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

Haws Bridge to Upton Visitor Moorings

Hopefully with the Upton folk festival having finished yesterday the crowds would have all moved on and there would be space for us on the moorings, if not then we decided that we’d carry on to Worcester rather than breasting up three deep. We’ll be returning this way so we’d get a second chance.

We pushed off at just gone 10am with extra layers on. Yesterday we were covered in sun cream wearing shorts and t-shirts. Today the t-shirts had a jumper and a fleece over the top. The world out there was a choppy hazy one as we carried on up stream. A couple of boats came past us into a head wind all wrapped up too. Gradually patches of blue appeared overhead, then they joined together and the temperature started to rise.

The moorings at the Yew Tree pub were empty but looked like they’d been reserved at the weekend, maybe for regulars.

An hour after setting off we reached Upper Lode Lock, we’d radioed ahead from the Yew Tree and the Lockie had said he’d dump the water in the lock for us, could we please wait till we saw the green light as currently the red light isn’t working. As you approach the lock cut you can see straight up to the weir and on the lock island there has been cut a tunnel through the trees for the Lockie to keep an eye out for you from his booth. We turned the bend and the light went green the lock gates already open ahead of us. For the first time, on the levels board we had two green lights flashing at us. The whole of the river now in the green, the first time we’ve seen this since the 29th of March, when we waited a touch too long at Stourport!

It feels somewhat wrong to be the only boat in such a huge lock at least it only had to rise around 3ft for us to join the next reach of the river. We carried on heading north resisting the temptation to turn onto the Avon to ‘I do like a good’ Tewkesbury, that treat will be soon.

Just after the wonderful span of Mythe Bridge there is an interesting house for sale. It used to be the Toll House for the bridge and has a second property the Alum House, it also looks like it has a river mooring.

Every now and a again we got the glimpse of a boat up ahead, we were following someone. By the time we reached the M50 we reduced our revs a touch as we were catching them up. They seemed to move over a touch, so Mick took the opportunity before the next big bend and increased our revs and we sailed past giving them a wave. We’re not in a rush we just travel a touch faster. They gradually fell further behind us.

At the gravel wharf there were only three of the barges we’d seen on our way south, the forth we’d spotted in a dry dock at Gloucester.

Around a few more bends and then we could see the Pepperpot at Upton. Plenty of space on the big steps and only one narrowboat on the pontoon, so we chose to pull in and join them. By the time we’d reached Upton we’d both removed our top layers as the day was now starting to warm up.

Upton was originally a busy port and had been the only river crossing for miles. Because of the number of boat hauliers arriving with the boats the town was filled with drinking establishments. In 1822 there were 17 Taverns and Coaching Inns and the population was 2,319. Today the number has dropped to 8 pubs but the population has stayed at a similar level 2,600. The wealth brought in by the port means there are large grand houses, in between the pubs, over looking the river.

Over this last weekend there had been a Folk Festival and the town seems to fill it’s calendar with plenty of festivals year round, Blues, Jazz, Water, you name it they’ll make a festival out of it. All very popular, filling the town with visitors.

The floods that struck the area in 2007 left Upton more or less an island surrounded and partially engulfed by the Severn. Dubbed Britain’s most flooded town they had temporary flood barriers which would be erected when needed. But in 2007 a flash flood hit in July, the barriers kept at Kidderminster got held up on the motorway due to the rising waters. Now walls with glazed tops have been put in place along the water front and large gates can be closed to help protect the town. The A4104 is currently being raised to avoid being flooded so that the town can stay connected to the rest of the world when the waters rise again.

We walked along the river front past numerous pubs, people drinking and eating in the sunshine. Large houses sit proudly over looking the river some divided into flats, others still large houses, some grander than others.

At the end of the For Sale properties lies Upton Ham an area of SSSI, it is almost 60 hectares of grass land currently covered in a haze of buttercups. Birds are nesting so you are encouraged to stick to the paths and walk around the edges to avoid disturbing them. This area floods and a levels board at a gate suggests how deep the water can get.

A look around the graveyard and on to The Parish Church of St Peter and St Paul. The door was open and a chap was practicing on the organ. Our look around was slightly curtailed as when the organist finished he disappeared through a door into the vestry, then we could hear the beep beep beep of an alarm being set. Not wanting to risk setting it off we hastily left, hoping the main door hadn’t been locked. It hadn’t so at least we wouldn’t have to explain ourselves to the Police.

