Stourbridge canal

We left at 10 this morning, although the sun ws out the day started quite cool with the clear early morning sky. Yesterday evening I was sitting with the doors open and the noise of a Chinook helicopter going over, looking back at the lock things were so still giving lovely reflections.

As I was out with the camera I also took one of the grass at these moorings, better than my lawn.

A boat had been passed earlier,it was the one that helped up with the locks yesterday so we knew the locks would probably be against us and they were. We didn’t meet a boat until Stewponey Lock where we caught up with the boat ahead. On the way on the off side was a garden full of wild ducks and one Guiney fowl, not seen one in a long time. They are noisy, ugly birds in my opinion, but they taste good

Just below Hyde Lock someone has made a little raft with a little picnic table on it, I don’t know what they expect to feed on it as its a bit small for ducks.

Beside the lock on the off side is a company boundary marker against the lock cottage wall, it seemed a strange place for it as I would have expected the cottage to have been built on the company land, maybe it only includes the strip that the canal act applied to?

Above the lock is this memorial to someone's dad, always sad to see  and makes me wonder what is behind it, did he die there, or was he just a lover of the waterways, who knows?

It wasn’t long before I was misbehaving again, no light, no lifejacket, whatever next.

I have been under bigger bridges than this all 25 yards of it, does it really need a sign, is anyone really going to put their fire out in winter and as for who has right of way????

The buildings beside Stewponey look well cared for including the glass fronted building used by CRT, I am not so sure about the toll building with the coloured squares over the door and windows.

The trouble the canal builders and the detail they went to building this canal  and others of course is quite amazing, just look at this stop plank grove at the head of the lock all cast in iron and bedded fully into the brick work, not like two strips of angle iron used today.

We carried on past the off side long term moorings, I don’t know haw long you need to be moored for for a tree this size to grow in your rear fender.

 

At Stourton Junction we turned right and there on the lock landing was Robbi Cumming with his head down the weed hatch and we arrived before he had walked back and closed the gates, I think that is one of the film crew with him.

A nice run up the locks, all empty and it was nice to see a roller looking in good condition below lock 3, lots have rotted away and just the top and bottom irons remain.

Sharing one of the locks with us was this large toad, I hope he made it ok as he moved round by the heel of the lock just after I took this.

At lock 4 there was a boat waiting to come down, so that worked well as all the locks were with us and now they are all with them. We carried on in the sunshine to moor for the night against a short straight length of piling at Bells Mill. This is the view from the porthole, at the top right you can see one of our spiders, we have one in each porthole as well as a few others hidden away.

Today’s Journey

4½ miles, 7 locks in 3 hours

Whittington Lock

We let the other boats get away this morning before we left at 10-30am. I started off wearing a fleece but that was soon discarded as the day warmed up. We passed under Witton Chapel Bridge  that caries the footpath at quite a gradient across the canal.

A little further on is Falling Sands Lock and the chamber brickwork is getting in quite a bad way.

I took this shot of little and large, Falling Sands Bridge and directly behind it and somewhat taller

Falling Sands Viaduct. Last time we were this way there was a large banner looking for support to restore it, it now looks as if that work has been carried out. The Viaduct carries the Severn Valley railway and due to water damage has been closed for several years.
Details at
Home | Falling Sands (fallingsandsviaduct.org.uk)

On the face of the viaduct is a commemorative plaque to the men that died building it in the 1870s.

