Summer 2024 Archives

29 August 202429 August 2024

Summer 2024 Cruise Part 8 – Last few locks to home

Bit of a lay in this morning no need to get away early as we have just about 4 miles and just 15 locks, 3 of which we will have welcome help from the CRT volunteers at Hanbury locks 1,2 & 3.

Lock one of the day is Stoke Top Lock, which is the first one of six lock in this flight.

The last lock in the Stoke Locks which FYI drops the canal 40ft (12.8m), is where we first hired a canal boat from Black Prince Holidays, which is also where we purchased our boat a few years ago.

Black Prince Holidays - Stoke Bottom Lock — Black Prince Holidays – Stoke Bottom Lock

We have done this trip a few time, and depending on timing we have moored up outside The Boat and Railway Pub where you can sit and watch the boats go by.

Next we have the Astwood locks, just 5 this time and they drop the canal 42 feet (12.8m), we met a family group who Sonia showed how the locks worked while getting the kids involved, once a teacher always a teacher.

These are our last locks before we turn onto the Droitwich Canal and we get to the Hanbury locks, where we meet 3 very helpful CRT volunteers. They are there to make sure the locks are operated correctly as they are more complicated than most with side pounds.

Then we are at our home base Droitwich Spa Marina for a Pump-out and fuel. We had used approx ¼ of a tank in the past 3 weeks, of not non-stop chugging.

Droitwich Spa Marina - Refuel — Droitwich Spa Marina – Refuel

This has been a good test for our up and coming gap year plans, with just the two of us most of the time. We have found that we need to plan what we are trying to achieve so that we are not overdoing it too often.

Next we have to clean the boat touch up a few scratches from earlier trips. We have lent the boat out a few time this year, and it is starting to show.

28 August 202428 August 2024

Summer 2024 Cruise Part 7 – Four Tunnels and a Funeral

Tuesday 27th Aug 2024 – The plan today is to get to just above the Tardebigge, so that we could prepare for the 30 narrow locks in just two-and-a-quarter-miles (3.6 km). To get to that point we have a way to go, Approx 14 Miles with an expected time of just over 6 hours according to Canalplan.

We set off well, arriving at the Drawbridge Inn, where we had been to dinner a couple of nights before. The lift bridge here is electric, and Sonia found a young lad, who wanted to help press the button.

We then top up the water at Yardley Wood Water Point which we renamed Bird Drop water point, as a few years ago while filling up with water two small chicks fell, or pushed, from their nest just in-front of us, they unfortunately did not survive.

Then the first tunnel of the day, Brandwood Tunnel, at 322m is one of the shortest today, then we are at Broad Meadow Lane Bridge No 1 this is the location of the Guillotine lock between the North Stratford Canal and the Worcester and Birmingham Canal and was used to protect the precious water flowing from one canal to the other.

At Kings Norton Junction we turn left onto the Worcester and Birmingham Canal , then just before Bridge 66 we can see what looks like a boat coming towards us, but as we come closer we can see she is drifting about.

We manage to get a rope on the bow and pull that in, then another passing boater on Bimble (Stourport on Severn) give the stern a push and and one of them jump aboard and throws Sonia the stern line. With that, we secure the boat, but the tow path is very soft, I suspect it will not hold long.

Next we pass Hopwood House, in the past we have moored here and eaten in the Inn, but not today.

Next we are going through Wast Hill Tunnel. At 2,493 m this will be the longest of the day, this tunnel opened in 1797 and canal boats where still being legged until 1904.

Tunnel no 3 for the day is the Shortwood Tunnel, another short tunnel at 561 m

Finally we come to our forth and final tunnel for today the Tardebigge Tunnel, at 530m. It is a relief to get to the end. We met a few boats in the tunnels today, and it seems almost impossible to judge how far they are away looking at their lights, it is only when you hear their engine and start to see details, you know you are getting closer.

With 3,906 meters of tunnels completed, the three shorter tunnels you can see the far end, but the big one, the Wast Hill Tunnel, is a bit of a monster.

