We didn’t set off until 10-30am and with no other boats on the move we were soon at Wordsley Junction, the bottom of the Stourbridge 16 locks. Our plan was to go up the flight and then overnight at the Fens Branch, but that didn’t quite work out.
The first 8 locks were against us and all the pounds on weir. Just below the second lock there is a boat moored on the off side, I rather liked their figurehead.
The first time I ever came this way kids were lobbing bricks off the top of the derelict warehouse, today it’s a rather smart multi use establishment. I was rather taken by these window covers, looks much nicer that chicken wire.
The Glass Museum is open but all the cone is fenced off, there is a lot of money about to be spent on it.
Locks 19 and 10 are very close together, some people think they are something special like a staircase, but they are not and there is a large side pound behind the cottage teed in with a culvert between the top gates of 10 and the bottom gates of 9 and its worked the same way as any other lock, the only difference is that two boats cant pass between them.
At the next lock everything changed, all the locks were now empty and even better John was there windlass in hand, from now on every bottom gate was open ready for us. This mud bank in the pound gives a good indication of how low the water was. They are not floating weeds, its solid mud.
As we made our way up John came back for a quick word, we gave him a packet of shortbreads and he was away, we thought off home, but there he was at Number 2 with a CRT chap, it seemed all the pounds had been very low or empty this morning and between them that had been sorting things out. We cleared the top lock and we had only been going 2½ hours so I suggested rather than stopping here or up the Fens Branch we moor in the first pound of the Delph Flight. Big mistake on my part. On our way I looked up to see a cloud high in the sky which had swirled into a large round circle.
As we approached the Delph locks something I was not expecting to see, a boat just ahead of us waiting for the locks. We were only going up one and then moor in what is the weir stream on the off side of the lock. While waiting our turn up the first lock I spotted this floating bird house with an occupant.
Once the hire boat had gone we went up, three CRT people were there doing running repairs and fitted a wedge and new bolt to the bottom gate once we were in the lock. The moorings didn’t look hopeful being packed with weed, I tried pulling the boat in with the centre line and stern line, Di was helping. We must have struggled for half an hour or more. It didn’t help the CRT chap saying he had mown the grass at the Fens branch and it looked good, I know I should have stopped there, even some kids fishing offered to help pull the boat in, in the end I admitted defeat and went and set the next lock hoping the extra water would make it easier getting our. So we had to carry on up the next 8 locks, we didn’t lose any time with all the wasted effort as we still caught up with the hire boat at the top lock.
Its a very short run from the top of The Delph flight to the visitor moorings at Merry Hill with a nice soft edging and big iron rings to moor to, there is also lighting and CCTV, no idea if it works or anyone watches it, but its there on top of the poles.
Today’s Journey
4¼ miles, 25 locks in 5½ hours
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