Caldwell lock is interesting in that it has two bridges over the tail , one a substantial brick concrete construction with the normal split wings to allow the

line to pass through, between that and the tai gates is an iron plank bridge  again in two halves to allow the tow line to pass through. On the offside there are two stone steps to make it easy to step over the parapet wall of the brick bridge, so I can only assume that the brick bridge was there first, so why add the plank bridge?
Note the handrail is a modern addition.
We had to wait for a boat coming down at Kidderminster Lock under the road bridge, opening two paddles floods the towpath.
There appears to be no change at the land slide at Wolverley other than the weeds have grown over everything, the A4 notices to tell you to pass slowly attached to the posts at the bottom of the slip if you can find them, How many years has it been like this now?
We caught up with another boat at Wolverley Court Lock so we stopped before the next lock for lunch to let them get away. However as we were about to leave two boats ahead of us set off so we tagged on behind the second. The first boat not only helped the single hander in front of us through but helped us as well and insisted we went ahead of them, it was the same boat who wanted to share the locks coming off the Severn, ended up seeing them a few times. We caught up with the single hander at Debdale Lock lock, interesting boat, all electric with a remote control fob, with that she could engage forward, revers and also operate the bow thruster. The power when engaging was impressive, its only on or off but 90% of full power, so just a blip to move of stop the boat in the lock, she hoped off at the bottom gates and let it run in from there.
Bit of a naught boy, I didn’t have a tunnel light for Cookley Tunnel, I took this picture because no one takes one from this side, they all do the other side.

This garden has a rather large collection of wooden men all sitting down, some smaller than others.

We only went a short way above Whittington Lock before mooring for the night, the towpath here is like someone's lawn, so I guess the owner of the nearby house mows it.

Today’s Journey

9¾ miles, 7 locks in 5 hours

Stourport

An early start this morning, we were away by 7-25 am as Bevere is only open at certain times as the lock keeper works there and Holts Lock, so if we weren't at the lock tween 8 & 9am we would have to wait until 11am for a locking. We passed the entrance to the Birmingham and Worcester canal with its sign post.It wasn’t a bad morning, quite warm and it was about an hours run, so nicely timed. Firstly it started to drizzle then passing the Race Course,  a loud rattle from the engine like something flailing around inside it had me diving below to check it out, engine down to tick over, swing round in the river and hope to get to the canal and off the river with Diana steering. A good look round with a torch and thankfully the problem was soon identified, the domestic alternator belt had come lose and was slapping against a copper cooling pipe, a quick flick with the screwdriver and the belt was off out of harms way. Winded in the river again and put the power on to make up lost time and catch the Canaltime boat that was now well in front of us. Thankfully we made it, passed them and were first to the lock they were just on a slow cruise.This was our going back and forth.

Once we were both up the lock we headed for Holts Lock again about an hours run, when we arrived the gates were open and a hire boat was just going in, so we slid in beside them and the poor Canaltime had to lock up afterwards. Today we have seen a few Kingfishers and Egrets, the Kingfishers wouldn’t sit still long enough. A good indication of river levels.

A much longer run up to Lincomb Lock, we overtook the hire boat shortly after leaving the lock when he asked me if we were restricted to Canal speed on the river, I told him he could go a bit faster. Came up to Lincomb lock and got the red flashing light for a long time, turned out there was a boat ahead who had just going up. The hire boat decided to fill with water below the lock so we were on our own, but not for long as we soon caught up with the boat ahead going very slowly. What do I do follow him at well under 3mph or overtake and steal the lock, I decided to go by, as we got level he called out, could we share the wide locks, to the best of my knowledge that have to be booked and only available for wide beam, so he said go ahead and we will follow. I did back set both the staircase locks into the basin for him. We stopped in the basin fo fill with water which worked well as when we were ready to set off a boat had just come down from the canal and when we got up another was waiting to come down, that saved a bit of work. Once back on the Staffs and Worcestershire canal we pulled into the first mooring spot for the night.
After lunch I set to putting the alternator belt back on and rearranging the tensioning system a bit, its rather a bodge up to be honest.

Today’s Journey

14 miles, 8 lock in 5¼ hours

Worcester Diglis visitor moorings

The morning was grey and damp but no time to sit around, we were ready to set off just after 8-30 am this morning so I rang the lock keeper and he said just come round and it will be ready, by the time I had untied, reversed out and swung round the gates were open and off we went.

