Droitwich to ……..

Feeling a little more normal this morning we decided to get stocked up and get ready to finally leave Droitwich. Either direction would mean locks, but so long as we took it steady I was sure my lungs would be able to keep up with us.

With 5% cash back at Waitrose we decided to head there to stock up for the next few days. In the car park are a few little huts, one called The Little Bread Hut. I’d noticed it last week shortly before it closed  and wanted to see what they had on offer. This morning the shelves were full of wonderful looking loaves and bread buns. Mick got a large wholemeal loaf and we also got a pepper and goats cheese quiche which turned out to be very tasty for our lunch. Well worth a visit, she’s only open a few days a week and closes early afternoon once her stocks have been depleted.

Once everything was stowed away we reversed to the water point. We only filled up yesterday but we wanted to be sitting as low as possible with the hope that we’d be able to get under the M5. The top of the chimney was removed, we were ready.

We waved goodbye to our mooring of the last week and made our way through the park. It being a Saturday there were plenty of pedestrians crossing over the swing bridges. A Mum and daughter stopped to point things out to eat other and watch the boat go past, the only thing was they were stopping the boat from going past because I couldn’t open the bridge with them stood in the middle of it!

A chap from a boat moored by the Barge Lock came out and opened up the gates for us. The level was such that the gates at the other end of the lock could also be opened , then with the swing bridge swung out of the way Mick brought Oleanna straight through without stopping. We were now on the River Salwarpe, the level board was a bit hard to read and the lower end of it is very dirty, maybe it was just bordering on green, who could tell, we certainly couldn’t! But the fact that we’d been able to go straight through the lock suggested that the level was in our favour.

One lock before the M5 tunnel, the river level board here was below the green. We were now back to narrow locks, my lungs breathed a sign of relief, no horrible big fat gates to move. A boat came into view behind us we warned them that we might need to stop as we weren’t sure we’d get through the tunnel. We might need to remove the horns from the top of the cratch or worse still we might need to reverse, at least they were warned.

As you approach the tunnel there is a bridge with a bent gauge hanging from it, we fitted underneath. The water level indicated that there was at least 1.9m head room, we should be fine, no worries. Taking it slowly (which is all you can do) we could see the level dropping slightly towards the far end.

Oleanna smiled back at us, there was 4 inches above the horns and with the chimney as low as possible there was 6 inches clearance there. Phew! Glad we waited for the weather to improve and drop the level.

Infact the level was really quite low. Trying to drop me off for the next lock took some doing as we listed first to one side and then the other, something under the surface. The next lock has one of it’s gate paddles chained up, this is to stop the lock from being emptied too quickly and raising the level in the pound under the M5. Mick had difficulty getting Oleanna into the lock, either the bottom was too close to the top or there were more things under the surface that shouldn’t have been!

With the boat rising I walked up to the staircase locks and started to empty the bottom chamber, another paddle chained up to restrict water flow, then walked up to the top to top up the chamber above. No hire boats here this time to argue about how to operate the staircase, just the boat following us up who very kindly closed gates for Mick.

Anne (Mick’s sister) and Alasdair had stayed last weekend at the marina in their Motorhome. We peered over the hedge wondering if the code for the showers was still the same as last week. Apparently the facilities were all very nice, but for those on the campsite it cost an extra £10 a night to use them, needless to say a lot of showers were taken.

The Hanbury flight looked busy with at least one boat going up and plenty of people around each chamber. It turned out that there were four Lockies on duty today making our passage up very easy indeed. These three locks all have side ponds which help to conserve water levels above, so you are encouraged to use them. Emptying the lock involves lifting paddles to empty the lock into the side pond until the level equals (the lock about half empty), these paddles are then closed capturing the water, the bottom gate paddles now lifted to empty the lock completely so that we could bring Oleanna in. Then the water from the side pond is let back into the lock until it equals out, this is shut off again and then the level is topped up from the pound above. With two crew working the lock it doesn’t take that much longer to work up the locks but saves about half the amount of water normally used.

As we left the flight another boat was following us up and another was on their way down, plenty to keep the volunteer Lockies busy.

Reaching Hanbury Junction we turned the steep bend, steeper than normal as work boats were moored on the far side, we then reversed back to moor up for lunch. The bank that had been covered in Primroses a few weeks back had lost it’s yellow covering and everywhere was looking so much greener and fatter. Boats came and went, some turning towards Droitwich, some taking several attempts to turn towards Droitwich, others heading for Worcester others Tardebigge.