A walk up Old Street brought us even more pubs including The Little Upton Muggery which has it’s ceilings covered in mugs. It being a Tuesday we managed to resist all the hostelries but made up for it with some chilled medication from The London Central Meat Co, now a sweat shop. By now we wondered if the locals had to survive on beer when the floods hit as we’d seen no food shops, but just around the next corner was a Co-op.

A look around the informative displays in the Tourist Information Centre at the Pepperpot. This is the oldest building in Upton, the main body of the tower thought to have been built in the 14th Century, at that time a full church with a spire and two chancels. During the Civil War much damage was done to the building as it stood at the important river crossing. It continued to deteriate until 1754 when a new nave was built. But by 1770 the  spire was considered to be unsafe so was dismantled, it was replaced by the wooden hexagonal lantern and lead cupola which later was clad in copper, giving the tower it’s pepperpot look. Overtime the church became too small for it’s congregation so a new Neo-Gothic church (the one we nearly got locked in) was built at the other end of Old Street to replace it in 1879. The old nave was dismantled in 1937 and the grounds made into a garden.

1 lock, 10.91 miles, 2 lefts, 3ft up, 2 Kingfishers, 2 many layers, 1 overtake, 1 boat moored, 4 more to join, 8 pubs, 1 huge field, 2 meat chilled medications, 1 short rain shower, 2 many trees to climb just out of reach!

River Levels at 9am today Bewdley Stourport 0.622m

Diglis, Worcester 0.68m

Tewkesbury, Severn 0.592m

Tewkesbury, Avon 2.28m

https://goo.gl/maps/xL6DymQFr1m

Gloucester Dock to Haws Bridge, River Severn

After our cuppa in bed this morning we were up and on our way. Other boats had moved before us eager to get going before the day got too hot and be first through the lock. One boat had started radioing the lock before it was even open and when he finally got through was told that there were several boats so he’d see how many he could fit into the lock. We however didn’t head that way, we headed to Sainsburys under Llanthony Lift Bridge. There was just enough space for us between an old hire boat and a cruiser, we were there before they opened so we settled down and had breakfast before going and stocking up again.

Signs were everywhere, 25% off wine, they knew we were coming, marvellous. We picked up our six boxes of wine and then noticed that the list after the * was longer than normal. Today the exclusions included boxed wine, they’d definitely seen us coming and changed the rules! Oh well they were in our trolley now and we might need the extra ballast to get under the M5 on the Droitwich Canal.

Once everything was stowed we winded and headed to fill with water and get rid of our rubbish. Water points and bins have been at just about every bridge, all with a recycling bin, just a shame they don’t include glass. We’ll have to wait to dispose of that back in Worcester.

Radioing through to the bridge we were asked to wait for the C&RT trip boat to come through first, another boat was wanting the water point, so he trod water behind us until we were through. We were ready, life jackets on, weed hatch checked, anchor reattached, Tilly’s escape pod zipped up ready for action. The gates to the lock opened up in front of us and in we went. Plenty of gongoozlers as we descended down into the river.

With a wave to the Lockie we were on our way leaving the Gloucester Sharpness behind. We’ve enjoyed our time here, if there was a coal boat and another handy food shop on the canal we’d consider it for a winter and maybe actually get to visit some museums.

With a load of washing on the go we pushed our way along the cut. The radio was busy with other boats approaching wanting the lock. The Lockie informed them that they would meet us at some point and that other boats were being locked down, so not to rush. About half way out we came across the first two cruisers and a little while later a narrowboat. At Upper Parting we bore right and onto the river, the diddy sign hidden in amongst the undergrowth that is now overgrowth! Mick radioed back to the Lockie to inform him that we were now clear of Upper Parting and thanked him.

After shopping and filling with water we’d not exactly made the most of a cool morning for cruising in. The sunny last few days has made all the willow trees start to shed their seeds, they float through the air like snow on a gentle breeze, fluffy fairies. At points the surface of the river was covered with them.

