Birthday Cruise -- Day 2

We had high hopes, weatherwise, for today.  The forecast we saw before going to bed last night suggested that by lunchtime the sun would break through the clouds, and the temperature would reach 19C.  Neither happened.

We were awake quite early.  There wasn't enough power in the batteries to get the Webasto going (not entirely surprising, seeing as the boat had been idle for several days, and we'd only boated for ten minutes last night), so showers were off the agenda.  We had a quick breakfast, and set off at 7.30.  It was a good while before we met another boat.

After Wheaton Aston lock, we decided we'd light the fire.  The coal is a variety I'm not familiar with, as rather than the usual ovals, the nuggets are hexagonal.  We've got only what's in the coal bucket; there's no bag on board.  But I'd be interested to know what it is, as it seems to light easier than Taybright, and burns slowly too.

We're very familiar with this section of the Shroppie now.  The only surprise was that the moorings (Wheaton Aston, Brewood, Bridge 8) were very empty.  We passed Chertsey at Stretton Wharf, then went over the A5.   We had lunch on the move just before Autherley Junction.  Napton Narrowboats had lots of boats in, but didn't seem to be blocking the canal quite as much as usual.  They were confident it wasn't going to rain, as they were painting the roof of one of the boats.

The stop lock was against us, but it didn't take long to turn, given that the rise is about three inches.  Then we turned right onto the Staffs and Worcs, heading south.  Soon afterwards, we saw an orange flashing light ahead.  BW were dredging the canal.  They had a hopper and a dredger, but there was just room to pass, and they beckoned us on.  Unfortunately, we ran aground trying to get round them, indicating that the edges need work as well as the middle.

Compton Lock was in our favour.  Once down the lock, I dashed off to the shop to get some washing up liquid.  Last time we were here, I waked to the Spar shop; this time, I went to the Nisa because it's closer, and was very pleasantly surprised.  It's very upmarket, with a deli counter and a little bakery section.

I caught up with Debdale before Wightwick Mill Lock, and we did a swap: shopping for windlass.  This lock and the next one were against us.

 We  moored up for the night at the offside moorings just above Dimmingsdale Lock.  It's a lovely spot which we've seen before, and which has been recommended by several people.  There's no satellite tv, but the internet signal is very strong.  Tomorrow, we start heading back.

20 miles, 5 locks.

Birthday Cruise -- Day 1

One of our fellow owners is ill, so he and his wife had to cancel their planned three week trip.  It means we've been able to get a few unexpected days on board.  Today is my birthday, so we've christened this the Birthday Cruise.

I spent most of the day getting ready: shopping and packing.  I loaded the car and set off at 3pm.  At 3.30, I picked up Adrian from his office, and we headed for Norbury Wharf.  Much to our surprise, we were delayed only one, past an accident which had happened just minutes before, on the A34.  We arrived at Norbury at 6.30, unloaded the car, and set off.  Several of the other ex-OwnerShips boats were there at the end of their weeks, with the owners cleaning and packing before their final night on board.

It meant I had quite an audience for as I pulled forward out of the line of boats, and turned to go south.  It can be quite tricky to spin the boat around with lots of boats on the wharf, but it all went well, and I even got complimentary comments from one of the crews.

We've never seen the moorings on the Shelmore Embankment at Norbury so empty, with just a couple of boats there.  We pulled over after a couple of hundred yards, moored, unpacked, and went to the Junction Inn for a birthday dinner.

Where to turn?

We've got an unexpected three days on board next weekend, as one of our fellow owners is unfortunately ill.

With only three days, we won't be going very far, but we plan to head south onto the Staffs and Worcs.  But it's not clear where it's possible to turn.  I know there's a winding hole above Wightwick Lock, but we'll probably get a little further than that.  Nicholson and CanalPlanAC say there's a winding hole below Dimmingsdale Lock.  Pearson doesn't mention it, and I can't remember.  Does anyone know?

Upton-on-Severn

To Upton-on-Severn today for a boat test.  It wasn't as sunny as we would have liked (by which I mean it really wasn't sunny at all).  It's often difficult taking photographs of narrowboats on big rivers -- they look very small.  Fortunately, the marina has a workboat, so Andy the photographer was able to use that as a platform.

Braunston

Today we were up early and headed to Braunston.  The main purpose of the visit was to have a look at the boat share show, now run by BCBM.  But we couldn't resist a walk up the locks, and then tea and cake at the Gongoozler's Rest floating cafe.

Then we walked round the show, had a look through BCBM's newest boat, and chatted to Paul on the Waterway Routes stand, where we saw his impressive new canal maps, which can be downloaded and printed, or even better, loaded onto a phone or PDA.

Later, we headed to the National Trust property, Canons Ashby, which is about 20 minutes drive from Braunston.  We had lunch sitting in the garden outside the cafe, and had a look round the house and grounds, before heading home.

Stourbridge flight

On Sunday, we thought we'd like to break our journey home with a canal fix.  So I sent a text to Lesley on Caxton, to see if they were still at Merry Hill.  She phoned as we ate breakfast, from halfway down the Delph Flight.

A couple of hours later, we parked the car at the end of the Stourbridge Town Arm, and walked along the arm to the bottom of the Stourbridge Locks.

We continued up the locks, and eventually found Caxton at Lock 8.

This is a route we've tried to do a few times, but have always been thwarted -- by rivers in flood, a breach, and stoppages.  So it was good to be able to help work Caxton down the bottom half of the flight.

Locks 9 and 10 are very close together, Bratch style, with a large side pond.

Slightly further down is the historic Dadsfords Shed, and a huge bottle kiln from the glass industry.

Once we were down the locks, Lesley supplied us with very welcome tea and coffee, plus plenty of advice for our planned trip on the Weaver in June.

Dutton Locks

On Saturday, we visited family near Chester.  We were telling them about our plans to go down the Anderton Lift and visit the River Weaver during our fortnight on board in June.  It turns out that one of their regular dog walks is down by Dutton Locks on the Weaver, so we went to have a look.

On the way, we cross the Weaver at Acton Bridge, passed the Black Prince hire base on the canal, and went back over the canal.  We parked the cars, walked across a field, through a reserve owned by the Woodland Trust, and then came out to the weir stream round the locks, which is crossed by a rather nice white bridge.

This bridge (which is a bit rotten in places), appears to be earmarked for demolition, although there's no sign of anything happening at the moment.  There are two locks: large, and enormous.

Above the locks are the remains of a partly sunken boat.

It was a useful trip.  We spotted visitor moorings and a water point, and even though the river is fairly wide, it's not of epic proportions.

Start of the season

On Friday, we went up to Norbury Wharf to check Debdale's winter works, and to help our fellow owner who was re-hanging all the curtains after cleaning.  It was a bitterly cold day and just a few boats were going out, so the basin was quite full.  Debdale is along the far end of this line of boats.  Debdale was due out on Saturday, at the start of a busy season.  Once we'd made sure everything was OK, we headed further north and ended up having quite a canal-ish weekend.  Of which more over the next few days.

Moment in Time on test

We've been away, and during the holiday the March edition of Canal Boat came out.  It includes my boat test of Moment in Time, a Fernwood boat which has been planned down to the size of every cupboard and drawer.