By now we had a fine drizzle and I put my coat on, good job I did as minutes later it was raining real rain but the sun was out.
The flow in the partings was not as bad as I expected and we chugged up at a steady 3½mph. when we cleared the partings this went up to 4mph. The levels are well down as could bee seen by the silt at the Partings, it can get quite shallow just here and I have seen boats aground.

Going up the river was approximately 1mph slower than when we came down, I was quite happy at 4mph without taxing the engine, I expected about 3½mph. The red Lion at Wainlode looks a lovely establishment for a sunny afternoon, but there is no chance of getting near to moor a Narrowboat with the shallow water, the signs say keep left.

I didn’t expect to meet a boat sailing down the river, I actually met two, the second a very small yacht powered by a set of Mirror Dingy sails and making very good progress to wind.

We did pass the sailing club, they had their buoys set out for racing and were just launching a fleet of Laser dinghies, please to get through before they started as I am sure it would have been interesting. After leaving the lock at Gloucester the next one we came to was Upper Lode Lock, this originally had sloping sides but has been almost doubled in length with conventional straight sides.

After leaving the lock we were soon past to where the Severn and the Avon Converge, after this theriver slowed even more and I dropped the revs  for more pleasant cruising.
I think this is a water sampling station to sample from the centre of the river as well as instrumentation from the bank.

Its probably an eventual bit of kit as water is nor only extracted in several location including .Tewkesbury but waste water is also discharged further up stream

I have a feeling these structures were to do with the transporting of petrol during the war.

Being Sunday the gravel boats were all tied up on their wharf, there were four in total, moored three abreast and a single, a little further upstream we passed the loading facility also of course standing idle a Sunday. Being painted a light green help it blend in, maybe not the best idea.

The going got a bit slow under the Thameside Way A4440 bridge where in narrows down then picks up again to Diglis Lock, once we had locked up we moored for the night on the river visitor mooring pontoons just above the lock. Since we have been here a few hire boats have gone down stream, I am not sure where they will moor for the night as you can’t just pull over and moor like on the canals, I expect some of them will end up on Tewkesbury lock landing sometime after 7pm.

Today’s Journey 29 miles, 3 locks in 7¾ hours

Gloucester Dock

It was very overcast this morning and felt like it was going to rain but it held off until after we were moored at Gloucester dock. The whole trip only took an hour and a half, than included the failed attempts at reversing into a mooring slot, this was due to the strong cross wing excess mud and lack of water, so we did a big loop and went in forwards, we will drag out backwards tomorrow. There was a rather large fishing match taking place all the way from where we moored yo in front of the flats by Sainsburys where we stopped for shopping, so about 3 miles, I bet the marshals will be having fun covering that length.

Today’s Journey

3¾ miles no locks in 1½ hours

Sellars swing bridge

Another sunny day but not as hot as yesterday, a little rain overnight but all gone before we were about.
It was quarter to eleven before we set off on our journey towards Gloucester.Just beyond Purton Upper Swing bridge stands an interesting church, but coming through the bridge you are past it almost before you see it.

There is a major water abstraction and treatment works by the canal, water is pumped from the Severn into the canal at Gloucester and then extracted up here. In the past the water at this end has always been crystal clear when we have visited as the silt is all deposited in the canal as the water moves up here, but this time its quite murky.

At one time there was a navigable canal from here to Cambridge, not the one in East Anglia I might add. This end still looks quite clear but the house owner has a bridge across the end.

This end of the canal was quite busy with boats so the bridge keepers didn’t have time to get bored. we stopped for water just through Splat Swing Bridge.
Yesterday I said the canal was 20 miles long, it was pointed out to me that its actually about 16 miles and of course that is correct. just I added the miles up wrong on one of the mile posts, not this one.

At Saul Junction we passed this galleon,  I think it was built to be moored in Gloucester but failed to get the necessary planning approval. It would probably make a good live aboard vessel.

We wanted to be a bit closer Gloucester tonight so carried on under Sellars Swing Bridge, it high enough not to swing for us and dropped into the first vacant slot we came to.

Today’s Journey

10¾ miles, no locks in 3½ hours