At Hanbury Wharf we pulled in for a bottle of gas and a top up of diesel. We’d last filled up on the Gloucester Sharpness and then headed upstream, so comparisons of diesel usage since our new batteries are not as yet possible. We also asked if he had anything that might work on our tainted mushroom. He brought out a bottle of Black Streak Remover and tried a bit. This apparently removes any marks he gets on his boat from burning wood and works wonders. It didn’t do anything to our mushroom though!

After some chilled medication we pushed on a bit further pulling in shortly after Bridge 32. The hedgerows are creaking under the weight of the hawthorn blossom and the cow parsley is doing it’s best to hold everything up from below. Buttercups glow between the reeds and nettles and Tilly set forth to explore her new surroundings in the afternoon sunshine whilst we watched the highlights of the wedding.

8 locks, 2.62 miles, 2 reverses, 1 full water tank, 1 fridge full, 5% off shopping, 1 quiche, 1 bottle of wine, 0 boxes of tissues, 3 swing bridges, 2 straights, 1 right, 2 stooping boaters, 1.9m easy, 0 limbo required, 72 litres diesel, 1 gas, 2 chilled medication, 0 shining that mushroom, 1 slow boat, 4 hours of good friendly cover, 2 cuckoos, 1 noisy fox, 1 simple frock, 1 batch of secret baking, shhhhh!

https://goo.gl/maps/2covp9j6C2k

Droitwich

Whilst sitting still we are making the most of the proximity of the water tap and the sun being out. All winter waterproofs and padded clothing have been washed and re-waterproofed and are ready to be vacuum packed to go back under the bed until Autumn. Cleaning things has been put on hold as my nose needs blowing far too often, that mushroom can wait a while longer along with painting the gunnels, sanding back the cratch frame to recoat it and giving a length of grabrail some attention.

They moved the outside a couple of days ago and today, but they didn’t fool me, it was exactly the same one when I got to go out again! That’s the third time they’ve moved the outside to this one, maybe it’s just a big circle and it keeps on going round us. I now know where is good for friends and I’m getting to recognise the local woofers and know which are the noisy ones. Yesterday one stood and shouted at me for ages! Stupid thing, there is no point trying to have a discussion with them, they just shout the same thing over and over and over again! Shouting never got anyone anywhere and it certainly wasn’t going to get me or them any closer.

Mick checked through the TV guide and came across a lunchtime programme that we got hooked on when we wintered in Newark 2015. The Doctor Blake Mysteries, we got to see three series back then and the one currently following Doctors is series 5. Have we missed a whole series? Set in 1950’s, now 1960’s Ballarat Australia, Craig McLachlan, yes him from Neighbours, is a local GP who deals with post-mortems in the area. Mick likes the vintage cars and I like the costumes along with the story lines. We were always a bit surprised with the daytime slot it was given. Already part way through the series we have caught up on the first few episodes trying to use up a bit of our double data allowance.

The weather is lovely, just a shame I really don’t want to be out boating in it. Moving to get water this morning used just about all the energy I could muster. Instead the TV is on and I’m making good progress through the mountain of wool that arrived the other day. I’d been crocheting a large throw and run out of yarn for it, so with new supplies it is well on the way to being completed and is very nicely keeping my lap warm as I add the last few inches.

Here’s hoping my cold disappears before the sun does. We’re also hoping that I don’t pass it on to Mick.

0 locks, 0 miles, 2nd box tissues, 10 strepsils, 2 boxes drugs used up, 5th whole day exploring, 1 shouty shouty deaf woofer not capable of listening to reason, 3rd time, 1 Blackbird so looking forward to us moving on, 5th series, 4 episodes of Yerrs, 40 rows to go.

Droitwich

On Tuesday we spent sometime vaguely working out the rest of the week, where we might be and when. A top up with water, move to nearer the shops, do a big shop, limbo (if we can) under the M5, up the locks, turn right, fill with diesel and then carry on to Worcester (taking a couple of days as we’re in no rush), maybe a couple of days there before heading down the river to ‘I do like a good’ Tewkesbury. If we are too high for the M5 then we would spend much of the first day reversing back to where we were moored to be able to wind and retrace our steps back to the river. I was wanting to try to work out where we might be on Sunday evening and find somewhere for a nice birthday meal for Mick’s 60th or if we’d be able to have a barbeque in a suitable spot.