We were in two minds as to where to stop today. Heading upstream would take longer than when we’d come down. We want to visit Upton which is upstream of Upper Lode Lock but they have had a Folk Festival this weekend, would this mean we’d not get moored? Or would everyone have headed for home after lunch? If there was no space then we’d have to carry on to Diglis Lock and Worcester as there is nowhere in between to moor. That would be a bit too far in the soaring temperatures.

Once the washing machine was finished the dishwasher was set going, making good use of the engine as Oleanna enjoyed being in the deep water again. We were managing only about 4mph so the flow was quite strong against us.

Plenty of people were out enjoying the sunshine. As we left Upper Parting there were large crowds, cars and tents on a hillside. They were watching horse racing, not sure if it was flat racing or point to point, but it was popular. At The Red Lion all the outside tables were full and there was a queue at the door for refreshments. Soon the 24hr mooring came into view at Haw Bridge, it was empty and we were hungry, hot and thirsty. Here was an opportunity to take some shelter, so we pulled in. The current on the river had other ideas. Being on a bend and just after a road bridge Oleanna was constantly being pushed away from the pontoon, so tying up took sometime. Then we realised that we couldn’t open the hatch as the pontoon was higher than the gunnels. Mick let the stern drift out at touch to give us enough room to open up and enjoy the slight breeze.

With only a few boats passing us and The Bridge pub closed today our mooring is quiet. TV and internet not so good, although we did manage to watch a couple of hours of TV on the internet, we’ve still got plenty of data left.

Tomorrow the temperature is due to drop so the shorts may go back in the cupboard and who knows we might be lighting the stove again by the end of the week!

1 lock, 9.21 miles, 1 bridge lifted twice, 3 moorings, 0% off, 6 boxes, £2.5 million incorrect, 2 magnet fishers, 1 full water tank, 0 rubbish, 2 much glass, 1 cratch fully rolled back, 2 life jackets, 1 escape pod, 3 shoots! 1 final wave to Gloucester, 1 river, 2 hot to do this, 30 parasols,  45 pairs pants, 39 pairs socks, 1 long hot cat.

Severn River level at 9am today (at Bewdley a mile upstream from Stourport) 0.654m,
level at Diglis, Worcester at 9am today 0.697m,
level at Gloucester Docks at 9am today 0.743m,

level at Tewkesbury at 9am today 0.604m.

https://goo.gl/maps/C9GFSHeFDXN2

Gloucester Docks

There seemed to be less noise last night from drinkers at the bar, maybe our new mooring helped, or maybe the clientele were just different and quieter.

With no rush to go anywhere we had a leisurely cuppa in bed with our Saturday newspaper followed by a cooked breakfast, well there was some bacon that needed eating up and it would save us from having lunch! This was followed with a few chores, our yellow water tank fills up quicker than normal on moorings like this. We also spent some time getting summer out from under the bed. With the rising temperatures Mick was wanting a pair of shorts and I wanted more t-shirts. All my long sleeved tops and thick heavy jumpers are now all ready for the excess air to be sucked out of the vacuum bag before going back under the bed. We just need to do a big wash of all our padded trousers and re-waterproof them all before they get put away too.

Now we had the rest of day to explore Gloucester. There was a vague list of places to visit, but nothing concrete other than the Cathedral, which turned out to be just as well.

First we headed to Blackfriars. They are only open on Sundays and Mondays, but due to circumstances beyond their control it was closed today! Apparently it is one of the most complete surviving friaries of Dominican ‘black friars’ in England, later converted into a Tudor house and then a cloth factory. It has a fine scissor braced roof, apparently. Oh well there’d still be plenty more to see.

St Mary de Crypt church is currently closed, so we walked down to see if we could get to look round Greyfriars behind. We could, but mainly because Greyfriars has no doors. It was founded around 1231 for Franciscan Friars by Thomas of Berkeley, his family continued to support the monastery through the centuries helping to fund a major rebuild of the church in 1519. Henry VIIIs dissolution of the monasteries brought about it’s closure  in 1538 and it was converted into workshops and housing. The shell is all that remains now, butting up to far more modern buildings.

Next Gloucester Museum was very closed. Were we foolish thinking we’d be able to be tourists on a Sunday? Maybe we were. At least we managed to look down through the glass at the Roman remains of the East Gate and Horse Pool that were left when Boots was built in the late 1970’s.

