Autumn Tints Cruise 2022 Ep 2

 Monday 7th November - Greensforge Lock to Bratch Visitor Moorings

We began our cruise by locking up through Greensforge Lock and stopping to top up with water and empty rubbish at the services.  A very gentle cruise then through Swindon and the Botterham Staircase locks.  All very quiet with no boats moving at all.  This is the house at Bumble Hole Lock, still looking in need of some TLC, but with some signs of habitation now.

This is Dave approaching The Bratch locks, I am working these locks for the first time, very exciting!  The Bratch Locks look like they should be a staircase lock, but are in fact three separate locks with very short pounds between each lock.  These pounds are filled and emptied from side pounds along side the locks.  

The procedure for using these locks is quite daunting, but straightforward when you understand what is happening.  In this picture you can see the blue paddles and above the red paddles.  You open the blue paddles first and this uses the water from the side pound and then the red paddles which fills from the lock above.  Fascinating to watch these tiny pounds filling and emptying with water!  

We moored above the locks for the night and after lunch went for a walk along the canal to Awbridge Lock and back along the disused railway, unfortunately the station cafe was closed so no sweet treats to keep us going.  

Throughout the evening and in to the night the wind got up and we were being buffeted by winds in excess of 30mph, noisy and a little scary, but we survived and no damage sustained!  

4 miles, 10 locks, 3hrs 18mins.

Tuesday 8th November - Bratch Visitor Moorings to Compton Bridge Moorings.

A short cruise today to Compton, in between the showers. Our first lock was Awbridge Lock and I was fascinated by these tiny snails working their way up the side of the lock! 

As we came round towards the Wightwick Locks we could see Wightwick Manor on the hill marked with the blue circle.  Wightwick Manor is owned by the National Trust because  in 1937 Geoffrey Mander, a local paint manufacturer and Liberal MP, did something remarkable – he persuaded the National Trust to accept a house for the nation that was just 50 years old. Having given the house to the Trust, Geoffrey and his second wife Rosalie became its live-in curators, opening the house to the public and adding to its contents, in particular a remarkable collection of Pre-Raphaelite paintings by Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Edward Burne-Jones, Marie Spartali Stillman, Elizabeth Siddal and many others. The collection now forms one of the largest public collections of work by female artists in Britain.

Toby the boat dog, watching from the stern, wondering what Dave is doing? 

Our last lock of the day, and we pass a boat, in fact today has been fairly busy with passing 4 boats on the move!  

We moored up below Compton Lock and later in the afternoon went for a walk through the Smestow Valley Nature Reserve, some of the time following the line of the same disused railway as we walked yesterday.  It is the old Great Western Railway line which opened in 1925, but passenger trains only lasted 7 years.

4 miles, 5 locks, 2 hrs 18mins.

Wednesday 9th November - Compton Visitor Moorings to Gailey Visitor Moorings

A pleasant start to the day with sunshine and light winds.  This is us coming under the bridge heading for Compton Lock, another photo with good reflections. Apart from this lock, there are no more locks for today, so Dave drove the boat whilst I took the opportunity to give the inside of the boat a good clean out.  

This is the junction with the Birmingham Canal Navigation and the 21 locks leading up to Wolverhampton.  Unfortunately they are closed today due to vandalism on the flight. The reflection shows how calm the weather is today, a super photo. 

As we approach Gailey where are going to moor overnight, we pass through a chemical site, there is a zone of 200m where you are not allowed to moor or stop even if you hear an alarm and the smell is most unpleasant!  

In the evening we met up with Anne and Steve for a delicious meal at their local The Fieldhouse, a lovely evening and many thanks to Steve for driving us to and from our mooring at Gailey.

10.25 miles, 1 lock, 3hrs 42mins

Thursday 10th November - Gailey to Stafford Boat Club

A very grey start to the day, we made an early start and pulled in at the services beside Gailey Roundhouse to dispose of rubbish and fill up with water.  The Roundhouse was originally a toll keepers office but is now a residence with a canal shop during the season.  Unfortunately it was closed yesterday and today.  The bridge beside the Roundhouse carries the A5, Watling Street over the canal and is very busy! 

