Home for half term

Having spent the last few days moored at Tixall Wide ,  in which time we collected our car from Fenny Compton,  by bus, train and bus and delivered it to Great Haywood Marina in preparation for our return home and also we got a good bit of housekeeping done both inside and out on Hunters Moon.

Sunset over Tixall Wide

We have HM booked into the marina for 10 days whilst we return home for our half term grandchild minding so will return to the blog and stage 2 of our 2019 season.

Will our beautiful pansies look as good as this on our return?

Steady progress up the Staffs and Worcs

Monday 20th May

Steady progress was made as we headed to Compton for a provision top up. There we came across  nb Narrow Escape,  who had also stopped for shopping. We were so pleased to see Jan and Barry again and to be able to say farewell to them as their onward journey was to take them up the Shroppie and ours to continue up the Staffs and Worcs.  We will see them again at some time we are sure.

Another beautiful mooring near Calf Heath is our choice  tonight as we watch the sun go down over the fields opposite.

A welcome new bridge at Greensforge Lock ( I think!)

on the Staffs and Worcs Canal

Tuesday 21st May

We fancied a day off so took the short trip from Calf Heath to Gailey, where we took care of the day to day necessities of boating life, e.g. taking on water, disposing of rubbish and emptying toilet cassettes before mooring just below  the lock. The day had turned warm and sunny and we set out on a walk to Dobbies, a Midlands garden centre chain, where we knew we would get a good lunch and also have a pleasant much around.

It was good to have a change of scene, which refreshed us and on our return to the canal we visited the Roundhouse for ice cream and a sit in the sunshine.

We returned to Hunters Moon and Jenny sat on the towpath and did a bit of drawing practise whilst Sid tried to sort out our journey to collect the car from Fenny Compton Marina, which is a bit if a mission!


Wednesday 22nd May

A long day in a brisk wind with plenty of sunshine took us from Gailey to Tixall Wide to enjoy the sun setting over this beautiful mooring.

From Kinver to Stourbridge

We thought a little trip up the Stourbridge Canal would be good having passed straight  through Stourton Junction many times. The four locks, all in our favour were very straightforward and we soon found ourselves in open countryside. We meanders along this quiet waterway stopping for lunch opposite a field of buttercups, called Primrose Hill!
Wordsley Junction is where the Town Arm branches off the main canal and takes us down to Town Wharf.  As with so many of these arms the canal passes through new housing estates built on brown field sites and terminate at  a rather sad basin with three abreast moored narrowboats, some of them looking rather neglected and worse for wear. The most interesting feature of the basin is the restored bonded wharehouse.

Stourton Junction

Primrose Hill - maybe  'Buttercup Hill'

Stourbridge Bonded Warehouse

The Weighbridge at Stourbridge Wharf

The Clock Tower, Stourbridge

Stourbridge Town Hall

After a quiet night in Stourbridge we woke to a brighter morning and planned a long day travelling back to Stourton Junction and to continue northward along the Staffs and Worcs.

Maybe beyond saving!

We achieved our goal of getting to the top of the Bratch Locks well before 4.00pm , when the lock keepers go off duty , and found the moorings empty!  We were both weary after  16 locks so felt we deserved our roast beef and yorkshire pudding accompanied by a very nice bottle of red followed by another peaceful night .

Up the Severn and onto the Staffs and Worcs

Wednesday 15th May

The breeze has dropped even more today so it is perfect for our trip up the river  to Stourport - on - Severn.  As  we filled Hawford Lock another boat came round the bend   so it was good to share the last two locks of the Droitwich Canals and also to have another boat for company as we travelled up the Severn and through the last two big  river locks.
On our arrival at the Stourport staircase locks still in glorious sunshine we were thrilled to see a couple of CRT volunteers on duty  so we made an easy ascent with the help of Steve and  Dave.

The Stourport staicase

Now we know where Santa spends his summer!

We now find ourselves on the Staffs and Worcs Canal which we have explored many times before .

We are once again seeing our very good friends Bridget and Dave on Thursday evening in Kidderminster  so spend Wednesday night in Stourport then venture on to Kidderminster on Thursday.

The old and the new in Kidderminster 

A jolly evening on Thursday with plenty of wine and catching up over a delicious Chinese takeaway took place with our lovely friends.

Friday 17th May

What has happened?  We wake to the sound of rain on the roof of Hunters Moon. This leads us to have and slow start. When we do set off we are once and again wrapped up in our layers and waterproofs, it is really cold and it stays cold and damp all the way to  Kinver.

On the way up the canal we encountered the landslip between Wolverley Lock and Debdale Lock. This has caused this stretch to have restricted opening hours this being 9.00 -15.00 each day.

The Droitwich Canals

 Sunday 12th May

The Droitwich Canals

Our mooring just above Lock 2 on the Droitwich Barge Canal was perfect if a bit muddy after all the rain we have had. It was from here that we set out on Sunday morning along this beautiful, peaceful , newly restored canal, which was only reopened in 2011. It is well managed, well looked after and the locks, despite being doubles, are easy to operate.
We were captivated  by the birdsong and the gentle sound of the breeze whispering in the reeds, which flank both sides of the canal along much of it's length, and all accompanied by blue skies and a lighter breeze than we have enjoyed for days.