So we decided to just have a wander around knowing that the Cathedral would be open as it should be their busiest day of the week.

The Regal Cinema is now a Wetherspoons, the exterior having a 1930’s feel, but looking in through the door it looked pretty much like any other pub. The New Inn on the other hand was far from New. It was originally built as a pilgrims inn for visitors to the shrine of King Edward II. Rebuilt in 1455 it was a popular holiday inn and in the 16th C plays were performed in the courtyard and in Tudor times it had the city’s first tennis court. It was in 1553 that Lady Jane Grey was proclaimed Queen from the balcony at the New Inn, she was only Queen for nine days before she was deposed by Mary. It claims to be the finest example of a Medieval Galleried Inn in Britain. We had a look at the courtyard but it was too early for a drink.

Walking down Westgate Street I noticed mosaics on the floor every now and then, they seemed to mark the entrance to snickets. The first one was fairly dark, there was a blue plaque on the wall so we ventured in. The narrow alleyway was dark mostly because a 16th C Merchants House steps out with each of it’s four floors above your head. It is the largest urban timber framed building in Britain. My photos don’t do it justice, but as you’ll understand it wasn’t very easy to get a photo at a good angle, no stepping back.

A quick look around The Tailor of Gloucester shop, it’s more of a gift shop than anything else. I do wonder what happened to the large models of the cat and mice I saw being made years ago.

The bells of Gloucester Cathedral were ringing out, calling us in, so we obliged.

Construction started in 1089 with the foundation stone being laid, its huge Romanesque piers dominate as you enter. The South Transept is the earliest surviving example of English Perpendicular architecture making the building reach for the sky. The fine fan vaulted ceiling in the cloisters dates from 1351 and is beautiful.

Many more modern features have been added, Pre-Raphaelite windows, an elaborately painted chapel (which I now can’t find any information about), a new stained glass window in the South Ambulatory Chapel by Thomas Denny which depicts the story of Thomas the whole window is of blue and floods the chapel accordingly.

During our visit the organ started up followed by the choir. Wonderful sounds resonating through the building, so atmospheric. Outside the bells still peeled. We sat in the secret garden of the cloisters for a rest and to listen to the bells which soon ended perfectly. There seemed to be a major photo opportunity going on in front of the tower, just about everybody who came into the garden got their camera out. Yes it’s a good view, but this seemed to be more than that. Reading the nearby sign it all became obvious. The cloisters and garden were used in the Harry Potter films as parts of Hogwarts. We have all the films on DVD so maybe we’ll now have to watch them all to spot the Cathedral.

As we left the bells called people in to evensong and bang on 3pm as we stepped outside music struck up. Not quite the style we were expecting, less hymn, more Rolling Stones. It turned out that a band were playing in the beer garden of The Dick Whittington pub a short distance away.

0 locks, 0 miles, 1 quieter night, 2 hash browns! 1 bag of summer, 1 of 2 winter, 1 wee tank empty, 1 big fat lie, 0 museums, 1 church, 1 friarage with 0 doors, 3 pubs, 1 woodgrained storage heater, 1 cathedral, 12 bells, 1 choir, 1 film location, 1 new hat completed, 1 cat so so bored, will they ever move the outside again?!

Severn River level at 9am today (at Bewdley a mile upstream from Stourport) 0.739m,
level at Diglis, Worcester at 9am today 0.72m,
level at Gloucester Docks at 9am today 0.783m.

Gloucester Pontoon to Gloucester Pontoon with a better view.

With the first sale from my Etsy shop all packaged up ready to go, I headed off into town to find a Post Office as it’ll be a few days before we are near another branch. Town was buzzing in the sunshine, the Town Crier was shouting about all that you could do today and a Polish market was setting up and it looked like there was to be music later on.

Back at Oleanna Mick was listening in to channel 74 on the VHF, plenty of boats coming and going through Llanthony Lift Bridge and the Lock. We could hear boats approaching Upper Parting on the Severn, the lock would be made ready for them, all large craft had to call in again as they reached the road bridges so that the lift bridge over the lock could be raised. Day boats would radio ahead of them coming out from the arm informing the keepers that they were doing training before they’d then request for the bridge to be lifted. One such call was from a chap, ‘This is Badger, we’ll be coming out from the arm to do some training before requesting the bridge, the training may take some time as it’s a group of mature women’! EXCUSE ME!!!! Mick and I looked at each other, maybe the training would take some time because he was likely to end up being a pig over board!

