Wednesday River Severn

Today was a wet start and put a damper on our early start.  BY 10 am we decided to brave the light rain and head to the two locks.  There was a misunderstanding when I contacted the lock operator.  I had understood they would operate the two locks.  Turns out they were DIY locks and the lock keeper was a third lock in the River Seven.  No big deal.  We got through the two locks and onto the River.  We soon hit the massive river lock and the gates opened as we approached.

Through the locks and we had plain sailing.  Our target was Tewksbburry, about 5 hours down river, but as Merry did most of the helm, I found a pub with public moorings about halfway.  We arrived at Upton, and found the pub but locating a mooring was not so simple.  We asked a boater that had an obvious mooring and they directed us to the “steps” just beyond that had mooring rings.  We successfully moored up on the limited rings and climbed up the very steep steps that lead us to the pub for a lovely lunch.

After lunch, we ventured beyond the pub, only to find a delightful little town out of a picture book, full of well-cared-for planter boxes and a charming High Street.  Once again, we popped into the little shops including charity shops and antique shops. 

By the time we were finished, it was getting into the late afternoon and with plenty of time on our schedule, we decided to stay the night.  A second boat joined us on the mooring and then several other boats tried to take the last space but there was no place to tie up.  Several went to the marina nearby, at a fee.  One boat breasted up to the other boat [tied side by side].  The problem was, that it is 2-1/2 hours to the next mooring ahead, and most boats are steering in the open and in the drizzle.

We had good TV and internet reception so we had a pleasant, dry evening.

Worcester

We decided to move down the cut a little way to a better mooring spot.  We were in a business area that came alive at 6am with commercial vehicles and deliveries.  We then went exploring on the other side of the cut.  We wandered into all the big stores, even the vast pet store, even though we had no pets.  It is amazing what people will spend on their pets.

Back to the boat for an hour, then back to the main part of town, more on the east side.  We came upon a Tudor district, and all very historical.  Lots more little stores and plenty of shoppers on the streets.  Our goat was a lunch place.  We found a lovely café.  They had a two-course special that was perfect.  Merry just wanted soup [1^st course], and I had a spaghetti polonaise dish that was nice and all very affordable.

More walking around the shops, we headed back toward the boat.  We stopped at a big grocery store by the boat and loaded up, ready for our next leg of the journey down the Severn tomorrow.

Back at the boat, we relaxed a little, then moved a couple of miles to the basin that accesses the River Severn, with two locks to keep our days exercising.  One in the basin, we topped up with water and prepped the boat for the River voyage.  I spoke with the lock keeper, and everything was fine for a Wednesday transit with no significant traffic that could be a problem.

After a Teddy bears picnic: we took a  walk to see where we would be going the next day took us all around a large marina with boats in a basin, across the two locks, and through housing that ran from wealthy to not-so-wealthy and without Rod’s good sense of direction would have had us well into Worcester outside communities. Still, at last, after a goodly walk, we were once again on the right road to the canal again, and we were home.   We had good TV reception today.

Monday

We set off down six modest locks.  Modest is the word for it. However, we were told the water was shallow between two of the locks and to be wary of it; sure enough, a little further, we got stock!! It took two men pushing and shoving to get us back in deeper water, and we were on our way again. 

Arriving in the city, we came upon a beautiful weeping willow draped over the canal and hanging very low.  We proceeded very slowly and soon found several large branches hidden in the soft branches, over 1” diameter, which could be a danger to the wheelhouse roof.  I passed the helm to Merry and went forward to lift the branches high enough to just clear the top.  Where is the saw when you need one!!!

We entered the city center of Worcester.  We found a mooring site as close as possible to the city center shops and had lunch at the largest Fish and chip shop I have ever seen.  Mother Hubbard seems to be a chain fashioned on McDonald’s, eat-in or takeaway.  It was nice.  I asked for two orders of fish and one order of chips.  The servers said the chips were complementary with the fish.  When delivered, we asked for ketchup.  They said ketchup was an extra charge.  So, the chips are free, but you have to pay for ketchup???

After lunch, we walked into the shopping area.  Merry was in heaven with lots of Charity Shops.  The Town center was crowded with a good vibe.  At one point, a good shower got us running for cover, but it only lasted a few minutes, and we had coats and brolly with us. 

One street leads to another and another.  Eventually, we were lost, but google maps helped us find our way back.