A photo showing the grey skies and the strength of the wind, no hovering in front of a lock, we had to come into the side and hold the boat with a rope, then a scramble to get the boat in to the lock without bashing the sides! 

This is Teddesley Wharf where our boatbuilders, Bourne Boats, relocated to after we were launched in 2015.  It appears they are now trading under the name Midway Boats.  We did see Wayne and Daniel as we cruised past and got a cheery wave from them both.

We continued on to below Deptmore Lock and moored up for the night.

7 miles, 10 locks, 5hrs 24mins

Friday 11th November - Stafford Boat Club to Great Haywood

A lovely start to the day and a gentle cruise to the end of the Staffordshire and Worcester Canal at Great Haywood.  Alongside the canal runs Radford Meadows. The Meadows form part of the River Penk floodplain, just one of a number of watercourses that converge in and around Stafford, before joining the River Trent near Shugborough. The site’s best-kept secret is one of England’s rarest tree species, the native Black Poplar. This tree is a true relic of the floodplain woodland that once dominated lowland England. 

Not very clear, but the duck in the middle is a Mandarin Duck, this beautiful duck was introduced from the Far East, where it can still be found in China, Japan, Korea and parts of Russia. It escaped, or was deliberately released, from captivity in the UK. Mandarin ducks are actually quite shy birds, often hiding beneath overhanging willows and usually only forming small flocks.

This is Tixall Lock, the only lock of the day and bringing us down towards the end of the canal…

…and the Gatehouse and Tixall Wide.  Tixall Gatehouse is a 16th-century gatehouse situated at Tixall, near Stafford, Staffordshire and is all that remains of Tixall Hall which was demolished in 1927. The gatehouse is a Grade I listed building. Tixall was used as a prison for Mary, Queen of Scots for two weeks in 1586.  It is now owned by the Landmark trust and you can rent it as a holiday home.

Approaching the end of the canal, we will turn right and moor up on the Trent and Mersey Canal.  There is an Anglo-Welsh boat hire on the left and a delightful farm shop on the other side of the canal.

After mooring we went for a walk across Essex Bridge, a Grade I listed packhorse bridge over the River Trent near Great Haywood, Staffordshire.  Crossing the River Trent one hundred yards downstream of the junction with the River Sow, it was built in 1550 by the then Earl of Essex for Queen Elizabeth I so that when she visited the estate she could go hunting in the woodland nearby. It is close to Shugborough Hall. It is now the longest remaining packhorse bridge in England with 14 of its original 40 span arches left.

Shugborough Hall is now owned by the National Trust and there is a 10 year plan to renovate parts of the estate.  Currently work is being carried out on some of the surrounding yew trees. Shugborough Hall is an elegant country house built in 1695 on the remains of a moated medieval bishop's palace and an early 17th-century house. The house was remodelled in 1760 and again in the late 18th century.

We left Toby on the boat and went to the Canalside Tearoom for a delicious afternoon tea, a wonderful selection of savouries, sandwiches, cakes and of course scones and cream.  We came home with doggy bags of the cakes we couldn’t manage to eat there and then!  

Following a conversation with a lady trader on a boat ahead of us, we discovered that there is a closure on the Coventry Canal at Streethay Wharf, apparently an unknown culvert beneath the canal has collapsed and rendered the canal closed until late November, meaning that we will need to rethink our cruise plans from here.  Disappointing but good that we found out sooner rather than later!  

6 miles, 1 locks, 2hrs 18mins

Saturday 12th November - Great Haywood

Today we have decided to have a day replanning, and catching up with chores on the boat.  Shopping in the Canalside Farm shop, visiting the post office and walking Toby.

Sunday 13th November - Great Haywood to Roseford Bridge

Today we have decided to abandon our plans due to the closure at Streethay, and are going to head back down the Staffordshire and Worcester Canal.  This involved reversing the boat to the junction as it isn’t wide enough to turn the boat round. 

This is Tixall Wide, a large body of water, probably created when the canal was dug in order to improve the vista from Tixall Hall.  I found this poem written by the Staffordshire Poet Laureate.