On one call to Llanthony Bridge a chap was wanting to book through at midday, he then asked about the other bridges ahead. Would the Bridge Keeper inform them or should the Captain. The reply was that some of the bridges needed 24hr notice! This had to be a taller ship than normal. The Captain was not aware of this, he enquired if any other vessels were booked to go through today, one was at 1pm, but the Bridge Keeper only knew about one bridge. The Captain went to have a chat with the keeper off air to see if anything could be sorted. Their boat appeared just before midday from the Barge Arm and sure enough they had a tall mast. They trod water waiting for Llanthony Bridge to raise and once through their mast mixed with others up ahead. We kept an eye out for the next bridge lifting, but didn’t see any movement, the number of masts did decrease at some point during the day, so they got through somehow!

Just as we were about to have some lunch NB Mallard requested a bridge lift. They were moored on the side, not a finger pontoon. We quickly got ourselves sorted and untied and as soon as they’d cleared the water behind us we reversed out, winded and reversed into their space. Here we could have a view from both sides of the boat and be slightly further away from the bars which were noisy till gone midnight last night. Our new neighbours Dutch Barge Bellus Diem came out for a chat before putting chairs on their roof to sit in the sun for the afternoon.

Not being sun worshippers we headed off to the National Waterways Museum at Llanthony Warehouse. Today the museum was reopening after some work had been done, not that they were mentioning this anywhere. The ladies at the desk swapped our tickets from Ellesmere Port for annual passes and informed us of boat trips and that the Steam Dredger would shortly be in action. We refrained from the boat trip but hung around to see the dredger.

There were lots of people dressed up in costume, dockers, bosses, foremen, ladies in narrowboat bonnets. Plenty of rats were being hit with ropes, stopping them from running up peoples shorts and lifting sacks of wadding look very hard work in deed! They all seemed to be having a whale of a time, lots of banter. Outside the steam was getting up on the Dredger, fifteen minutes or so till they’d have enough to get her going. Then a bit longer, then a bit longer still.

Built in Holland in 1925, SND No 4 was used at Sharpness New Docks to help keep the build up of silt down. With her bucket ladder she can dredge to just about any depth and was used on the canal and docks from 1926 to 1981. Her boiler was changed from being coal fired to diesel in 1963 and when she retired had a refurbishment in 1988. Since then she has sunk once when the canal had a breach in 1990, but was raised again.

She hadn’t been fired up for sometime and plenty of pigeons had moved in, but they were about to get a very big shock. A crowd had gathered and the big wigs of the museum stood waiting and willing her to fire up and get the ladder moving, you could sense the will power amongst the onlookers. Everyone was allowed down below decks to look at the engine and the grease smeared operators, some very 21st Century expletives coming from the lady down there as she turned the whatsit and twisted the thingumyjig and pulled the lever and still nothing.

Back on shore we stood willing even harder, hoping that the rust hadn’t got the better of her. Then creaking and grinding and the buckets started to move, backwards. This was soon rectified and the ladder started to move it’s buckets round with an incredible noise (video link)The buckets once they’d gouged out the silt wound up the ladder, holes in the bottoms helped drain the water out leaving only sediment which passed up the ladder to the top where they then pivoted, depositing the solids into a shoot that would gradually load a barge to the side. Today there were no dredgings so the shoot was folded out of the way. What an amazing piece of kit, glad we got to see and HEAR it in action.

Ellesmere Port has a far bigger collection of all sorts of stuff, here most things relate to the G&S canal. A few new interactive displays were good, loading a barge with bundles up to certain weights, if you got too much in the hold the boat would sink! Talking heads of four chaps who worked the boats appear on panels telling stories of their working days, long shifts, few days off, but anything they wanted all duty free from the boats coming in at Sharpness. Very interesting.

The museum was good, especially the dredger, but if you have a choice Ellesmere Port has far more to see and do, we spent a couple of days there where as an afternoon did us here. We rounded off the day with some chilled medication sat in the sun outside before returning to Oleanna to watch the Tour De Yorkshire ending in Scarborough. We spotted a few people we knew, the SJT, my first flat and the late night drinking dive nightclub Bacchus, twice.