After an eventful chug, 4 tunnels, one lift bridge and a boat adrift, we have made it to just above the Tardebigge Locks opposite Tardebigge Wharf, and it is time to rest and get ready for our lockfest tomorrow.

The Funeral, well unfortunately while we have been away, Sonia’s Dad has passed away, it was not unexpected, but still comes as a shock.

Wednesday 28th Aug 2024 – Today is our very own Lockfest on the Tardebigge Flight. We have been up and down this flight too many times to count, but I believe this is the first time we have done it with just the two of us.

The Tardebigge Lock Flight is the longest flight of locks in the UK, comprising 30 narrow locks on a two-and-a-quarter-mile (3.6 km) stretch of the Worcester and Birmingham Canal. It raises the canal 220 feet (67 m).

I had set the alarm for an early start, we like being first on the flights if we can, some time the locks are all left set for us, but after breakfast we are on our way at 7:10am, our luck is not good as the first 10 or so locks are empty and have to be filled and the first lock is by far the deepest of the flight.

The Tardebigge Reservoir is probably as low as we have ever seen it, not a lot of water left this summer, looking around the fish sites that are normally at the waters edge are high and dry, it would be an impressive cast to hit what is left of the water.

At about lock 15 we start to see boats coming the other way, which is a good sign as they can leave the lock open for us and we can do the same for them.

On the way down we meet our first live user of our mapping project, it was great to meet you.

30 locks and 5 and ½ hours later we are moored outside Queens Head at Stoke Pound Bridge moorings. I think it might be pizza and a beer time.

27 August 202427 August 2024

Summer 2024 Cruise Part 6 – Make the Family work

Saturday 23nd Aug 2024 – While we have 3 extra members of crew, we decide to use them to get back up the Lapworth flight, so Ellie, Mary and Sonia take the cars and head off to leave one at Dickens Heath, on the way there they visit the Wedges Bakery Shop for some cakes, more on that later, They then head back and parked near The Boot Inn, near Briar Cottage Moorings and walked down to Kingswood Junction.

In the mean time Antony and I move the boat back up the Grand Union via the Shrewley Tunnel, and a quick stop to let Obi have a wee, we pass a couple of old wooden boats, possibly ready for some brave sole to restore? As we arrive at Kingswood Junction we see the girls waiting.

Grand Union - Scuttled Wooden Boats — Grand Union – Scuttled Wooden Boats

They climb aboard as we turn the corner and we head to the first lock of the day Kingswood Lock 20, and then Lapworth Lock 19, just after which we stop for water.

This older style water point looks like it has been modified a few times, the lock is missing, the flap is stuck, but they have fitted a tap to the side.

The water flow was good, 15 minutes and we had topped up our tank, I cleaned the solar panels off and off we go.

With four people manning the locks, we could have two working on the current lock and two moving ahead to setup the next, or help anyone coming the other way.

It was along these locks that Obi decided to carry a stick across the lock and tipped himself in the water, luckily Antony was near by to grab his harness and drag him out, he rewarded Antony with a dog shake shower and was none the worse for wear.

Here is Briar Cottage Moorings, between locks 13 & 14, where you can stop for a coffee and ice cream when needed.

Between lock 7 & 8 we had just completed lock 8 and were holding in the pound, when we found a boat coming the other way, between 7 & 8 is a ver small pound on a curve, luckily it was a smaller boat with a skilled crew who managed to ease into lock 8 and miss us at the same time.

The cakes from Wedges Bakery cut up so we can each try a bit with a nice cup of tea.

We had Toffee, Chocolate and Lemon cupcakes and a slice of Bakewell. They did not last long – seem like we will be stopping here when we pass this way again (Remember Bridge 20, North Stratford Canal)

Our target for today was to get to Dickens Heath, it is an odd feeling place, a bit like Poundbury in Dorset, but with less shops. We moored up just below Dickens Heath Village Footbridge No 14 and the girls went to collect Marys car, we then went out to The Drawbridge Inn for dinner, lots of food at a relatively cheap price.

