Last cruising day this year?

 Wednesday 6^th November; Dunhampstead to Droitwich Spa marina

The overnight rain had stopped by daybreak.  The trains seemed to have stopped running overnight, though I did hear one goods train in the early hours.   We did some packing after breakfast while we waited for the sun to come up a bit. 

Polishing the tiller arm

As we left the sun was warm on our backs, and made up for the chilly wind in our faces.  The autumn colours are glorious.

Even leafless branches look good when the sun is low.

There is a lot of mistletoe in this area, and hawthorn seems to be a common host for it around here.  

As expected, there were no volunteers at Hanbury locks today, and as all the locks were empty it took us a while to get down.  I was fine, working mostly in the sun, but down below in the shadows (these locks are all around 11’ deep) poor Dave was freezing.  But he did wait for me at the bottom lock. Its’s a long walk round to our mooring!

Soon after 11 we were tucked into our mooring, and got straight on with packing and cleaning. 

Welcoming committee

 We wanted to get everything done on the boat and be on our way before the wet weather already affecting the south-west reached the marina.  We haven’t fully winterised yet, but we did turn the water off and leave the taps open.  Any food in the galley not in tins or bottles was packed too, along with all the bedding.  We left in a light shower after an early lunch, and hit the bad weather about half-way home.  We were back by 5, with the rain nearly over.  The day after, Devon had a lovely sunny day while the Midlands got drenched. Good timing!

 2 miles, 3 locks.

Trip stats; 13 miles, 7¼ furlongs narrow canals; 34 narrow locks (17, once up and once down); 2 tunnels (Dunhampstead, twice). 

Rather wet

Thursday 15^th November; Perdiswell Park to Dunhampstead

We hadn’t planned to do a lot this morning – the forecast was horrible.  But we did need to be much closer to the marina by nightfall, so I made a quick dash up to Lidl for bread and milk when the rain seemed to be a bit lighter so we would be able to leave when it stopped.  The trouble was, by the time I had splashed through the flooded footpath under the railway to the road, it was pouring again!

And I hadn’t put wet weather trousers on, so a quick change was needed when I got back.  We got on with a few little indoor jobs, then the rain really did ease off and Meg got a decent walk in the park, before we had an early lunch and set off as the sun came out.

Ready for the off, with wet towels in the cratch

The grass around the locks was very wet, of course, but my walking boots kept my feet warm and dry.  It did mean, though, that I couldn’t step across the bottom gates when I closed them – I just don’t feel agile enough in boots, and anyway the soles were wet and I didn't want to risk slipping.

Pissers in Blackpole lock

Fungi at Tolladine lock

Under the main road bridge before the Offerton flight there is a different kind of graffiti – maybe done by female rugby fans?  (Sixways stadium, home of the Worcester Warriors rugby club which is currently in administration), is by the top lock.

HRT eh? shame about the ubiquitous tagging

The locks were mostly in our favour, and as the weather was calm Dave could close most of them up while I went ahead to open the next.  A bank of cloud was developing as we left the first, and it made a striking picture with the autumn colours glowing in the low sun.

But by the time we were at the top the sun was dropping and it had started to cloud up and get chilly.  The farm by the motorway either uses logs for all its heating or has a sideline in selling them.

The Oddingley mooring had space for us, but Dave wanted a lower edge so he could get the starboard side washed, so we moored at Dunhampstead just before 4 o'clock.  No time for a cuppa – the light was going already.  I cleared the window drain-holes while he cleaned the engine hole, then I retreated inside to tidy up while he washed the side of the boat.  I ran the Eberspacher for an hour to dry out wet clothes and towels, and lit the fire.  The rain started again at 5.  We couldn’t really hear the motorway from inside the boat, but the footpath from the bluebell woods to the village crosses the railway, and the toots from approaching trains were quite loud.  But they stopped around bedtime.

4½ miles, 8 locks

 

Salmon passing!

