Bratch Thursday 31 December 2015

We woke to a lovely morning, the sun was out, there was no wind and the Cockerels were crowing and boy did they know how to crow. It was a lot different to the 10mm of rain we had had in the previous 24 hrs

We set off at 10-30 am and immediately met a boat so that helped the lock situation. We stopped just above the lock at the services to take on water and dispose of rubbish. The day was most pleasant but a little cooler than of late, the towpath was full of joggers all going at different rates, some in groups chatting some alone checking watches as they went. About a mile north of here you come to Hinksford with a long length off offside private moorings, this meant I was travelling slowly when I spotted some fishing rods out over the canal laying on the tow path. I immediately stopped and two lads came running, winding in rods as the passed them, there were two more further up. It turned out they had at least 5 between them and even though I stopped before I reached the first one, his bate was actually behind me but luckily for them close to the towpath. The eldest lad was in such a rush his trousers had slipped down below his pants as he wound the lines in. Unfortunately he turned slightly just as I took this photo, but you can just see the orange glow, it brought a smile to our faces,

The Botterham staircase lock was set ready for us with top pound full and bottom empty, it must be due to leaking top gates as there is no way a boater would leave it like that.
Yesterday I posted a photograph of the stop plank groves above Stewponey Lock, well the ones slightly further not are not as ornate with the nice curves of yesterday but still very practical

We stopped at Sainsbury’s at Wombourne to replenish supplies, Its a handy stop with visitor moorings and rings right beside bridge 43. When we returned from shopping it had turned quite dull and quite a bit cooler. As we approached The Bratch it started to spit with rain and as I entered the bottom chamber the wind picked up and it was throwing it down, this carried on all the way to the top. The top gate of the flight is leaking badly due to all the rubbish that is trapped in the gate paddle, when you wind it down it doesn’t bottom out but just bounces on all the branches in there.
Once clear of the flight we moored for the night on the visitor mooring rings, needless to say within ten minuets the rain had passed.

Today’s Journey  4¼ miles, 10 locks including a staircase and The Bratch  in 3¼hours.

Bratch Thursday 31 December 2015

We woke to a lovely morning, the sun was out, there was no wind and the Cockerels were crowing and boy did they know how to crow. It was a lot different to the 10mm of rain we had had in the previous 24 hrs

We set off at 10-30 am and immediately met a boat so that helped the lock situation. We stopped just above the lock at the services to take on water and dispose of rubbish. The day was most pleasant but a little cooler than of late, the towpath was full of joggers all going at different rates, some in groups chatting some alone checking watches as they went. About a mile north of here you come to Hinksford with a long length off offside private moorings, this meant I was travelling slowly when I spotted some fishing rods out over the canal laying on the tow path. I immediately stopped and two lads came running, winding in rods as the passed them, there were two more further up. It turned out they had at least 5 between them and even though I stopped before I reached the first one, his bate was actually behind me but luckily for them close to the towpath. The eldest lad was in such a rush his trousers had slipped down below his pants as he wound the lines in. Unfortunately he turned slightly just as I took this photo, but you can just see the orange glow, it brought a smile to our faces,

The Botterham staircase lock was set ready for us with top pound full and bottom empty, it must be due to leaking top gates as there is no way a boater would leave it like that.
Yesterday I posted a photograph of the stop plank groves above Stewponey Lock, well the ones slightly further not are not as ornate with the nice curves of yesterday but still very practical

We stopped at Sainsbury’s at Wombourne to replenish supplies, Its a handy stop with visitor moorings and rings right beside bridge 43. When we returned from shopping it had turned quite dull and quite a bit cooler. As we approached The Bratch it started to spit with rain and as I entered the bottom chamber the wind picked up and it was throwing it down, this carried on all the way to the top. The top gate of the flight is leaking badly due to all the rubbish that is trapped in the gate paddle, when you wind it down it doesn’t bottom out but just bounces on all the branches in there. Once clear of the flight we moored for the night on the visitor mooring rings, needless to say within ten minuets the rain had passed..

Today’s Journey  4¼ miles, 10 locks including a staircase and The Bratch  in 3¼hours.