Back to the boat and Ellie and Antony have to head off back home as they have visitors arriving.

Sunday 24nd Aug 2024 – Now just the three of us and Obi, but Mary is going home this morning as she has work booked for Tuesday. We decide she will take Obi home with her for company. Obi also finds the chugging sessions between lock flights a little stressful, only made up by helping us on the locks by running about trying to herd up all together. We are probably a slow few days for him till we get to the Tardebigge locks.

We went for Coffee in Coffee Cloud, a good coffee and a bacon sandwich always starts the day well, then noticed the Tesco Express was closed for refurbishment which was a bit of a shame, and was already passed the expected reopening day according to the Tesco’s web site.

We carried Obi and Marys stuff back to her car and we are now down to just the two of us. But we are going to have one more set of visitor before we leave Dickens Heath, with Jason and Nicola, bringing three of the grandchildren to see us.

We meet them in town outside Cloud Coffee and walk across the bridge near the boat to an small area of grass to site and chat while feeding the grandchildren, they have twins under one and a five year old, they are doing remarkably, not sure I could cope.

Then just as suddenly we are back to just the two of us, our plan now is to stay one more night and try to head to the top of the Tardebigge tomorrow, if we don’t get that far it is not a problem we just want to be fresh and ready for the Tardebigge flight as this will be the first time we have done this on our own.

Before I close for the day, we opened the weed hatch and using a tool we purchased at Crick in 2023 from Miracle Leisure Products called a Prop Mate is worked very well, we removed a few shredded plastic bags and some weed etc without even getting my hands wet.

24 August 202426 August 2024

Summer 2024 Cruise Part 5 – Finally the family gathers

Thursday 22nd Aug 2024 – Another quiet night after our labours on the Lapworth flight our mooring at Turner Green Mooring could not have been better. We set an alarm this morning as our sleeping was past 9am yesterday and the dog must have had his legs crossed, so this morning an 8am alarm did the trick and Obi was pleased to get out for a walk while I setup the boat for the day.

Canalplan put us at about an hour from our destination at Hatton, with a trip threw Shrewley Tunnel at 433 yards (395.9 m) you can see the light at the end of the tunnel all this time.

We pass the Mid-Warwickshire Yacht Club which looks very nice, some smart boats moored there, then we pass Hatton Station Bridge No 56, we turn in the Hatton winding hole and moor in the opposite direction, ready for our trip home.

Mary is the first to arrive bringing some loverly home made Custard Creams, and Lemon meringue tarts. After the welcomes, mostly of the dog, we walk down to the Hatton Locks Cafe for coffee and a sausage roll (Excellent cafe, always busy).

Antony and Ellie arrive at about 8pm ready for some warming soup and bread, lots of chat and then time for bed

Friday 23nd Aug 2024 – Woke at 7am for a wee, looked out of the window to see a larger expanse of canal that expected, it seems our bow line and pin has let go and we are blocking the canal, luckily no one is passing at that time, so we get it fixed to find the oven won’t light as the knob is stuck out. looked at cost of new cooker, £750 if I can find one in stock, so out with the WD40, will need a better clean, but for now it is working again.

Due to the delayed breakfast, we decide to head out to the cars (Useful having visitors) first we head to Sainsbury’s in Warwick, then on to ‘Boston Tea Party’ in Leamington Spa for breakfast and a quick wander around the shops.

We found a gaming store called ‘The Games Den‘ where I purchased ‘Codenames Duet’ and the across the road was ‘Corner Cottage Bakery‘, whose English Muffins made it into our lunch options.

Then back to the boat, we decided to try to move the boat closer to the cars as we had a bit to carry, but as we got closer we could hear the boat hitting the bottom, finally we managed to find a deep enough section just before Hatton Station Bridge No 56

We were going to make Pizza tonight, we have a Gosney Pizza Oven onboard, but looking at the weather forecast we had decided to buy some in Sainburys, oddly as we arrived back at the boat it started raining, but now the weather is fine..

