so we had their Toastie of the Day, which was Mac’n’cheese toastie — yes, Mac’n’cheese in a toasted sandwich.  Very nice it was too.  Then we went into town for some food shopping from M&S, and decided to go down to the river to moor.  We’d arranged to meet Rob and Caroline from Ortomarine for a drink, so they came down to Diglis as we went through the locks to the river, and joined us on board for the trip past the Cathedral.

We moored beyond the rowing club in a lovely sunny spot, and had a great couple of hours sat out on the towpath with a drink, chatting and catching up.

12 miles, 16 locks.  (103 miles, 143 locks)

Going West: Day 11

We have thoroughly enjoyed our time on the Gloucester and Sharpness Canal. Gloucester Dock is a really great mooring, and must be one of the best city moorings we've been to.

We were all ready to go at 8 this morning when the lock keeper comes on duty, so I radioed him to ask about going down the lock onto the River Severn. Unlike the keeper we'd spoken to yesterday, he thought there was a possibility the high tide could come over the weirs into the part of the river outside the lock, so advised we waited half an hour. I went to see him at around 8.30, and it appeared the tide hadn't come over the weir, so we were good to go. If the tide does come high enough, the problem is that it brings all the debris from the weir with it -- including big bits of tree, and apparently, the odd dead cow. Tides are getting higher as we go through the month; when we were at Sharpness a couple of days ago, it was a 5m tide -- but in a few days time they're over 10m. The lock keeper said a 10m tide added six feet to the height of the water outside the lock.

So we headed into the lock, which empties much faster than it fills, and were soon out onto the Severn.

This part of the river is very narrow, so the current is increased. It felt as it we were going very slowly, but actually reached Upper Parting, where the river divides, in about 40 minutes. It's three miles, so we actually weren't going that slowly at all. After that the river widens, so the going is easier. After a couple of hours, Tewkesbury Abbey came into view straight ahead.

A boat was just coming out of Upper Lode lock when we got there, so we could go straight up. The lock keeper's dog kept a close eye on us.

The next bit of river is fairly narrow again, and it was also quite breezy which whipped up some little waves -- very different from the flat calm when we came the other way on Monday. Back then, the aggregates wharf by the M50 bridge had two boats on it; today it was empty, so I wondered if we might see one of the barges working. Sure enough, a bit further on Perch came round the corner. And at the wharf at the other end of the run, Elver was being unloaded by a digger.

There are quite a few outfalls alomg the way, and I'd noticed the other day that they have the name Ham Baker on them. This is the company that back in the 1930s designed and build the candlestick paddle gear on the Grand Union between Calcutt and Knowle. I was about to take a photo of one of the covers when what looked suspiciously like a mink ran across the front of it. You can just see it on the right hand side.

Upton came and went -- there was no space on the pontoon, but as it was only 1.30 we'd already decided to carry on anyway. Adrian had been busy during these long lock-free sections, baking a lovely apple and cinnamon cake, which we had with afternoon tea.

On a narrow corner just before Worcester, the Conway Castle, the trip boat from Upton, appeared in front of us.

We rose up through Diglis River Lock -- relatively deep at 7ft 11in. We'd planned to stop on the CRT pontoons just above the lock, but they were full, although if everyone had moored closer to one another there would have been room for us. So we carried on to the moorings by Worcester Race Course. We made sure we were well above the footbridge -- when we were here on Debdale years ago, we moored the town side of the bridge and had drunken students running up and down the roof in the early hours!

With such a long day of travelling with few locks, our miles total has overtaken our locks total for the first time this trip.

30 miles, 3 locks. (151 miles, 127 locks)

 

June Cruise - Day Eight

We knew we couldn't go anywhere very early this morning as Avon Lock doesn't open until 9am, so perhaps that's why it was almost 8 before we woke up.  The lock keeper had told us yesterday to wait on the water point just behind our mooring when we were ready to use the lock, so after breakfast we turned the boat -- me standing on the bank with a bow rope, and Adrian powering the stern around.  As we were on the water point, we took the opportunity to fill the tank.

At 9 the lock keeper filled the lock, and told us the best way to get in (as the lock is at right angles to the river).  He took a bow rope and wrapped it round a bollard, and on his signal I pushed the tiller over and put some power on to swing the stern around.  The lock keeper was very apologetic that he'd opened only one gate -- a real no-no on his watch, apparently!  Once down the lock, we went the short distance to the junction with the River Severn keeping well to the southern bank in order to avoid a sandbar, and making sure we could see all of Mythe Bridge before making the right turn up the river.

On the Severn, we were going against the flow and had a few more revs on than usual, so I was keeping a watch on the engine temperature.  But the needle stayed exactly where it usually is.  Adrian downloaded a cycling GPS app on his iPhone, so we could see how fast we were going.  It reckoned we were doing 4.6mph.  There aren't many landmarks on the Severn -- even bridges are in short supply.  But we did pass an aggregates wharf with four big barges moored up.

Upton-on-Severn is about the only place along here which has a proper waterfront.  A trip boat was being loaded with passengers.

The weather was very changeable, with warm sunshine followed by short showers.  Wildlife highlights included two swans flying past the boat at head height (I had no idea their wings made such a noise), a group of seven herons which followed the boat for a bit, and a couple of fish which jumped right out of the water (one just yards in front of a fisherman).

On the approach to Worcester there's a footbridge which isn't shown on any of our maps, then immediately behind is Diglis River Lock.

We had to wait for what seemed like ages.  It turned out that a boat was coming down.  In the lock, it looks huge.

Once out of the lock, the views of Worcester are spectacular as we approached the pontoon landing for the locks up to the canal.

I went and opened the gate of the bottom lock and Adrian made the turn off the river, watched by a number of gongoozlers.

The top lock has a very stiff paddle on the towpath side.  It took me and a passerby together to get it moving.  While rising in the lock the heavens opened, so we were relieved to moor up just before Bridge 2 and have a late lunch.  In the afternoon, we popped down to the chandlery at the basin to get a card for the pump out machine, which is just a couple of boat lengths behind us.  Then we walked into town (where Adrian had another unsuccessful conversation with yet another 3 Store), and we went to the National Trust property, Greyfriars.

We were sweltering when the sun was out, but got soaked again on the way back to the boat.  With a long river run and only four locks today, our miles total for the trip now exceeds our locks total for the first time since day one.  That will change again tomorrow!

16 miles, 4 locks.  (105, 104)