Greensforge Wednesday 30 December 2015

We could hear the wind last night, but where we were moored it was quite sheltered and the highest gust I recorded was only
20 mph. Because it sounded bad we were in no hurry to get away this morning, especially as the forecast was talking about the upper 50s mph. We took a walk up the lock to dump the rubbish and things didn’t seem to bad, so Diana set the lock while I went back to get Harnser.
In the time it took to slip the tiller on, put on my coat and start the engine, the hire boat ahead of us had almost cast off. I am sorry to say, I went passed them just as they dropped the bow rope off, but Diana did have the lock all ready for me.

While in the lock it started raining, nothing to bad, but as we reached Hyde Lock it just threw it down in stair rods. This continued until we left the lock, then the rain eased and the wind died to nothing at all, the anemometer stopped turning.

On our way down I had a bit of trouble getting out of Stewponey Lock so I was quite pleased to have see Ian down near Kidderminster with his motor Truro and butty, he must have come through the lock, so he would have swept it clean. Needless to say, going in was a breeze.

On the Staffs and Worcs Canal the canal company used cast iron lead ins into the top lock gates and these incorporated a stop plank grove. This is the only canal where I have noticed these.

As we passed Devil’s Den I slowed right down for a closer look and there snuggled by the rock face was the first clump of Snowdrops I have seen this winter. By now it was raining steadily again but thankfully no wind. At Rocky lock the lock was full and against us, not only that but both top paddles were up. I took a photo of the cave by the top gate, as you may just be able to see it is only just visible. I feel sure we looked in here when we had my grandson with us a couple of summers ago.

We didn’t go much further after that, a short way past Ashwood Marina mooring up before the Greensforge moorings as we knew they were tree lined and I try if possible to avoid mooring under trees.

Today’s journey  4½ miles, 5 locks, 1 junction in 2½ hours

Kinver Tuesday 29 December 2015

We were away in bright sunshine at 10-15 this morning, we only went to just above the next lock where we moored up and took a short walk around Wolverley, visiting the brick built church on our way. There are some interesting old houses there where part of the walls are carved from stone and then topped off with brick.When we returned to the boat I took another photo of the long white pipes that are mounted beside some of the locks and the end bit that looks as if its designed to be turned with a windlass actually has a screw  camp mounted inside the pipe. The pipe is about 4” in diameter and maybe 12 to 15 foot long. 

Following our walk we pushed on in the sun passed the winter moorings, who is to blame, the person who decided where the moorings would be of the one that blindly put the notice up?

Above Debdale Lock and before Cookley tunnel there is a large works by the towpath, at one time they had their own canal basin for loading and unloading boats. This is now Titan Wheel Works but was at one time Cookley Ironworks.                 Just look at that lovely blue sky.

The is a stone erected on the edge of the towpath, we saw it on the way down so pulled over to take a look, it marks the boundary  between Worcestershire and Staffordshire and was erected by the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal Society .

It was quite a short day for us and just after lunch we moored up on the visitor moorings just below Kinver lock. After lunch we took a walk round town and called into the chemist to buy some Beecham’s powders. I feel really sorry for the shop owner, my items came to £4-63 and the smallest I had was a £10 note. It took the two of them four attempts to get my change correct. We were going to walk up to the cave houses but checking online saw they would be closed so went up the other end of town and up to the church. After a short sit down and a photo in the church yard we headed back down to the boat.

Today’s Journey  4¾ miles, 3 locks in 2¼ hours

Wolverley Lock Monday 28 December 2015

First thing this morning we went for a walk around Stourport, down to the river which is in flood so the locks from the basin down to it are closed. The foot bridge where the young lad was killed 4 years ago still has a scaffolding hand rail and is inspected and signed of as being in good condition every couple of weeks, imagine what that has cost over 4 years, they could have made 2 proper ones by now for that cost. The design is rubbish with big scaffold clamps just at ankle height on the inside of the walkway. 
Before we left we filled the water tank as we were moored close enough for the hose to reach. The longest period of sleep I had last night was just under 2 hours as I didn’t hear the clock strike 12 and I am not sure about 1 am. but I heard all the rest.