But all our planning has gone to pot, as on Wednesday I woke with a very sore throat and during the day my nose joined in. The only shopping that was done was to top up on Lemsip and Strepsils. Today the sore throat has moved down to my chest which usually means a couple of days being breathless and snotty. Great!! Yesterday morning nurse Tilly stayed on my toes keeping them warm for several hours, it was a grey day. But today the sun is out and after a couple of extra head nudges first thing she got bored and wanted to be off doing what she’s very good at, being a thug in the park.

The washing machine can keep busy as we are near a water point and the weather is perfect for drying. We’ll need to top up before leaving anyway to make sure we are sitting as low as possible in the water for our attempt at limboing.

Thank you Steve for your suggestion of using Miracle Brass-Brite on our stubborn mushroom. Sadly we ran out of our supply whilst preparing NB Lillyanne for sale last year and as we don’t have brass we hadn’t thought of buying more. We’ll see if the next chandlers has any. Duncan has also suggested trying Coke. I’ll try soaking a cloth in it and leaving it on the mushroom for a while as removing the top part to be able to soak it would be very tricksy. The mushroom does however look like the chrome coating has somehow been stripped off on the majority of it. I’ll carry on trying things.

0 locks, 0 miles, 0.5 boxes tissues, 5 lemsips, 3 lots of cold drugs, 1 weeks planning out the side hatch, 1 photo for two days, 1 more sad gits meal, 4 strepsils and counting.

Droitwich

Today Vines park was getting a spruce up by the council. A large grass cutter was toing and froing around trees and kicking up a bit of dust as it went, good job I’d left washing the cabin sides for another day. The park does look well kept, very neat and tidy. Just a shame that the chaps with the strimmers aren’t quite aware of what happens when strimmer meets grit on a tow path near to boats! We managed to get his attention after three bits of grit hit the cabin side. There is so much dust laying on the surface it’s hard to see if there is any damage, I’ll have a better look when she gets a wash and try to touch up any damage.

With the sun still out I decided to have another go at the mushroom, but sadly nothing seems to work. Maybe that one vent wasn’t chromed properly, or it’s just a reaction. Should we want to change it in future it will take a bit of doing as access to the nut holding it in position is inside the vent pipe from our toilet, so some jiggery pockery will have to be done to gain access. It will stay tarnished for now though.

Our tunnel light has been looking very rusty for sometime. I’d successfully given it a good clean a while ago but it was far more stubborn today. Yesterdays research on cleaning chrome had come up with a good suggestion which made the job a whole lot easier. Foil and vinegar. With a scrunched up ball of foil and a drop or two of vinegar you can gradually rub off the rust, rinsing off with water and it was silver again. Don’t think it will last long though before the rust returns, so some WD40 might be applied to see if that works.

I took a wander up to the post office to see if my yarn order had arrived. I’d considered doing a bit of food shopping on the way, but was very glad I’d left that for later as there was a large box waiting to be picked up!

When we first got our Separett Villa composting toilet we were warned by various people that the fan they come with would only last a year. Bridget and Storm on NB Blackbird had found this to be so, so carry a spare. Our fan has been a little bit noisy since day one and Mick was keen to try to find a quieter replacement. A few years ago he bought me, for my birthday (I’m such a lucky girl!), a quiet power supply for my computer from a company who specialise in quiet PC solutions, so he bought two of their computer fans which we received via Eastbourne at the weekend.

Because we are a 24volt boat, we have a 24 to 12 volt dc convertor, which means that the 12 volt is regulated, always at 12 volts. On a 12 volt boat unless you have a 12 to 12 volt stabiliser the voltage can fluctuate. The fans that come with our toilet don’t like fluctuations and therefore they give up after about a year. We’re not sure how much longer our original fan would have lasted us, but today as the pooh bucket was due a change Mick decided to see how quiet one of the new fans would be. I did get him to check which way round it was mounted after remembering that Jaq on NB Valerie had had difficulty when she changed her fan last. So far the verdict is a lot quieter, not totally silent, but it certainly won’t bother us overnight like the old one did.

Another parcel received at the weekend was my prize from Charlie and Ivy’s. Four very beautifully wrapped up jars of their mayonnaise. We’ve already tried some of the Ale and Mustard with some cheese on toast and that was very yummy, looking forward to tasting the others, but we’ll have to restrict ourselves to one jar at a time.

A trip later in the day to Waitrose to see what was available in the sad gits section for our evening meal, means that we have a lot of broccoli and green beans to eat. I think a slightly odd stir fry is in order and then I’d best get crocheting and work my way through all that yarn!