0 locks, 250 ft, 1 wind, 1st Sale, 2 tall for bridges, 2 many boats, 1 quick move, 1 very bored cat! 2 boring moorings, 2 boaters who couldn’t care less about me! 1925 dredger, 9 startled pigeons, 1 dredging spoon, 1 deep canal diver, 2 chocoholic heavens, 1st flat, 1 Odeon, 1 very sunny Scarborough, 0 big bike beat band on tv.

Severn River level at 9am today (at Bewdley a mile upstream from Stourport) 0.861m,
level at Diglis, Worcester at 9am today 0.77m,
level at Gloucester Docks at 9am today 0.878m.

Then on Sunday The Green is being taken over for the World El-Ver Eating Competition. In days gone by you’d have been challenged to a ‘pint of elvers’ eating competition, a local delicacy not for the faint hearted. Baby eels were fished from the Severn during March and April, blanched in boiling water, fried in bacon fat and served with a poached egg. The decreasing numbers of Elvers brought an end to the village tradition. But in recent years it has been resurrected using sustainable El-Vers from Spain, these have been made using reconstituted fish. The young lady who served us in The Three Horseshoes last night is the current champion. I’m not sure if it is the quantity you can eat within a set time or the quickest to eat a pint of them. Along with the El-Vers there is a kids competition for eating spaghetti, barbeques, classic cars, a tug of war, plenty to keep the village busy on a sunny Sunday.

We delayed pushing off this morning as we’d had a C&RT notice about a tall ship on the canal today. Kaskelot would have right of way at bridges, Sainsburys mooring would be suspended until it had passed and we should take care when mooring as they were likely to create a lot of wash. They were leaving Gloucester Dry Dock at 8am. When we arrived in Gloucester Kaskelot was in one of the dry docks. Built in 1948 in Denmark, she is a three-masted barque and one of the last remaining wooden ships in commission. She has undergone major restoration in the last few years and had been having her annual check up in Gloucester before heading to Falmouth and further south for the summer. She has been used in many TV programmes and films including, Return to Treasure Island, Poldark, The Three Musketeers, and Shackleton. Our mooring had a long straight ahead of us, so hopefully we’d have a good vantage point.

The first sighting was of the masts passing the flour mill just before the next bridge. It then disappeared for a couple of minutes before the masts came back into view, shortly followed by the bow turning the bend onto the long straight towards us.

A tug was on it’s bow occasionally going to port or starboard helping to keep it centre channel, a rib tied to the stern followed along behind. Then off the starboard stern we could see this tiny little narrowboat, a day boat from Gloucester sitting in the slip stream (for want of a better term) of such a big ship.

What a sight! I took far too many photos, but missed getting one with both Kaskelot and Oleanna in the same frame. Never mind it was better to actually watch than concentrate on photos.

Splatt Bridge was opened up ahead for them and they cruised through without having to wait, only a few meters to spare as they went through.

At Saul Junction we came across other craft speeding along, trying to overtake us, only to wizz round to follow another boat back to the bridge. We’d had 153ft of tall ship go past only an hour earlier, here we had 1ft of model cruiser zipping along on the plane! Luckily there was also a sailing boat, warship and a lifeboat all at hand should things get a bit tricksy.

We’d planned to pull in at Sainsburys to do a big shop as stocks were now quite depleted, but realised that maybe finding a mooring for a bank holiday weekend would be a better idea. The pontoon just before Llanthony Bridge was full, well there were git gaps! So we passed under the bridge and pulled in on a finger mooring. There were a few spaces left but all were in between other boats, so not much of a view for us tonight.

0 locks, 9.45 miles, 11 bridges, 5 swung, 1 lifted, 3 hours cruise, 153ft tall, 1 impatient day boat, 1ft tall, 7mph! 3 git gaps, 1 pontoon mooring, 1 walk to the shop, 1 noisy heating next door, 2 boaters too warm, 1st sale on Etsy!

Severn River level at 9am today (at Bewdley a mile upstream from Stourport) 1.164m,
level at Diglis, Worcester at 9am today 0.843m,
level at Gloucester Docks at 9am today 0.932m.