We were drawn to the church steeple, only to find the church is gone and only the steeple is left.

The most famous citizen is the composer Edward Elgar.

I carry two cell phones.  My US phone is on airplane mode, a second phone with a UK sim card, and a cheap phone contract with its local phone number.  Merry’s phone stays on Airplane mode.  I use a hotspot to provide internet to our US phones and laptop.

We had leftovers for dinner and took a stroll further along the canal bank and found a better mooring spot for tomorrow.  We watched my football game on the laptop, this time with very good result.

Lea & Perrins Worcestershire sauce, was originally devised in Worcester, England, in 1876 and was used to complement meat dishes and add a little zing to Welsh rarebit.

Sunday

I found a church, St. Peter ad Vincula, Tibberton.  It was just 40 minutes further along the canals with no locks.

[Merry] this church was not the old one. It was torn down and replaced with one about two hundred years ago; it is still old to me…it had a bell in the tower, and I was quick to ask if I could ring it, here is a picture of me ringing. 

I find the people so kind in all the churches I visit, much like the churches at home. I had walked to church without much direction other than the church was on Church Lane (most of them are), and about halfway, I asked a woman working in her garden if I was on the right road.  She told me where to find church lane, and I was on my way again; it was almost a mile to the church, and there were beautiful homes along the way.

After church, we ate a Sunday Roast at the little country pub, just yards from where we moored. 

After lunch, we set off for a modest day’s sail.  And six locks and a couple of miles, and we called it a day.  It was a nice quiet stop, but six more locks ahead before the city of Worcester.  The blackberries are ready for the picking.  We ate plenty on the go and picked a bowl full for tea. 

No TV reception today, so we settled for classic FM radio and a game of cards.  Tea involved a collection of leftovers from our meals, then a stroll along the canal bank after dinner.

Saturday

Merry wanted to go back into town to purchase some items she had seen the day before but now wanted to buy.  I stayed back at the boat and prepared for castoff.  She took a little longer than expected, but no big deal.  We have plenty of time to be back in Gloucester in time for Pauline and Steve to take over their maiden voyage for their wedding anniversary.

We faced the low motorway bridge, so the wheelhouse roof came down.  Motorway done, and the weather looked fine, we decided to leave the top down.  Next are the six extra deep locks.  Merry insisted I let her do the locks unassisted, which she did in style.  We ended back at the fork in the canal, and it was lunchtime, so back for the carvery that Merry loves so much.

Stuffed to the gills, we headed off on the Worcester and Birmingham Canal towards Worcester.  We stopped to pick some blackberries along the canal bank.

I had spotted a little church on the map, so that was our destination, ready for Sunday morning service.  After an hour and no locks, we found the little country bridge that would take us to the church nearby.  Very quiet and remote but very beautiful.  I never understood why people like to live in cities.

The boat was secured, and we headed for a walk to find the church in Oddingley.  Google maps wanted us to walk miles out of the way, but I saw a little gate to a farmer’s meadow.  This indicates a public right of way, so off across the field, we went, watching our step as we went.  A gate on the other side leads us to the most charming little church, but so remote.

The note on the door said the church was open for visitors.   It looked like the church was hundreds of years old and never ungraded; a 15^th-century stained glass window behind the alter was a find.  Unfortunately, when we studied the worship schedule, it was clear one minister did the rounds of several churches, and this week the service is scheduled for 4 pm Sunday.  We decided to move on in the morning and find another church. 

We checked the TV and got quite a few tv stations from our little antenna.

Droitwich

Having been inspired by last night’s walk and the early closing of the grocery store, we headed out early, shopping.  Merry likes the charity [thrift] shops, and I had found plenty on the map.  Merry check out, everyone, plus a nice antique shop.  We did not come home empty-handed.

There are two large grocery stores, and we can only buy a few items at a time due to limited space.  The nearest grocery shop was literally across the street next to the park.  No long walk today.  We loaded up and refreshed the little fridge and food cupboard.

We went back to the boat for a simple lunch and investigated a church on a hill near the boat.  We took a very overgrown path up the hill, and it came out at a

huge and well-kept cemetery.  The old church was charming but all locked up. 

We took the road back down and back to the boat for a rest.  Later we went out again into town to investigate the west end; we found a nice modern shopping center and went into all the shops.  We timed our walk to end up at a Chinese takeaway Merry had salivated for. 