0 locks, 0 miles, 3 possible chips, 0 brown sauce, 1 foil ball, 1 shining lamp, 7 balls of yarn, 2.8kgs! 2 quiet fans, £5.50 each, 49p beans, 29p broccoli with plenty left over for tomorrow, 4 jars mayonnaise, 1 pooped cat again.

Droitwich

With the sun out and enough waterproof spray for a few things we got the washing machine going first thing with the first load of winter waterproofs. First a good gentle wash to get rid of all the mud and then whilst still damp a spray of waterproofing, a little rest for them on the grass before they were hung up on the whirligig to make the most of the sunshine. There’s another batch that will need doing before we can finally pack the last of winter away under the bed.

Whilst in Gloucester we’d been used as target practice by the seagulls. Luckily they weren’t as large as you get in Scarborough otherwise we’d have sunk by now with all the added weight! The roof was quite a mess, so I decided to give it a wash down, the cabin sides will have to wait until the towpath is at a more suitable height and much less dusty. The scrubbing brush came out and I worked my way along the off side before lunch and then completed the job in the afternoon.

Mick spent much of the day working his way through his post. Huge envelopes filled with information about cashing in pension plans. There is a lot to think about so it was best to just leave him to it.

With the roof all nice and clean again I decided to have a look at a troublesome mushroom vent. All our fittings are chrome, this was with the hope that they would carry on looking good without too much need for polishing. Brasso is normally seen as a boy job and to a certain extent it was a Mick job on Lillian, well the two maybe three times he did them in three years. All of our mushrooms are still looking reasonable, a wash and quick polish with a dry cloth and they sparkle again. That is apart from one. It is nearest to the chimney and is on the vent pipe for our composting toilet. Maybe it’s the aroma and heat that has given this mushroom a very tarnished look to it.

Washing didn’t work, Bar Keepers Friend didn’t work, Pink Stuff didn’t work, boat polish didn’t work. So I thought I’d try some Tomato Ketchup. I’d heard that it polishes tarnished brass and Mick recalls cleaning pennies when he was a kid with it. I smeared some over the vent and left it for a while. Maybe I wasn’t patient enough or maybe it just didn’t work, but there was little sign of the tarnishing shifting. Maybe something designed specifically for the job would do it. Silvo, it didn’t work either!

This evening I’ve done some reading on the internet and tomorrow I’ll give white vinegar a go, maybe with a bit of bicarbonate of soda. But if anyone has any other ideas I’d be grateful.

Last night when Mick had turned the TV on for some reason it wasn’t receiving any signal. Here we’ve had good reception, but now nothing, nada, zilch! He’d checked allsorts, adjusted the aerial, retuned, but with no signal this wasn’t doing anything. Taking off the wall socket where the aerial plugs in he discovered that it was faulty, so last night we had to watch TV via the Chrome Cast which rarely gets used now. Today as a break from pension stuff he bought a new socket, wired it up, but still no signal. Grr! Our aerial needs a power supply and the new socket couldn’t do that. Another trip out and a non isolated socket purchased wired in and hey presto TV again.

At last I was given freedom, all day in the sunshine. That blackbird however is starting to annoy me, he shouts at me wherever I am and keeps scaring off any friends I might find. Woofers came and went, few noticing me in the friendly cover. It was hard work out there, but I struggled on occasionally returning for a drink and maybe a five minute sit down, before I was back at it. I think someone is going to sleep incredibly well tonight.

0 locks, 0 miles, 2 aerial sockets, 3 wads of information to be digested, 1 super clean roof, 1 stubborn mushroom, 6 attempts,  0 shine, 11 hours! 1 Waitrose sad gits tea.

River Levels at 9am today Bewdley Stourport 0.489

Diglis, Worcester 0.65m

Tewkesbury, Severn 0.542m

Tewkesbury, Avon 2.248m

Droitwich

A train day today. Tilly and Tilly Too were left in charge AGAIN!

My brother and family were heading home today, but to replace them Duncan (Mick’s nephew) and his family joined us in Kidderminster. Some of us arrived by train from Droitwich and others by car, meeting outside the older station.

The Severn Valley Line was built between 1858 and 1862. It originally linked Hartlebury to Shrewsbury, passing through Stourport-on-Severn, Bewdley, Bridgnorth, Ironbridge amongst others.

