Dickens Heath

Tonight we are moored in exactly the same spot as last night, but facing the other way. Last night we weren't where I thought we were and I put Hockley Heath.
It rained a lot overnight and the forecast for this morning was not great so we didn’t hurry our selves getting up. It turned out to be a fabulous sunny morning. Our first stop was at Bridge 20 so Diana could nip up to Wedges.

I didn’t moot up but started off just standing and holding the boat on the centre line, well there was no traffic about, looking behind me I spotted this.

I then got a bit bored so slowly drifted down to the bridge and just stopped in the bridge hole until she came back.
We passed a boat with an impressive paint job and he still has one dog onboard.

I dropped Diana off at bridge 26 the manually operated lift bridge and once the bridge was open continued down through 27 to wind as we didn’t want to go down the North Stratford locks. Thankfully there were no boats moored in the winding hole because I got it wrong and went too wide.
I have noticed a couple of these official notices under bridges, this one is at bridge 27, I wonder if they have any relevance today or whether they ever did. 

Swallow boatyard is right beside this bridge and foe many years there has been an old butty converter to a motor standing at the back of the yard.

Back at the lift bridge, it was still open but you can bet someone would have wanted to cross if Diana hadn’t stayed there I spotted that the old cable winch to open it is still there, all the ones on the South Oxford are raised by body weight on a chain, so this one must always been a lot heavier.

Beside The Wharf pub at Hockley Heath is an old arm, it is now completely silted up and full of weed. I wonder if CRT own it or whether it is the old wharf and privately owned ?

As we approached bridge 19 we could se our way was blocked, a day boat had managed to get across the canal but his bows were still moored, a lot of revs and advice from someone at the Warings Green moorings and he was on his way.

We had originally considered going back to The Shirley Lift Bridge to eat tonight but decided to stop in the exact spot we were in last night, the chains are through the same gaps in the piling rail.

Today’s Journey

 

8½ miles, no locks in 3½ hours