They had a vast menu, and we selected our items and, when ready, went back to the boat for a yummy dinner.  Well, it was OK. 

Sadly we go no TV service at the bottom of this hill so in the evening we went for a walk and checked out the town’s history.  The River Salwarpe running through Droitwich is likely derived from sal, meaning “salt,” and weorp, which means “to throw up” – i.e., “the river which throws up salt” – which overflows from the salt brines. The town is situated on massive deposits of salt, and salt has been extracted there since ancient times.

In medieval times the springs belonged to the kings; the town’s first royal charter [1215] was granted in return for a yearly rental of £100 for the springs.

Fork in the Cut

We set out a little later. Six locks until lunch seemed easy until we found a lock with a boat stuck in it.  Several boats were waiting to go through, and they were all working on the problem.  There was something behind the lock gate, so the gate did not open fully, and the boat got stuck in the gate.  They soon had it figured out, and eventually, we got through the lock and arrived at our lunch pub.

Pubs are hit and miss.  They could be great or not so great.  We take what we get.  Today’s pub was great; it included Merry’s favorite carvery, carved meat of your choice, roast potatoes, yorkshire pudding, and many types of hot vege.  they served the potatoes and veg and serve they did : peas, carrots, two kinds of potatoes, and turnips – first time I have seen those – red cabbage and of course the usual choice of three meets. Merry was in heaven. And then the sauces cane out: cranberry sauce, mint sauce, horseradish, and one other kind it was all so special. The mite sauce: it is for our mint jelly and is just a better sauce! The dessert was included.

After lunch, we had a choice.  We were ahead of schedule and at a fork in the canal.  The right turn went to Droitwich.  I have heard of Droitwich, but I am guessing most others have not.  It is one of those quiet towns that are not famous or infamous.  It was six locks again to Droitwich, so we took it.

We quickly got to lock one maned by two lockees.  We were in luck.  The lockees explained the locks were unique, all extra deep with side ponds.  The top half of the lock water went to the pond, the lower half down the cut.  Refilling the lock partly came from the side pond. The pond helped save water when filling.  Millions of gallons per year.

This stretch of canal was recently put back in service.  In the 1960’s they built a motorway and cut the channel in two, so it went nowhere.  It became abandoned and an eyesore.  The world heritage helped revive the canal, re-digging it so it could go under the motorway and restore navigation.  Now the six locks at all 16 feet deep, and two of the locks are connected, called a staircase lock, two locks in one, a bit complicated but more fun.

We had trouble finding a replacement small-size gas bottle, so I asked the lockee.  He made some phone calls and found a marina ahead that had one, and it would be ready for us when we arrived.  We exchanged the gas bottle, filled the diesel tank, 54 liters, £93.93, and emptied the sewer tank to the relief of Merry, who was afraid that any minute it would be full and the toilet not usable.

Merry was getting tired from working the locks and had a momentary lack of concentration while winding the paddles.  The gears got away from her, and the windlass [crank that winds the water controlling paddles] slipped from her hand, whizzing wildly, and threw the windlass into the deep lock water.  Luckily she was not hurt in any way, but we lost the windlass.  Not a big deal, no one was hurt, and we had found an extra windless in the grass earlier. 

When we got to the motorway, we were warned it was a very low bridge.  They were not kidding.  The top had to come down, and we barely crept through; in fact, two days earlier, when we had the heavy rain, the canal was closed due to the high water level, and boats could not get under the bridge.

We arrived in Droitwich and found the only mooring spot in the middle of the town park.  Nice and quiet once the kids went to bed.  We took a short walk around the town and decided it was a wonderful little town and might stay a couple of nights. A lot of crooked buildings.

Wednesday

Having worked so hard yesterday, we decided to have an easy day.  We went through four locks and stopped for lunch.  I had found a pub that was close to the canal.  You must thinking this is just a big pub crawl, and you might be right.  As we set off for the pub, there was a sign for a café.  Local cafés can be a treat if they are for the locals and not tourists.  This one was nearby, tucked in an industrial estate.  It was clean, busy with local workers, and had an extensive menu, almost too hard to decide.  I picked the full English [small size].  Merry had a beef burger.  In the UK, they can not call them hamburgers because they do not contain ham.  It was delicious.