Tixall Wide

by Jo Bell

Staffordshire and Worcester Canal

The cut is working water. Straightened,
straitened, boxed and sluiced; contained
and discontent. Worrying at banks,
whitening the heels of boats.

All day it’s run from lock to weir, from weir
to pound. It earns its rest by evening,
dawdles through a leaking lock;
puts up a weary bubble, iris-cool.

Now it kicks off muddy boots;
a worker done with work.
It breathes out ozone, laundry-sweet
and ruffles sedge and vetch,

idly spins a swan. What it does
is not so simple as stilling the mind.

This is the aqueduct over the River Sow, the river runs towards Shugborough Hall and joins with the River Trent at the Essex Bridge we walked over on Friday.

We are just coming under the bridge and into Tixall Lock, just a cute picture! 

Loved the train in the background of this picture, bet the children love to come and play here! 

This is the Stafford Riverway Link, a new name for the old Stafford Branch Canal or River Sow Navigation which formerly linked the Staffordshire & Worcestershire Canal at Baswich with the town centre of Stafford.  The restoration project aims to rebuild this link for community benefit.  The link consisted of a short section of canal branching off the Staffordshire & Worcestershire Canal near St Thomas Bridge 101 leading via a basin and an aqueduct over a drainage channel into a lock down into the River Sow.  From here the river course was straightened and made navigable for 1½ miles to its terminus at a basin near Green Bridge in Stafford.

We then locked up through Deptmore Lock and moored near Roseford Bridge for the night.

6.25 miles, 2 locks, 2hrs 42mins

Autumn Tints Cruise Autumn 2022

 Thursday 3rd November - Diglis Weir Entrance to Stourport Upper Basin

Hello and welcome to our November Autumn Tints Cruise.  We are beginning this cruise from the visitor moorings below our apartment as we had a day cruise on the river for Lizzie and Beatrice on Friday as part of her birthday celebrations.  Instead of mooring back in the basin we used the moorings on the river.

We made an early start on Thursday morning because we had a passage through Bevere Lock booked for 9 o’clock.  The weather was wet and grey, the river was flowing pretty fast and we were going against the flow of the water.  There was a considerable amount of fallen trees, branches and general debris heading towards us which we managed to generally avoid.  We arrived at Bevere Lock 10 minutes behind schedule and shared the lock with two other boats from Camp House moorings also heading for Stourport, in their case for winter moorings off the river.  Unfortunately one of the boats had gear problems and pulled over after the lock.

We then had Holt Lock and Lincomb Lock to get through but it was hard going against the river which seemed to get faster as we went further up.  Consequently we lost time and ended up 30 minutes late and then 45 minutes late for each of them.  

However, the sun did eventually come out and we had blue skies and light winds all the way up to Stourport.  We had been watching cormorants fishing as we were cruising along, but I love seeing them sat in the trees drying off before diving in again.

Beautiful reflections in the river, you could be forgiven for thinking it was late summer.  I, however, had got cold and ended up wearing two coats and a pair of gloves! 

We arrived at Stourport and did the sets of double staircase locks up into the Upper Basin where we moored for the night.  We were able to fill up with water from there, empty rubbish and the toilet.  We discovered that the Wi-Fi signal in the basin was poor so it was a quiet evening listening to the radio.  Between 8 and 9pm we were disturbed by marauding teenagers, running around screaming and shouting, jumping on and off the Canal and River Trust workboat moored in front of us and kicking against the doors to the service block.  They didn’t touch our boat and by 9pm it appeared that a parent had turned up and they all disappeared!  

We had a comfortable and peaceful night’s sleep after all! 

13.25 miles, 7 locks, 6hrs 36mins.

Friday 4th November - Stourport Upper Basin to Wolverley Bridge No 20

We woke this morning to sunny skies, chilly but quite beautiful.  This is looking downriver from the wide locks showing the finger post with a myriad of choices of direction.

We waited until 9.30am and moved across to the chandlery where we put on diesel for the cruise.  Conversation with the owner soon got round to the disturbance last night and he told us that he had called the police as they have had a lot of problems with these children.  He said he was quite concerned for us but we assured him that we had been fine.