On opening in 1862 the line was run by the West Midland Railway which was absorbed into the Great Western Railway in 1863. In 1878 a link was opened between Bewdley and Kidderminster. The line was never financially successful. Freight, agricultural and coal were the main sources of revenue and after 1948 what passenger traffic there was started to dwindle. Prior to the Beeching cuts the line had already been earmarked for closure and through passenger services were stopped in September 1963 and through freight in November of the same year. The track north of Bridgnorth was dismantled soon afterwards.

In 1965 the Severn Valley Railway Society was formed wishing to preserve, retain and restore the line from Bridgnorth to Kidderminster. Gradually from 1970 they managed to purchase stretches of the line and finally services started to run the full length of the line from Kidderminster in 1984. Since then new engine sheds, museums, signalling boxes have been opened.

The station is as you would imagine it, full of old suitcases (no wonder there’s a shortage in theatres!), shops selling railway memorabilia, models, all sorts. The advanced party had gone ahead and found our reserved seats and at 11:35am our steam train pulled out from Kidderminster and headed northwards.

The journey is a slow one taking an hour and ten minutes, but this means you have plenty of time to admire the scenery.

Rolling hills, woodland covered in wild garlic and bluebells, a tunnel, two elephants too.

The youngest members of the party weren’t all that interested in the scenery; Thomas being 6 months old spent much of his time having a good stare trying to weigh up what he thought about his family; whilst Tilly made cups of tea for Anne, Kath and myself. The sun was shining, what a beautiful day.

When the ticket inspector came round he made us all sing Happy Birthday to Mick, which was followed by calls for the bumps! The inspector clipped our tickets, but then handed his clipper to Mick so that he could do his own.

When we reached our destination we headed across the bridge to the hill that continues all the way to the Old Castle Pub for Sunday lunch. Sadly two of our party had to return to the station, the hill being too steep and even sadder there was no taxi available to bring them up the hill to meet us. So egg and chips was enjoyed at the station whilst the rest of us enjoyed the carvery at the top of the hill.

The carvery was tasty, plenty of meat and veg. Those who opted for the three meat version may not need anymore food for the week! The green veg was a touch grey and it was a bit of a shame that the room that was reserved for us was also the way in and out of the kitchen, but the beer was good, we had a big table for us all, food arrived quickly and we all filled our bellies.

Our party now split up with some heading for an earlier train back to Kidderminster whilst the rest of us wanted pudding. It was a good job we’d done a recky a few weeks ago as some chilled medication was called for rather than a pub pudding, we knew exactly where to go.

It took Tilly no time at all to decide what flavour she wanted, where as the rest of us ummed about it for a while. Sitting down to eat ice cream is a good idea when you are three so we loitered as it was consumed.

Then back to the station to look at the trains and engines before our train arrived for the return journey.

Sam, Duncan, Tilly and Thomas were next to leave us. Then Kath got on a train to head back to London, leaving only four to walk back to Oleanna, let the cat out and have a much needed cup of tea.

It has been a lovely weekend with our family around us, catching up with everyone and at last getting to meet the newest member Thomas. Thank you all for coming. Now I have to think about what to do on Mick’s actual birthday next week!

0 locks, 0 miles, 4 train day, 12 family down to 9 up to 13, 60 minus 1 week, 6 months old today, 8395, 1501, 16 miles, 70 minutes,  0 yorkshire pudding with pork! 7 carvery, 1 beetroot burger, 1 mushroom burger, 5 chilled medications, 13 to 9 to 5 to 4 to 2, 1 quiet evening with a glass of wine and cheese on toast.

Droitwich

As we had breakfast today a round of sausage rolls were popped in the oven to cook and we prepared a picnic lunch for ourselves.

Tilly was left in charge for the day as we caught the train into Worcester and headed towards New Road Cricket Ground, the home of Worcestershire County Cricket Club.

The two of us arrived and found our way to the Family Stand, a well signed and obvious rendez vous for a family gathering, just as the five minute bell rang out across the ground.

Mick is partial to cricket, I don’t mind it but rarely attend, this in fact only being my second big match. The sun stayed hidden for much of the day, but did it’s best to keep the temperature at a comfortable level. The two hours of play before lunchtime saw several Worcestershire wickets fall to Essex, I’d knitted quite a few petals for some poppies and our Saturday newspaper remained unread.

Perfectly timed arrival from the London Leckenbys who’d driven up from London. It being lunchtime meant we could all greet each other without getting in the way of the more serious viewers of the match (my family can be a bit noisy). Kath joined us before play started again and was followed by John, Marion and Christine. The nine of us enjoyed the afternoons play, conversation, paper reading, knitting and the atmosphere. We got to see Clarke score 105 before he was bowled out. When we left Worcester had all been bowled out and Essex had started to bat again.