I found a local grocery store that Merry wanted, but it was one mile away.  We started out, but then Merry changed her mind, and we went back to the boat.  I could see if we went one mile further on the canal, we could get to the store from another way and only half a mile.  We did that.  We proceeded and stopped at the next bridge.  The half-mile was long, but we got to see the rural area with pretty gardens and finally found the little store.  Merry got what she needed and then the long half mile back.

We traveled a little and stopped just before the next set of locks.  We had dinner and then went for a walk.  We helped a boat coming up the locks.  Mother and daughter [teenager].  Mother was doing the locks; the teenager seemed to be in her pajamas and hoodie and was totally distracted by her smartphone.  Whatever. 

We smelled gas in the boat but found no apparent problem. I suspected the bottle was running out, and sure enough, the stove burner went off. I switched bottles, and off it went. Later we smelled gas again, so I looked harder and found a leaking pipe connection next to the gas bottles. Luckily Steve had left enough spanners [wrenches] to tighten up the leak, and the problem was solved.

Locked In

In today’s challenge, 35 locks down the hill, with few rest options.  The weather has broken, and the cooler weather is much appreciated.  We started with the super dep 11ft lock, which filled in just a few minutes, and once in the lock, emptied just as fast, and we were off to the races. 

Starting with the next lock, each lock is just about 100 yards apart.  At the second lock, the lady from the boat behind seemed to be in a hurry, which is not what boating is all about.  There was nothing we could do at this point.  Once we got into the rhythm, we were fast enough to stay ahead of them, even though they had an extra person on board, making a difference. 

A couple of boats coming the other way naturally created space.  We pushed in an occasional very light, refreshing drizzle on at our own efficient pace, but when noon appeared, I took advantage of a slightly larger spacing, and we tucked in and had lunch.  Our lady friend whizzed past, and we wished them luck. Some horse riders passed over the bridge.

Many boaters we meet have hired [rented] the boat for the week and must be back at the original marina on the 7^th day.  These renters are usually not as proficient at handling the boats or operating the locks.  We are always happy to give advice and help when requested.

By 2:30, with just five locks to go, the heavens open with much-needed rain.  Again, we tucked in and sheltered for an hour or more.  Before you know it, Merry noticed the rain had passed, and we sprinted for the finish line, marked by a lovely pub.  We both were tired but got a second wind to sprint to finish.  We made it with no injuries, breakdowns, or damage.  We left at 9am and arrived at 5:45. With three hours of breaks, it works out to be about 10 minutes per lock.

We had a lot of fun, and the pint of beer and a glass of wine never tasted better with a pizza in a cozy semi-outdoor restaurant.

Tunnel Vision

The weather forecast was for cooler weather and possible showers.  It was very pleasant and a welcome relief.  We prepared for a day of tunnels by putting the wheelhouse top down.  This is the first time this has been needed, only because of the tunnels.  The tunnels are plenty wide and high enough with the top up, but if we meet a boat coming the other way, there are only inches to spare, so each boat needs to hug the right side, which would make the top right edge of the roof hit the sloping side of the tunnel to disastrous results.

We headed into the West Hills Tunnel, which is 2,726 yards long, that is 1 ½ miles.  We ended up meeting four boats coming the other way, and one was a novice that kissed the port bow as we met.  Just a slight smudge on the blacking [bottom paint].  Despite the dry weather, the tunnel was drippy from the groundwater above.  A hat is a good idea.

Out of the tunnel safely and on to a lovely pub a few miles beyond.  The next tunnel was Shortwood Tunnel, a mere 613 yards long.  Merry volunteered to steer through this one and attained a perfect score.  No boats coming the other way was her luck.

When meeting boats coming the other way, we stay to the right, and hopefully, the canal’s edge is deep enough not to run aground.

When we pass boats moored up, we are obliged to slow down to not create a wake. This boat is nicely adorned with lots of flowers.

We stopped at a lovely quiet country pub for lunch.

The final tunnel of the day was Tardebrigge Tunnel at 580 yards long.  Merry, let me retake charge with a very slow boat ahead but no meeting boats.

As soon as we got out of the third tunnel, there was an opportunity to offload our trash and stop for the evening.  It was a bit early, but we were facing the top lock of a flight of 35 locks finally going down.  We tied up and put the roof back up.  We walked to the top lock and were amazed at its depth.  The book said it was a drop of 11 feet.  That will take a while to fill.