Outside Stourport is this bridge with a plaque announcing it as Pratt’s Wharf.  This is the start of an old arm off the canal which used to go to Wilden Ironworks a mile further on.  Boats would leave the main canal by passing under the towpath bridge, then immediately drop down through a lock, enter the River Stour at Pratts Wharf, bear right and continue downstream for about three quarters of a mile to Wilden.  It could be tricky to navigate especially when there was plenty of water coming down the river, but it lasted in use until around 1949.  Today there is very little to see, except the outline of the lock beside the river.

Cauldwell Lock heading into Kidderminster, one of the prettiest locks on this stretch of the Staffordshire and Worcester Canal.  Toby is back in his favourite position as boat dog on guard!

The magnificent church as you rise up through the lock in the middle of Kidderminster, an impressive sight with St George’s flag flying in the breeze.

I just had to include this photo, the kingfisher was sitting beautifully as we went passed and just as I took the photo he took of from his perch, still you can see the beautiful colours.

We arrived at our mooring, this time below Wolverley Lock in full sunshine and a wonderful view of the autumn colours along the offside of the canal.

6 miles, 5 locks, 3hrs 6 mins.

Saturday 5th November - Wolverley Bridge No 20 to Kinver

We woke this morning to the sound of raindrops on the roof, quite a bit different from yesterday!  However it soon stopped raining and we were able to get under way to Kinver.  This is our first lock of the day, Wolverley Lock, one paddle at each end of the lock was out of action so it was a slow ride up!  Dave had checked the weed hatch before we set off and all was clear, which is good.

A lovely view of the church in Wolverley, sitting up proud over the river and canal.  It was built of red brick in 1772 to replace a medieval church and it was restored in 1882.  

The land slip beyond Wolverley is still there and boats are requested to go ‘dead slow past the land slip’ - I wonder why they don’t just fix it?  

At Debdale Lock we caught up with a group from a school down the road, out collecting litter, they had found quite a bit and were aiming to return and clear out the cave at the lock which also had a lot of litter in it.  Here they are just entering the tunnel behind us as we emerged out the other end.  A short tunnel, Cookley Tunnel was built by James Brindley (c.1770), it is cut through 65 yards of sandstone and passes under Bridge Road in Cookley village.

At Whittington Lock Toby and I got off the boat and walked the rest of the way to Kinver.  Unfortunately, a hire boat passed Dave on the boat and he became stuck in the mud on the off side of the canal, tilting alarmingly.  They appeared totally oblivious to this and just wanted to know if he had come out of the lock.  He was very tempted to say ‘No, I flew over it!’

We moored on the visitor moorings, no other boat in sight, lunch at the Vine and a walk into the village which was extremely quiet!  

4.5 miles, 3 locks, 2 hrs 30 mins

Sunday 6th November - Kinver to Ashwood Marina

After a very noisy night with lots of fireworks and a huge amount of barking from Toby, we woke a little later than usual!  It was slightly misty and quite damp, but no rain.  The first lock of the day was just ahead of us, so Dave went and set it whilst I brought the boat up to the lock.  

Coming out of the lock we went up to the Kinver services, topped up the water and disposed of rubbish etc.

We passed one other boat coming out of Gothersley Lock but apart from that it was really quiet.  As we passed Ashwood Nurseries the skies darkened and it began to rain quite heavily, so at the first light, open space we pulled over and moored for the day.   

John’s Garden at Ashwood Nurseries is considered one of the finest private gardens in the UK. The private garden of nursery owner and Chelsea gold medallist John Massey, it has a huge plant collection and many innovative design features in a beautiful canal-side setting.  It is always a joy to cruise past the end of this stunning garden.

4.5 miles, 5 locks, 3hrs.

Celebration Cruise Week 7

 Monday 22nd August - The Bratch to Greensforge

Leaving the Bratch Locks, we started the locks just before 9am and made it down in good time.  A drop of 30ft in a very short space means that the locks gates from this angle are extremely impressive! 

The toll house spans the height of the top lock and used to house a little shop where you could buy maps and canal memorabilia. However ever since Canal and River Trust dispensed with permanent lock keepers, the shop has gone as well.  