We made good progress through the six locks, which were for once all in our favour, to Droitwich Spa, where we were delighted to find pontoon moorings in the  Netherton Basin.
We had not long been moored when nb Narrow Escape turned into the basin. We had been wondering if we would encounter Jan and Barry , and Barley and Woody their two dogs, again after sharing the Hatton Flight and learning that they were following a similar route to us. Shared stories followed and we arranged to have a drink together later. This turned into  a jovial evening with wine and chat on one of the picnic benches in the adjoining park. As the sun went down and darkness fell we returned to our boats.  It had turned jolly cold  and we were glad that we had programmed the heating to come on!

Our pontoon mooring in Netherton Basin 

Monday 13th May

Because we had found this canal so pleasant we took the decision to  carry on up to Hanbury Junction,  thus finishing the ring, then to wind and come back down and join the Severn at Hawford Junction to head up river to Stourport on Severn.
So we set of on Monday morning with the promise of another lovely, sunny, warm day. Having cleared Barge lock with it's swing bridge in the middle our next encounter was the very, very, very low tunnel under the M5. We had been warned it was low so had cleared our pansies and other paraphernalia from the roof. And low it was! We had barely an inch or two spare. Sid was on his knees steering. After this we arrived at Hanbury in just  a couple of hours.

Lunch, then up to the winding hole and we were ready to start our return journey. The sun still shone, it was now very warm, Jenny  had changed into shorts and her leg was holding up well so off were went. This time the very, very, very low tunnel seemed even tighter but we made it and arrived back to the basin from whence we had started that   morning. A quiet afternoon in the sun finished our day.

The distinctive blue bridge number badges 

of the Droitwich Canals

The return under the M5 - spot Sid!

Tuesday 14th May

How lucky are we to have yet another beautiful morning to travel back down to Hawford Lock where we plan to spend the night. The breeze is much lighter today and it turns very warm, in fact the perfect temperature to sit on the towpath, which is much drier now, and replace the zip on our cratch cover. This is the third zip to need replacing so Jenny Is getting much better at the job if not much faster. It is quite a tedious task stitching it all by hand but all the least we will be waterproof in the bow. It took a little longer than anticipated but  the promise of our first bbq of the season, when finished, spurred Jenny along.

BBQ time - with the repaired cratch

cover on the grass in the background

The River Severn and onto the Droitwich Canals

Saturday 11th May


A very friendly CRT volunteer, Simon, helped us through the two locks that take us down onto the River Severn which had strong flow down river after days of rain.

Leaving Diglis Canal Locks in Worcester 

We battled the current, at times it seemed we were making no headway but we slowly made our way up to the junction with the Droitwich Canals. It had been another cold morning with a stiff, cold breeze blowing so having ventured through the first two locks of the Droitwich and finding . a lovely stretch of mooring, where we stopped for lunch, we decided to stay put for the afternoon and spend the night there.  We had been told there was no more mooring until you reach Droitwich Spa, which is a good 4 hours away so this was the best decision.

During the afternoon the sun warmed up, the breeze dropped a little and for the first this trip Jenny sat in the sun and typed this blog post. All's well with the world!

Into Worcester

Thursday 9th May

Two wet, windy and cold days bring us into Worcester with a visit to Andy Edward's Forge Studio en route. It was lovely to talk to Andy about how he got into painting canalware . He was virtually self taught but with a little tuition on the way. At present he is concentrating on the roses  but is going on a course to learn more about painting castles. He and Sid had much discussion about the best  paints to use and then boats in general, whilst Jenny browsed around his little shop, where you can also get tea and coffee, accumulating a few bits and bobs.

Rain

And more rain

It was a pleasant little break from the wind and rain, which took it's toll eventually and we stopped for the day at lunchtime. We'd had enough.

The old Cadbury Wharf on the 

Worcester and Birmingham Canal

An interesting bridge

Our final short trip into Worcester was yet again accompanied by rain and a cold wind. This is getting a bit repetitive.

Worcester mooring with a view of the Cathedral

A day away from boating seemed in order so we stayed in Worcester to be tourists for the day, with some sightseeing, some retail therapy, pleasant refreshment breaks and a visit to the Commandery Museum.  The 15th Century building is most famous for being the  Royalist headquarters during the battle of Worcester in 1651.  We learnt about the civil war and in particular the battle of Worcester where Oliver Cromwell's New Model Army beat the Royalists that forced Charles II  to escape to France where he was in exile for 7 years whilst England became  a Republic for those years.

The old and the new

Edward Elgar

Interesting use of an old telephone box

The Commandery 

The Tardebigge Flight and beyond

Monday 6th May

It was with some trepidation that we set off on this mammoth flight of 30 locks. We need not have worried. We soon got into a good rhythm and after the first  ten were joined by Lester, a CRT volunteer, who helped us through the next nine. We had settled back into our two man rhythm when Tom, another CRT volunteer joined us for the final six.  Having prepared a picnic to eat on route, as we had no idea how long the flight would take, we were moored up, feeling elated, just 4 hours after  entering  the Top Lock and eating our lunchtime goodies in comfort.

Any ideas what thus might be?

Going down!

And pop out here!

Lester closing the gates (in shorts!)

Slowly making our way down

No shortage of water here!

Hooray! We made it.

Tuesday 7th May - our 14th Wedding Anniversary

Our route today is just a short one to Hanbury Wharf, where the Droitwich canal meets the Worcester and Birmingham. Not being familiar with the area we noticed there was a steak and carvery pub here so thought that would be a reasonable place to stop for the night and and to have a meal out for a change to celebrate. We did come through 12 locks, so not and uninteresting journey.

Massive housing development and new warehouses on the site of the 

former salt works at  Stoke Works

And finally one for the grandchildren!