Monday 14^th November; Commandery to Perdiswell Park (bridge 17)

Although the nearby roads are noisy in the evening, it’s quiet here overnight bar the occasional siren.  We even woke late!  But we weren’t cruising till later on, as first we wanted to go down to the new-ish fish pass at Diglis lock, as today is the last chance this year to visit the viewing gallery.  We crossed the Severn on the footbridge below past Diglis lock, approaching the lock from downstream, so we could see the bottom of the fish pass quite clearly.

The fish pass from below

It is part of the Unlocking The Severn project, which has created fish passes alongside the river locks to enable endangered species, such as the twaite shad and lampreys to get past the weirs and higher up the river to spawn.  It had to be the ‘deep vertical slot’ type of fish pass, as the shad is a weak swimmer and this is the most suitable kind as it has areas of calmer water for the fish to rest on their way up.  Before the Severn weirs were constructed in the mid-19^th century there were hundreds of thousand of them along the river - but the shad, which can’t leap like the salmon, has been unable to migrate up the river for nearly 180 years.  Yet in spite of that, as soon as the pass was available to them, up they went.  I think that's wonderful, don't you?

If you want to know more about the different types of fish pass – there are lots! - here is a link to an explanation.  The Diglis one was constructed with the public in mind as well as the fish, so there is a viewing terrace above.

The view from the viewing terrace

Autumn is not generally a good time to see fish so we didn’t see anything from outside, though I bet it’s brilliant when the salmon are migrating in spring.  I would be inclined to moor at Hawford Junction and take the footpath along the river, which overlooks the pass at Bevere lock.

And from the top of the pass

Below water level, in the viewing gallery, a camera records every fish that passes, so they can monitor its effectiveness.  So far twenty-five species have been spotted, including salmon, eels, both sea and river lampreys, and shad (all migratory), and the usual residents of the river like roach, tench and chub, as well as barbel.  Here is a handy YouTube video which shows some of what has been recorded since the pass was opened in early 2021. It’s fascinating, though you have to remember there would have been long periods with nothing happening.

Fewer fish go by in the autumn and winter, and we were told there have been some in the last couple of weeks as the river hadn’t been quite cold enough for their liking for them to come up in the summer.  We were extremely lucky to see a salmon, which was resting before going out into the river and further upstream.

Salmon

In spite of the dim conditions, Dave could tell it what it was, confirmed when it obligingly opened its mouth to show the characteristic shape of its jaw (to a collective Ah! from the dozen or so people in the gallery).  Here are a couple more links if you are interested – the CRT site, and the Unlocking The Severn site.

If you haven't already abandoned this post (I hope you haven't) you get the idea we are pretty keen on the whole fish conservation thing! 😀

We got back to the boat some time after 11, and immediately got ready to move down Sidbury lock to the basin so we could wind.  A boat must have gone up the lock while we were out, leaving it full, so it was in our favour.  The canal has been so quiet I took a chance and left the bottom gates open ready for our return.  Back up we went, and I walked on to turn Blockhouse lock leaving Dave to finish off at Sidbury.

The towpath above Blockhouse lock is closed in the mornings so piling work can be done.  It was gone 12 by now, so there was no activity.

It looks as though piling is being added to protect parts of the towpath wall – we could see that in several places along this stretch there are bulges or missing bricks.   The heavy cloud lifted a bit as we passed Lowesmoor basin and the sun even came out for a while when we stopped for lunch at the park before bridge 12.

Time for a play

A boat came passed heading for Worcester while we were there, so the remaining four locks were all in our favour.  The paint on Gregory’s Mill lock was still tacky in places and I ended up, or so I thought, with just a bit on my hand.  However, I incautiously sat on a beam while waiting for the lock to fill … luckily I only wear old clothes for boating, a throwback to the days when I frequently managed to get covered in grease!  The cloud was coming over again by now though, and by the time we moored at bridge 19 by Perdiswell Park it was distinctly gloomy, even though it was only about 3 o’clock.  The rain started almost immediately and carried on till after dark.

7 locks, 3 miles