We set off at just after 11 am. Moored above the lock there is a rather strange boat moored. It is pointed at both ends and I suspect its powered by 4 thrusters all pointing in different directions

By now the sun was out and it was feeling quite pleasant. Mitton bridge crosses the canal on quite a slope, I bet that’s fun when its a bit icy with the cold air blowing underneath it.

There is an old basin right beside the railway viaduct at  Mitton, this is looking into it as we passed along the canal and to pull the boats from the basin they had a pulley wheel mounted on the towpath opposite the entrance, so the horse could walk along the towpath to pull the boat out.  The canal runs under the railway arch and the basin is off to the right, the pulley is just near the bottom of the steps. 

We stopped for a few minutes at Pratt’s Wharf, here there was a branch of the canal that went under the towpath bridge and down one lock to the River Stour to service the iron works at Wilden. No you cant get through there today but you can still see the remains of the lock walls.

Just before Caldwell lock we had to negotiate a fallen tree again, we had to get round it on the way down as well.

The bottom gates were wide open on Caldwell lock so its as well they have anti vandal locks on the paddles. As Diana closed the gate behind me a Mink dropped into the water from behind the gate, he must have been sitting on some broken bricks up there and plopped down as soon as the gate swung. We carried on up through Kidderminster passing a boat moored on the offside that had had a stone through the window. Kidderminster also has anti vandal locks but only on the top gates which strike me as being a bit useless as anyone could open the top gate and then draw the bottom paddles.

We continued on up through Wolverley Court Lock before mooring for the night just above the lock.

You may remember on our way down I mentioned that two out of the three bridge supports had snapped off, well looking closer today, the third one isn’t doing anything as you can see daylight between it and the bridge deck.

Today’s Journey 

5½ Miles 5 locks in 3 hours.

Stourport Basin Sunday 27 December 2015

Another wet night and this morning there wasn’t a breath of wind, the mist and drizzle hung in the hills, We set off at 10-30am after I flashed the alternator up to charge the batteries. The canal is set hard against the rock face in lots of places and in some they had to cut right through the rock. It was just after here we saw the only other boat of the day coming towards us, I hire boat. I got a bit to close to the tow path and stopped dead on some rock as he slid passed us. I have noticed at a few of the locks these long steel poles, painted white with what looks like a windlass stub on one end, for the life of me I can’t think what they are for.

At Wolverley Court lock the tail bridge is, like lots down here or the cantilever design. This one was designed with three supports running from the wall the the centre so I can only assume that they felt 3 were required. Over the years on one side 2 of the 3 have been snapped off, so there is now only one doing the work supporting the bridge deck. Was this over engineering by the builders or just good luck.

When some of the offside trees were cut down some one decided to carve these stumps into Kingfishers. The beaks are a different colour so I wonder if they have been snapped off and replaced or just stained.

We passed the butty Phoebe moored up and the art work on her block caught my eye with a scene from the Potteries. A brief stop was made in Kidderminster to visit Maplin’s so hopefully tomorrow the alternator will self excite when I start the engine. I had to take the classic shot as we approached Kidderminster lock, looking back. At the moment they are building a new bypass for Kidderminster to the south of the town, The main carcass of the bridge is in, crossing both the canal and the river Stour. 

There are visitor moorings just above the lock dropping down into the basin, I did consider winding above the lock, it looks pretty wide there but in the end decided to drop into the basin to wind before locking up again to moor. What we didn’t know was that there are a couple of 24 hour moorings in the basin by the services, one had a boat on it already but we squeezed in just in front or them, it will be handy for topping up with water in the morning. Needless to say as we started to turn round in the basin it started to rain, so again we have wet trousers. The basin is packed with long term moorings, if they ever go up the Staffs & Worcs Canal together it will be mayhem. Some of them wont fit on the canal and can only go down the river Severn via the wide locks, there is a set of narrow locks for us tin slugs to use if we want to go that way.

Today’s Journey  7½ miles, 7 locks in 4 hours.

Cookley Saturday 26 December 2014

Last night we had our Christmas dinner onboard by candle light.

This morning a boat went by before we were up so it looked as if we were in for a busy day, it also meant the locks were against us.

At the first lock we came to, Hinksford Lock the land owner adjacent to the lock has been doing a lot of ground works building a bank about a meter high all the way along his boundary with the canal.