Andrew gave us a lift back to Droitwich so that the last five months of post could be delivered along with a few secret things to the boat whilst Mick looked the other way. Our post was quite a big pile, only a couple of things for me, the rest for Mick. An awful lot of correspondence from pension people, he must be getting old!

Spruced up, quite smartly for boaters, we then headed to Galleria at Bullocks. Anne and Alasdair who’d driven down from Scotland today were already there and about to start on cocktails. Gradually everyone arrived and we took over a large table in the restaurant. It’s the first time all our siblings have been together in one room, luckily they all got on very well, we knew they would.

Much food and wine was consumed, all very nice. The atmosphere just right for the evening.

0 locks, 0 miles, 1 hour of engine all day, 96%, £4 to Worcester, 1st ball and out, 1st cricket match for Josh, 9 for cricket, 1 large box, 2 smaller boxes of secret things, 1 prize box, 2 boaters scrubbed up well, 12 for meal, 0 mushrooms visible in the mushroom risotto, 1 perfectly cooked steak, 9 chocolate brownies, 8 at least bottles of wine, 1 apple juice, 1 lovely evening with all of one generation together.

Droitwich

As we finished breakfast we could hear the unmistakable sound of a work boat engine. It was NB Hadar first moving to the water point and then winding and moving back down towards the Severn. A shame we didn’t get to introduce ourselves before they moved off, I was hoping to have a look at the model railway that’s being built in their hold. Maybe we’ll meet them elsewhere.

Mick had a very important job to do today. He had to get the train back to Worcester (all of a ten minute train ride) and cross the river to the cricket ground. Today was the first day of play between Worcester and Essex. He’s not visited the New Road Ground before and wanted to do a rekey to see where would be best to sit to watch the match tomorrow. He also might just have had to watch some cricket too!

Whilst he was away I put an order in for some more yarn for my next project inspired by our visit to Slimbridge, hopefully it will arrive on Monday so as not to hold us up. Then once Tilly had returned home, bored of trying to find yesterdays friend, I closed the doors and headed into town to do a bit of shopping. May is such a busy time for birthdays and this weekend I’m missing an old flat mates 50th in Holmfirth, just because Mick is soon to be 70 60! A suitable card was found for Sharon and put in the post.

Oleanna needed a bit of a spruce up, so things were tidied away and she had a dust and sweep through. At last I got round to washing the windows on one side, including cleaning off the hatch window where Tilly had left a face imprint the other day. I had intended to give the port side a wash down, but with it being a grey day I didn’t feel the inclination. Also the towpath here is very dusty, so anything I washed off would no doubt get replaced over the weekend, so it would have been pointless.

At 2.20pm I made sure I was outside and looking towards the railway line. Mick’s youngest sister Kath was on the train, arriving for the weekend. I stood under the trees and waved, little did I know that she’d not received my message before hand. Oh well, I wave at trains quite often without knowing anybody on them anyway.

Kath joined me late afternoon and soon afterwards Mick returned from the cricket. Yesterday there had been a gathering at the National Theatre to mark our friend Mick Hughes’ 80th birthday, Mick passed away in January and was a much loved Lighting Designer. There had been around 140 people turn up to have a mid afternoon drink in memory of him, we cracked open a suitable bottle last night to mark the occasion ourselves. The afternoon had gone well and there were plenty of stories for Kath to tell us over a meal this evening.

Tomorrow more family will arrive for a jolly weekend together. I have a feeling that my weekend won’t be quite as good as today!

0 locks, 0 miles, 4 boats leaving, 1 boat passing, 1 hour on board all day, 2 much yarn on order, 1 shopping trip, 4 birthday cards, 1 celeriac, 1 boys day at the cricket, 1 cleaning day on board, 1 chasing birdies digging wholes and climbing trees day, 2 very worried Blackbirds, 2:20pm train waved at, 1st of 4 sister-out-laws, 15 meatballs, 16 sausage rolls ready for the oven.

Weir 2 to not quite Netherwich Basin

Before setting off we took advantage of being in the middle of nowhere to empty the yellow water tank after all there were plenty of plants that would make the most of a little extra nitrogen. This however delayed our departure and we watched two boats go past heading towards Droitwich. The first was the Diamond Resorts boat which most probably had all the locks ahead of it set, but the following boat had to empty them, we could tell as the weir we were along side increased in noise.