23 August 202423 August 2024

Summer 2024 Cruise Part 4 – Escaping the Windy City

Wednesday 21st Aug 2024 –We have been moored very close to The Roundhouse, and had saved it to the last day for a quick visit. It is an interesting shaped building, you may have got that from the name, restored as a joint venture between the National Trust and the Canal and River Trust. It was originally called “Sheepcote Street Corporation Depot”

This is a view of the inside of the horse shoe , the tunnel underneath leads to the canal, it is now a hub for local exploration including canoeing on the canal and lots of guided and unguided walks.

After that we needed to fill up with water at Holliday Wharf, this is just after a 90 degree turn on to the start of the Worcester and Birmingham Canal, and today the wind was howling down the canal. We started the turn, but as soon as the bow was exposed to the wind we were pushed right, we managed to reverse to a point where Sonia could jump off with the centre rope and with the help of a passerby we eventually rounded the corner, by this time I had switched with Sonia and after a near miss with a moored boat we made it to the water point.

As we were leaving the water point, Obi, the dog, made a jump for the tow path, hoping to make some new friends, with whom he wandered off , luckily they retained our errant dog and we collected him just after the bridge.

Our next target was the Sainburys at Selly Oak Shopping Park, mooring here looked excellent, but is harder than necessary, they could have laid this out better, but we managed and after having to carry three loaded bags back to the boat we set off again heading to Kings Norton Junction and the North Stratford Canal.

I made a bit of a pigs ear of turning at the junction, a little over hesitance, turned in to a more than 3 point turn. Quickly after that we passed through the Brandwood tunnel, a short one at just 352 yards long.

The North Stratford canal is a little over grown, not much easy mooring along here, but finally we moored up just before Lyons Boat Yard, which offers all sorts of boater services for the night

Thursday 22st Aug 2024 – Bit of a late start for us and we have a way to go today, we are hoping to moor near Hatton Station on the Grand Union so we can meet Mary, our last remaining resident daughter and Antony and his girl friend Ellie, who are coming to stay for a couple of nights.

We have quite a long chug to the Lapton locks today, unfortunate for us we had a very slow Day Hire Boat in front of us which wandered along the canal at probably less that one mile an hour, it was their first time on a canal boat. I had seen them leave Lyons Boat Yard well before we left.

Being kind as we would hope others would be to us, we tried to hang back, control was not their strong point and I am not sure they knew we where behind them, at 1 mph and in what was best described as a strong wind, our boat acted more like a sail and a couple of times we found ourselves pushed to the side aground, the canal was also a little low of water.

Eventually they turned around at Lady Lane Wharf , this looked a well sorted setup for boater services.

Released from our slow crawl, we sped up to our normal 3 MPH cruising speed, passing Warings Green Wharf, also setup for boater services.

Warings Green Wharf - Services and Mooring — Warings Green Wharf – Services and Mooring

We also passed bridge 20, with it a sign for Wedges Bakery Shop which we will try to visit on our return. Then we pass Swallow Cruisers at Swallow Wharf, who are also well setup for boater services

Next is the Lapworth flight to complete but only as far as lock 19 when we take the lefthand fork at Kingswood Junction heading to the Grand Union Canal (Left would be on to Stratford-On-Avon) and then one more lock, Kingswood Lock 20, then we are out onto the Grand Union Canal.

Kingswood Junction North - Lock 19 — Kingswood Junction North – Lock 19

Now we have decided that after that many locks we will not make it to Hatton until the next day, so we moor up at Turner Green Mooring about 1km before the Tom O’ The Wood pub for a very restful night.

Cookie	Duration	Description
cookielawinfo-checbox-analytics	11 months	This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics".
cookielawinfo-checbox-functional	11 months	The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional".
cookielawinfo-checbox-others	11 months	This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary	11 months	This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance	11 months	This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance".
viewed_cookie_policy	11 months	The cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data.