However, we did have the helping hands of Volunteer Lock Keeper Mark who saw us through the locks safely.  So long as you remember to work blue paddles before red paddles you will be absolutely fine, and the side pounds keep the lock chambers topped up with water.  

A very pretty view back towards the locks, in my mind I think the Bratch Locks are some of the prettiest locks on the network.

Whilst we were waiting to use the next lock we met Harvey, he is 5 years old, can you tell which one is Toby?  Harvey comes from Bridgenorth whilst Toby comes from Whitchurch but the resemblance between them is remarkable!  

Toby after a warm shower, a much cleaner boy after rolling in numerous dusty footpaths for the last few weeks! 

3.75 miles, 9 locks, 3hrs 54mins

Tuesday 23rd August - Greensforge to Kinver.

We set off for a gentle cruise down to Kinver.  We have arranged to meet someone from Kinver Canopies to come and measure up for the replacement side.  This photo shows the beautiful rural aspect of this canal, so green and peaceful. 

This is the site of Gothersley Round House, built as part of the ironworks here and lived in until the 1930’s.  

As we are approaching the part of the canal known as Devil’s Den, the canal passes over the River Stour and I spotted a wooden door built into the rock face on the offside.  Most intriguing!  I wonder what that is all about and where does the door go? 

This is a part of the canal which broadens out into what appears to be space to moor a small boat, it’s on the offside and is hewn into the rock face, again what would the purpose of it be? 

This is Stourton Junction where we meet the Stourbridge Canal.  The Stourbridge Canal has a unique association with the glassmaking industry. There were once more than 20 glassworks in this area, which was world-famous for cameo glass and cut crystal.

The next lock was Stewponey Lock and once you have finished working the lock you have to walk through a bridge hole to get back to the boat, looks as though you are appearing out of nowhere! 

We then went through Dursley Tunnel, it was one of the earliest built on any British canal (about 1772). It is only 23 yards long and unusually for a tunnel of this age it has a towing path.  Part of the tunnel, is brick and part is rough rock, it is quite different to look at.  

We moored up for the evening and walked into Kinver, on the way we passed these lovely flower and herb beds, looked after by Canal and River Trust and we were invited to help ourselves to a selection of the herbs planted there.  We also had a representative from Kinver Canopies to come to the boat and measure up for the replacement side panel we lost at Fenny Compton in the high winds.  He seemed hopeful we shall have it tomorrow, very impressive!  

5 miles, 6 locks, 3hrs 18mins.

Wednesday 24th August - Kinver

Today we have had a lazy morning and then a walk along the canal and into Kinver and a drink at the pub beside the lock.  

Whilst we were there we recognised this boat as nbMoonbase V from Audlem.  When we first took our boat to Overwater Marina we moored on the same jetty as this boat and got to know Carol and Trevor quite well.  We haven’t seen them since we left Overwater and moved to Worcester, several years now. 

Later in the afternoon, Tom arrived from Kinver Canopies and fitted our replacement side window, we are now water tight once again!  Excellent service! 

Thursday 25th August - Kinver to Wolverley

We made another early start this morning, and passed this attractive house on the way out of Kinver.  A lovely garden with the most unusual things hiding in the bushes…

a family of monkeys…and a parrot!  

This is Whittington Bridge, another picturesque canalside village, you can cross over the bridge and walk up to the The Manor House of Whittington where we have met friends Anne and Steve on many of an occasion!  Unfortunately it started to rain, a very heavy downpour which continued on and off until we reached Wolverley.

At Debdale Lock the rock has been excavated to form a chamber, used as a stable during the canal age.  It is quite useful during rainy times and you are waiting for the lock to either fill or empty! 

We moored up at Wolverley and waited for the rain to stop before visiting the canalside cafe for a bacon and sausage butty, and most welcome it was too.  This photo shows part of the rock face that has collapsed into the canal taking the road wall with it.

Later that afternoon the rain stopped and it became a pleasant afternoon so we took a walk into Wolverley along the canal and across the fields.  This house is below the zigzag path going up to the church and the back wall of the house is the rock face. It must make the house very dark 

inside!