The gates on these locks are so heavy and take some bumping to get going. A penguin watched over us at the first lock of the day, not sure how he’s been fixed to the bridge but he definitely has a good view. From here there was a just under a mile to the next lock and then the following four were all within walking distance. Three years ago at Porters Mill Lock I met a lady who lived in the cottage alongside, she was tending her garden. When the canal was derelict in the 70’s she bought the lock and land across from it to expand her garden, but the lock was obviously needed when the canal reopened. In compensation she was given a strip of land along the side of the canal, she didn’t seem happy about it as she crossed over the lock gates to clear petals from her off side garden. Today the garden didn’t look quite so cared for, certainly the offside hasn’t been weeded for sometime.

A willow tree hung low at the top of the lock and bobbing in the water I could see the top of a boat hook. We got our hook and managed to retrieve it. It must have been swept off someone’s roof by the willow tree, maybe one of the boats ahead.

The next two locks we met boats coming downhill and we arrived at locks with open gates. Then as we rose in the penultimate lock I could see activity up ahead. There had been someone wearing red there who I thought had been from a boat infront of us, but now there were a couple of people and a lot of noise. A paddle was opened up and I could hear faint screaming, just what was going on up there?! I thought it best to close the gate behind us and then walked up to see what was happening. The lock gate opened revealing it’s contents.

It was chock a block full of kids in canoes. The pairs that you get which act as stabilisers to each other, well there were three of them abreast and three deep, a sea of kids with the accompanying noise!

It took them quite a bit of time to vacate the chamber, co-ordination was not their strong point, listening to instructions was also not high on their capabilities, but they managed it in the end. Mick just sat patiently to one side keeping Oleanna’s weight out of the way until all the boats were clear. They all turned below the lock, not sure if they were stopping for lunch or going to come back up the lock first, but at least we’d be well out of the way.

On we pootled the three or so miles to Droitwich. At the two railway bridges the canal changes from being broad to narrow, there is a winding hole just before a long almost tunnel made from corrugated metal. This must continue in a circle under the water as if you are too close to the off side you ground. We had to keep stopping to realign ourselves to carry on.

Netherwich Basin was still very full. Last weekend had been St Richard’s Festival in Vines Park and most of the volunteers were still moored in the basin after helping to dismantle the tents and clear away the park. We pulled up and filled the water tank first before deciding where to moor. The basin moorings are on pontoons behind a locked gate, all very good but not ideal for Tilly. So we pulled up just after another boat alongside the park, here Tilly had trees and some rather well manicured friendly cover she could play in and we wouldn’t be limited to 48hrs.

Having chosen what we thought was a good spot for Tilly she then adopted her short leg walk with her shoulders being the highest point of her body. Too many woofers, I could smell them! I needed a good coating of dust to make myself more threatening. I stayed close to the boat and closer to the ground. Once I’d got the measure of the place it was hard to decide between trees or the smart friendly cover.

A quick walk into town for some milk and bread before returning to give Mick a quick hair cut, he was looking particularly scruffy which wouldn’t do for his Birthday weekend. Tilly now feeling better about her surroundings returned with a friend, doors were closed so quickly! She then dropped her playmate, it was still very much alive, time to confiscate it. The best way to do this was to pick Tilly up when her mouth was empty, then put her inside the boat, allowing her friend to make a run for it. HOW DARE SHE! We were only going to have a short game of cat and mouse! I’ve been without friends for so long. I spent much of the rest of the evening keeping an eye out for my new found friend from my shelf. It must have been wondering where I’d gone.

6 locks, 4.49 miles, 1 empty wee tank, 1 full water tank, 2 boats passed, 5478934 children in a lock, 1 narrow bridge, 1 destination reached, 1 very dusty cat, 1 friend pining for me.

https://goo.gl/maps/sSuxu8XUF8B2

Upton to Weir 2, Droitwich Barge Canal

The noise of a boat engine gradually loomed from downstream as we sat in bed with our cuppa. It was one of the gravel barges heading upstream to get it’s first load of the day. They are big boats compared to a narrowboat, but nothing like the size of Exoll Pride on the South Yorkshire Navigation, you certainly know that is coming and want to be well out of it’s way! Another came past as we had breakfast, than one returned downstream fully laden.

As the next empty one headed upstream it met a full one coming back, quite a difference in height.

