Stourport 10th June

Where were we? Expecting a pub dinner at the Navigation Inn. GF info a little thin so Alison opted for gammon egg and chips, a safe bet, and Andrew had gammon pineapple and chips. Excellent portions, hoovered up after a long day on our feet in all weathers.

8th June dawned meh: more unsettled weather. We realised that the pump out station we will be using today is on the wrong side, so we would have to go past it, down a lock to a winding hole, turn, come back up, clear our black water tank, go up another lock, turn, come back down. Four bonus locks! Here is the cottage at one of them:
 and a moody view of the tail end with horse tunnel coming in:
Andrew sheltering from a downpour, not at Rocky Lock but one of the others carved out the red sandstone hereabouts:
and a better view of a circular weir. Water is always moving; when not needed to fill a lock, it would back up and flood, without a side channel to escape into. The channel then guides the surplus water back into the canal's lower level. So here, to save space, the channel is circular, with a handy grid to catch the very worst of the debris.
After 8 hours' cruising we were a) 90 minutes from Kidderminster b) outside a cake shop and c) the cake shop was next to a pub. Time to stop!

Thursday and a gentler start with a trouble free cruise to Kidderminster.
 Paused there for launderette,  BnQ, and groceries, all achieved by half 2, so decided to go on to Stourport. We will need to stop there for diesel and it's a complex series of interconnecting basins (wide areas of water with lots of mooring places, wharves, jetties etc.). Moored up at 5pm and went to reconnoitre.
Yup, complicated. 
River Severn levels are green so we're good to go:
and the lady herself:
10th June and on the move by 9am, into the upper basin to top up diesel and other bits from the chandlery.  Volunteer lock keepers on hand to guide us down the staircase locks and all of a sudden, we were out on the river.
A glorious morning, blustery with a southwest breeze but long periods of warm sunshine.  It was absolutely lovely 
and with a speed limit of a giddy 8mph we could really open up the engine.
All the locks are operated by C&RT personnel, and they let each other know that someone is on the way, so locks have been ready for us.
Andrew modelling our life jackets with panache.

And here's Alison navigating the big river


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

On the move!

Image
Thursday 21st, and an ideal morning for a hike; mild, cloud cover but no rain expected, and a cool breeze. So I packed my lunch and headed off following a tour suggested by a hiking app on my phone. It mostly worked well, except where a so called path met an impenetrable hedge; there were a couple of detours required. But lovely countryside And loads of butterflies about. Here's the next generation: lots of striped caterpillars: In one village I came across a telephone box repurposed as a library. There was a bit more road walking than I really like, but when it's a quiet one, I should not moan too much.. certainly easier to walk on than stubble fields etc. Soon into more congenial territory: and then out the other side, what looked very much like a bit of Stourport basin, but on top of a hill in a cornfield. Turns out it was the stable block for a big Manor house. Now, it's a Franciscan mon...
Read more

Calor Gas crisis averted

There is currently a major supply issue ref Calor gas bottles in the UK. It's being going on for some time and there is some confusion over what has caused it. Some blame has been pointed at people buying patio heaters during the Covid-19 pandemic. Certainly Calor do not seem to be making much progress in sorting the problem.  Marinas and fuel boats seem to have been particularly badly hit with Calor either not delivering at all or only delivering a fraction of what was ordered. There have been many social media posts from canal liveaboards who are reliant on gas for cooking & heating and also from the fuel boats trying to supply them. So, when I was at the boat and tried in vain to light the oven to cook my half-baked baguette for lunch and then found that the spare was empty too, my heart sank. Quickly discovered that the marina had no gas available and could not even put us on a waiting list as they did not know when they might receive any... Luckily a recommendation from th...
Read more

Run for Home 11th to 14th June

During the trip to and from Froghall, Andrew became overwhelmed with the need to get home. He'd had it with trees and birds and being outside, and could not rest until we were back at our mooring in Nantwich.  So we were champing at the bit for the first passage of the day through Harecastle Tunnel. We did manage to get to the Italian restaurant, La Barchetta at Wheelock, after many occasions either not stopping there or the place not being open, and it was lovely.  Disappointed that both our pudding choices were unavailable,  Andrew in his unsettled state especially so. However, where we had diaried 5 days to cover the 35 miles and 31 locks back to Nantwich, we did it in 3 1/2, not even pausing at Middlewich (except at the King's Lock Chippy, obviously). And then we were home and I was not even sure at that point if he would ever go back to the boat again. However, it certainly was good to watch the election night on our big telly, Andrew in his comfy chair and me in the...
Read more