Northward

Wednesday 14th, and another hot day in prospect.  So we got moving at 7.45am. The first lock smelt revolting with all the dead fish there, and the paddle was seriously stiff.

We followed the trail of death and pollution for another couple of hundred metres, and notified CRT accordingly. I am told the hot weather is blamed but it's clearly not just that. Storm runoff also blamed, and I wonder what water companies may have released? 

A few hundred metres  further on, matters improved dramatically and we were back to boating through the city.

Yes, this is still Worcester. My cousin Nick at lunch a couple of days ago, spoke of Wild About Worcester, a nature trail running through all the green spaces of the city. The canal forms an important part of it.

If you really love nature, you will find beauty all around you. True!

As the sun rose, the temperature rose to meet it as we climbed the day's ration of locks.. 14 of them.  We arrived at Tibberton by early afternoon and rested up in a shady spot, before going to the Bridge In  for dinner. Too hot to cook!

Next morning, and an even earlier start: 7am and Andrew set off while I was still pootling about below: actually still in bed as the engine came to life.  Definitely the best of the day.

12 locks today and onto new water. We had joined this canal last year at its junction with the Droitwich Barge Canal and turned south to Worcester: this time we continue north.

That's where we came in from last year. It's very rural and pretty all along so far, and we got to our mooring point quite early, at around half past twelve.  Top mooring directly opposite a well reviewed pub, the Queen's Head.

and the opposite view later on:

However, it turned out to be quite a noisy mooring, until quite late. We were resting up here for a full day before tackling the mighty Tardebigge flight of 30 locks, so next morning shunted the the boat along a bit, so we got shade in the evening and just a bit of distance from the voices and music .

A sneak preview of the first couple of locks:

and a walk to the shops, but mostly sitting in the shade reading and admiring the wildlife.

No pic sadly but at one point the incredibly tame local Robin flew inside the boat to have a look around the saloon for edibles!

And girding our loins for tomorrow.