When we set off we managed to get a gap between the barges, passing the next full one soon before where they were being filled. They were pulling up next to a boat which was held in positon by two piles, a portable wharf. No need to tie up to it, they manoeuvred into position facing upstream and kept in gear to hold steady. The conveyor and shoot then started to fill the hold, diggers adding gravel all the time. These guys had obviously practiced loading a hold at the National Waterways Museum as they got their load correctly positioned and more importantly the optimum amount. Too little and it would mean more journeys at more cost, but more importantly not too much and the barge sinking (as it did in the museum!).

Another load of washing in the machine as we carried on upstream, a warmer start to today and no wind. The sky bright blue but with high clouds that looked like a groundsman had his time to rake them very neatly.

At the Worcester Southern Link Road Bridge we were catching up with the narrowboat we’d passed yesterday (they had moored up over night!). We radioed ahead to Diglis Lock and were told to call again when we reached the footbridge. No point in overtaking today, we’d end up in the same lock. The footbridge came into view and Mick radioed but got no answer, we turned the bend to see the green boat treading water and a red light flashing at the lock (the lock was being prepared).

When we’d come downstream we used the smaller lock as work was happening to the bigger one. A bit of a surprise when the gates to the bigger lock opened for us, so much so that the green boat had to wind. We followed them into the lock slowly giving them space to get sorted with ropes, the lock keeper indicated that he wanted us on the same side of the lock, so we slowly edged our way in behind. The lady at the front had a boat hook and was trying to pull the boat in to the riser to pass a rope round it whilst her husband shouted gave her encouragement to hurry up before the back end came out too far. We held back, not wanting to add to the pressure, they could take as long as they wanted and it would be fine with us. Once she’d passed her rope round we nudged in gently so I could do the same, no words of encouragement from Mick, we take our time, I know what can go wrong and don’t intend on loosing another digit.

As with all the locks on the Severn the ride up was so gentle, you hardly needed a rope. Having both boats on the same side does help as the Lockie can operate paddles on one side helping to hold the boat in. The gates opened and we were back in Worcester. The green boat headed off ahead and turned in to go up to Diglis Basin whilst we’d hoped to top up with water, but a large workboat was using the water point mooring so we’d have to wait for Droitwich.

Lunch on the pontoon before we carried on upstream. Our timing was good as boats were appearing from the rowing clubs all making ready for an afternoon on the river.

We’ve been along this stretch twice before and memories came back. The house missing a balcony that was for sale three years ago still has no balcony, the apartments that look like they have parking on the second floor and of course The Camp House, today we could only hear the peacocks. The pub mooring was full and another boat was just pulling away after a hopeful slow cruise past came to no offer to breast up.

As both boats arrived the lock light turned to green, neither of us had called him. We were instructed to pull alongside the other boat and just hang onto them, another very gentle lock and chance for a chat.

The gates opened and we set off first, not far to the junction with the Droitwich Canal. On the permanent moorings there was a Diamond Resorts boat, they had come down the canal hopping to turn, but the winding holes had been too short for their boat, so they’d had to carry on to the river. We pulled into the lock and waited for them to wind and join us to do the bottom two locks. I’d certainly not forgotten how heavy these gates are!

Above Lock 2 there are some moorings, the only moorings other than in Droitwich on the canal. An area was cordoned off for NB Scorpio ahead of the festival in Droitwich, all fine but with no dates on the notice, boats were avoiding mooring there and the festival was last weekend. The Diamond Resorts boat pulled in, but we carried on for a short distance to get a little bit further away from the motorway.

Three years ago we had noted how few places there were to moor, the majority of the bank being taken over with reeds. But today we were armed with more information, Waterways Routes had an m mooring  before the next lock, we just hoped that it would be free.

A gap in the reeds just where it was marked, marvellous. Once our location was noted and the trip computer turned off the doors were opened. Dry land at last! Grass, a few sideways trees, holes to put my arms down, friendly cover, although I was warned not to pounce in it too much as I might get wet paws! Almost worth a Tilly stamp of approval, it’s just the trees were a bit far off, no bunnies and in the next field were some of those horse things. I don’t like them!

4 locks, 15.1 miles, 1 straight, 1 right, 3 gravel barges, 3 different boats to share with, 0 pints, 0 knitting lady at The Camp House, 0 water, 7 poppies, 1 magic mooring, 3 hours shore leave at last!

River Levels at 9am today Bewdley Stourport 0.583

Diglis, Worcester 0.674m

Tewkesbury, Severn 0.571m

Tewkesbury, Avon 2.287m

https://goo.gl/maps/AfQZmvCX1Sk