Set off at our normal 10 am this morning after the rush had gone and boy was that some rush between 8 and 9-30.
It still gripes me to see the no mooring signs and no stopping signs along the chemical works, I wouldn't want to stop there but what if other companies started imposing this outside their works.
By now the high cloud was clearing and things were getting much warmer. The railway passes very close to the canal between Gravelly Way Bridge and Schenectady Bridge. Along the towpath is a concrete edge with what looks like the bases for posts along it. I was wondering if at sometime there had been a canal to railway transhipment point here.
We met an awful lot of boats again, so we could be going in the right direction. We didn't meet any boats in the narrows above Autherley Junction but we could now see the back of one going our way. We caught them up at 1300hrs. at Aldersley Junction where two hire boats were turning up the 21. It was the two we had been following yesterday. If they lock at the same rate as yesterday it will be almost midnight before they clear the flight.
We continued south, heading for Stourport, Compton Wharf used to be a good place to fill with diesel at a reasonable price, now its a block of flats. On the hard in front of them is what looks like a very short ex working boat, but is two bits slid one behind the other.
Many years ago a lad fell from a bridge in Stourport into the canal and died, the bridge didn't have any handrails. Almost immediately British Waterways went round putting scaffolding handrails on bridges, the one at Awbridge is still there.
We moored for the night just above Bratch locks, we had gone a bit further than planned as I got my maths wrong, but since then we have had another change of plan so I now have to recalculate.
Today's Journey
14.3 miles 6 locks in 6 hours.
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