5 miles, 3 locks, 2hrs 24mins

Friday 26th August - Wolverley to Stourport

A lovely morning as we left Wolveley and headed for Stourport, we passed many boats we had been leap frogging moored up above Kidderminster and this is the lock which goes under the roads in the centre of Kidderminster.  A super shot of the boat with the impressive St Mary’s and All Saints church on an incline behind it.

This is the site of the now closed Debenhams store, it is on the site of  Slingfield Mill. Built  150 years ago this mill contributed to the fame of the Kidderminster carpet makers by spinning very fine thread.  The finest yarns for the carpet industry were spun on machinery driven by a steam engine powered from boilers in the nearby boilerhouse with its square chimney. In 1920 Lea Ltd became part of Carpet Trades who sold it to Brintons in 1948. By the late 1980's yarn spinning had ceased and in 2003 the Mill became a retail outlet.

Here we are approaching the railway bridge of the Severn Valley Railway and only minutes before this was taken a train in full steam chugged across the bridge!  Dave was in the bow on a video call to Annie and her girls and they were able to watch the train go over the bridge!  Looking on the website it could possibly had been the Purple Locomotive No.70 ‘Elizabeth II’! The line runs for 16 miles between Bridgenorth and Kidderminster.

We got as far as the moorings outside The Bird in Hand and decided to moor up rather than carrying on into Stourport and not being able to find a quiet mooring.  We walked into Stourport and quickly realised that we wouldn’t have found anywhere so are very happy we decided to stop when we did! 

5.5 miles, 5 locks, 3 hours 36 mins.

Saturday 27th August - Bird in Hand Moorings

Today we have had a rest day and a lovely walk in the afternoon.  This is the line of boats moored up alongside the pub and we are the one right at the back!  

Sunday 28th August - Bird in Hand to Diglis Basin Worcester

An early start this morning, we arrived at the first lock by 8.30, and dropped down into the Stourport Basins where we stopped in order to use the facilities.  We then cruised slowly to the the two sets of staircase locks.

This is taken from the top of the first set of locks and you can see the pound between the sets of locks.  Stourport-on-Severn is unique as a town that was only built as a result of the coming of the Staffordshire & Worcestershire Canal. It was nothing more than a rural village of around 200 people, until the canal made its mark on the place forever!

The pound between the two sets of locks provides a challenge as the exit and entrance are offset and it is difficult to line the boat up. From here I had to reverse and have another shot at turning the boat into the lock!  Fortunately it was still early and there was no one around to watch! 

A successful locking down on to the river and we turned left and headed down river to Worcester.  Moored on the river pontoon is nbGet Knotted, a hire boat belonging to Noel from Diglis Basin and we heard when we got back that they had left their mooring soon after we saw them and continued upstream to Bewdley!  Noel has a tracker on the boat and realised that they were heading in the wrong direction and was able to phone them and tell them to turn round!  The river beyond Stourport is not navigable for powered craft as plans to make the river navigable have always come up against opposition and no one has responsibility for keeping the channel free from silting up.

The route in to Worcester along the Severn has to be the most perfect, with a stunning view of the Cathedral towering over the river, and swans on the water and people enjoying the scenery.  We arrived at Diglis Locks, turned the boat and were met by Simon who helped Dave work the boat up into the Basin.  Many thanks to Simon for turning out to help us, much appreciated! Once safely back in our mooring we treated ourselves to bacon and sausage butties from Cafe Afloat, all very welcome indeed. 

Well, that is the end of our 7 week Celebration Cruise, and what a celebration it has been!  It has been a fantastic opportunity for Dave to continue his recovery and recuperation, and he has returned feeling so much fitter and stronger than 7 weeks ago.  It was the delayed start to celebrating our Ruby Wedding Anniversary and Dave’s 70th birthday, a year of celebrations that had been put on hold but now continue with lots of things being planned.  We celebrated the christening of grandchildren Alba and Nina, and the chance for the whole family to gather together and celebrate the fact that life goes on and we have 

One Life…Live It

14 miles, 10 locks, 5hrs 36mins