The morning was very overcast and dull with occasional drizzle, but as the day progressed things got much better and by mid day the sun was shining.

I am sure at Rocky Lock you use to be able to see into the caves on the off side but the entrance is now full of soil, whether this is the action of man or a Badger I don’t know, but as you leave the lock you can see how it cuts back against the rock on the offside.

We stopped to fill with water at Greensford Bridge lock, we had met a boat earlier but he must have only done one lock because now they are again against us, so each one has to be filled before we can use it.

There is an interestingly named place just before Stourton Junction, its Devil’s Den and on the offside there is a boathouse cut into the rock, several years ago British Waterways decided to fit locked doors on the entrance so you can no longer see in. There was a bit of controversy at the time as to whether they had the right to do it, but the locked doors are still there.

We had bit of a problem at Stewponey Lock and I grounded on something trying to leave the lock, we just creped forward with lots of revs on, I must remember to take a run at it on our return.

Dunsley Tunnel at just 25 yards long is quite interesting. At one end there is a bricked section but it soon changes to solid hewn rock. This photo is taken looking back at the bricked entrance, the other end is just rock. We planned to moor after another couple of locks at Kinver visitor moorings and we did stop and tie up, but then we checked the map for tomorrows journey and working on the same sort of length of day we would end up at Kidderminster, not one of the best areas to moor in, so after a bit of late lunch we set off again doing just one more lock and going through Cookley Tunnel, this one is slightly longer at 65 yards and has a road and a row of houses on top of it. I wonder over the years how much stuff has been dumped into the canal from the back of those houses. We have moored on the 5 day visitor moorings between the south of the tunnel and Debdale Lock.

Today’s Journey  

9¼ miles, 2 tunnels, 1 Junction, 8 Locks in 5 hours.

Test

Running Open Live Writer

Swindon Christmas Day 25 December 2015

Well the tree is up and the lights all on around the lounge, we don’t have any outside.

 Last night was a cracker with an almost full moon, I think its full tonight.

What a shame it was to get up this morning while it was raining. Thankfully it had stopped before we left even it it did turn out to be only briefly.

Looking at the rain on the Bullseye

We were delayed in getting away as there was no charge from the domestic alternator, it turned out the “ignition” warning light had blown, I suspect it was only a 12 volt one on a 24 volt circuit. I didn't have a spare and the only thing I could think or to wire in its place was a relay coil to supply the voltage to energise the alternator, as soon as it fired up I disconnected it again, but I will have to repeat it in the morning.

We finally got away just after 11 am. and at the first lock we came to we encountered the faces, once there were three but the centre one has decade and lost an eye.

The lock was full and looking back while we were locking down the reason was quite plain to see. With a single top gate and a pair of bottoms I would expect the bottoms to leak most.

The scaffolding handrail is still on the foot bridge below Awbridge Lock. This was erected after a lad fell off a bridge in Stourport and was drowned in 2011, I thought they may have fitted something more permanent by now.

This lock must have one of the most ornate bridge angle brackets still in use, a lot of the others on the tow path side have got broken back in the days of horse drawn boats but you can see the rope groves worn in this one.

We soon arrived at The Bratch, this is a series of three locks each one separated by a short chamber about 10 foot long. There is a paddle leading from this chamber to a larger pound to hold water to fill the lock below. The paddles are colour coded red and blue so you shouldn't get it wrong.

All the chambers were full and it didn't take us long to get down, we did stop and clear up after the night time revellers who left cans, bottles and half eaten take-a-way by the middle lock, they also left two full cans, but then it was only Fosters.

A few walkers out now the rain had stopped, I think that Bumblehole Lock stands a good chance as being listed as a SSSI with the amount of growth on the walls.

Our next challenge was the two lock staircase where the top lock emptied directly into the one below, get this wrong and you flood the towpath. Again it was all set up ready for us.
We just did a couple locks before pulling over at the end of Swindon visitor moorings. There are three other boats here, two are occupied but the one behind us looks empty.
Tonight we will have our Christmas Dinner which is in the oven as I type this, we have opened our presents and rung all the people we planned to who we could get through to.

So I would just like to wish you all a happy Christmas.

Today’s Journey

 4¼ miles, 11 locks in 3 hours