Daring the Droitwich

Poor signal problems.. this blog has been lost twice while saving it, once when already published...

Veterans of the river by now, we thought we'd commemorate our third trip with a plaque. Every collection must start somewhere..

We unmoored at 9am by Worcester Cathedral bells, to join up with a Dutch crew going down the locks onto R. Severn.  We had been mightily impressed by their reversing past us from their overnight stop and then turning in the tightest of spaces.
The river guaranteed high revs for at least 30 minutes, so the washing machine was immediately engaged. And then, machine done, there was the river lock and soon after the start of the Droitwich Barge Canal.
These, the first locks we had to do all by ourselves for weeks, were really heavy and a shock to the system.  Once we had climbed 2 locks, we thought enough was enough. One doesn't want to overdo it. 
Fortified by lunch and a bit of a sit,  we then went off to explore the towpath ahead.  It was hot and airless where the reeds had grown high, to the point that the canal was mostly invisible from mere inches away.
It's here somewhere..

After a bit, AD tempted AJ with talk of a farm shop selling meat, oh and ice creams, it's not far. An hour later:
Very good, but no farm produce.. think I was bamboozled there. 

An artistic moment appreciating the patching of this bridge over many years:
Next morning and moving up the cut to Droitwich Spa. One of those places you see on signposts but never visit, but pleasant with loads of history. 

Alison driving with Andrew lock wrestling.
Peekaboo!
The channel was very narrow, improving once we had passed this reed cutting boat:
The moorings at Droitwich are great: finger pontoons around a basin, with a water point canal side.
And not busy, so we overstayed our allotted 2 nights so that we could go to a Folk club night.
Backed by Vines Park, a beautifully kept linear park through the town.
Droitwich is another salt town, with all its older buildings suffering from subsidence 
but lots of retail.. 4 supermarkets .. and charity shops providing temptation:
can I spare the room?

On the second evening, Andrew had an IWA meeting:
Nice wee office!

Thursday 7th, and our last day on town followed by an folk evening at the Old Cock Inn,  itself interesting as having recycled chunks of a neighbouring church including the whole west window (sans glass) and the reputed venue for Judge Jeffries' Bloody Assizes following the Monmouth Revolt, 1685. There's a carving of him over the door, with a frog coming out of his mouth. Forgot to snap, sorry!

Then, the low bridge. It's a culvert under the M5, on a section of river, so levels are variable. The highest point on nb Vegvisir is her run of (expensive) solar panels, and we estimate air draught at 1.75m. We had previously walked up to check it out, to find the gauge reading 1.85m, great news. A whole 10cm spare!

So, on the Friday morning, having filled the water tank again to keep the nose low, we had a go, tomatoes (on the nose, they're now the highest point) leading the way.
Toms in the clear! Tally ho!
(DEAD SLOW)
And out the other side. 

6 more locks, including three manned by volunteers. These have unusual side pounds and are close together so traffic management is required.

And that's the Droitwich done! We now turn sharp right onto the Worcester and Birmingham Canal, heading back once again to Worcester.
Alison at the helm and grateful for Andrew on the opposite bank reporting no boats coming through the bridge just right of the picture.



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