Tibberton in the rain

Thursday 28^th March; Perdiswell Park to Tibberton

How misleading early sunshine can be!  We looked at the forecast – how best to use the few dry hours before the rain set in?  Well the first thing was the gas ran out as I was cooking my porridge so at least Dave could change bottles in the dry!  After breakfast Dave took Jess over to the park to give her a good run for an hour, then we moved off about 10.  The sun had gone and it was cold.  We have dozens of pictures of this area so I didn’t take any more; here is one from May 2018, of our old boat Chuffed approaching Blackpole lock from above in lovely weather.  We were on our way to Worcester, where we joined the Severn down to visit the Gloucester & Sharpness, coming back to the network via the Avon and Stratford.

Lovely day at Blackpole lock, a bit different from today

At Blackpole lock Jess joined me to walk as far as Tolladine lock, still full of bounce and energy.  On the approach to the Offerton flight we thought it would be sensible to get the waterproofs out – just in time as it turned out, because the first drops fell as we shut the stern doors to keep Jess on the boat.  Locking would be a lot quicker when I didn’t have to keep tying her up.  Once we were up the bottom lock it was raining in earnest, and cold.  I jogged between locks when I could, partly to keep warm and partly to lock ahead so we could get through as quickly as possible.  The rain and wind made steering very unpleasant for Dave.  Fortunately Jess decided she would be better off inside on the bed so at least we didn’t have to dry her off yet again when we stopped.  The second-from-top lock had had new gates in the winter, but there's no photo as it was too wet.  I was relieved to see the top lock was actually empty – all the rest had been set against us.  The rain stopped at last as we ascended the top lock.  We pulled in at the Tibberton visitor moorings, short of our intended destination of Oddingley, but we were cold.  On went the Eberspacher to warm us up and dry the wet gloves, dog towels etc.

One of the two boats moored ahead of us set off in the rain – it was a hire boat from the newish Trinity fleet at Dunhampstead.  It did stop raining mid-afternoon, so they will have had a bit of dry weather to enjoy their holiday.  I took Jess out for a walk along the towpath towards Oddingley.  We explored a couple of footpaths but everywhere was so wet and muddy that we returned to the towpath which was least firm going although very puddly.  Back on the towpath again we arrived at a field ‘guarded’ by two scarecrows.

The field seemed to have a lot of small trees in it, so I checked the labels - mostly fruit trees, with a variety of apples, pears and cherries.  Online I discovered that, as I suspected, it is a community orchard, but managed by CRT as part of its 50-mile-long Great Canal Orchard, which will stretch along the Worcester and Birmingham, Staffs and Worcester and the Old Main Line.   The plantings around the Arena area in Birmingham  are probaby part of it - https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/actnowforcanals-and-look-after-the-blue-and-green-space-on-your-doorstep/protect-canals-for-nature/creating-the-worlds-largest-orchard.  The project is not just a community orchard (where anyone can go and pick the fruit), it’s also about creating habitat and wildlife corridors.

And a little bit of art too

In drier weather it’ll be a delightful place to walk and take your dog, but today it was very wet and muddy.

There were a few cowslips

We got back to the boat just as the rain started again.  Fire lit, we were so glad we saw Roach yesterday or we would have run out of coal!

2½ miles, 8 locks, hours of rain, lots of mud and a filthy dog

Short cruise in the rain, and back to Perdiswell Park

Wednesday 27^th March; Perdiswell Park to Lowesmoor winding hole and back again

After last night’s rain it was good to see the sunshine this morning, though the wind had got up considerably.  The water level had recovered and we set off soon after 9.  The forecast was for a wet and windy day today, and worse tomorrow – did we really want to go all the way into Worcester and turn in the basin where it is so tricky in the wind, or should we use one of the earlier winding holes?  We made the decision as the rain fell on Bilford Top lock.  Using the first winding hole between the Bilford locks would be rather a cop-out, and we wanted to charge our electronics so a bit more engine time was called for.  At the second Bilford lock a canoeist had just portaged past the lock.  He was doing the Worcester Ring Challenge, which is to get round the Worcester/Droitwich ring in your unpowered craft or paddle-board within one day. So he was on a bit of a mission and didn’t want to hang around and tell me how he planned to tackle the river.

The canoe looked rather heavy

He hadn’t picked a very nice day to do it, but I suppose he was unlikely to overheat!  I hope he was OK on the river, which I think was on amber at the time.  Jess and I walked on to Gregory’s Mill top lock, which is where a boat sank late yesterday.  A local cyclist said he had been caught up on a sunken motorbike frame, or at least that’s what the local paper had surmised.  But then, below Gregory's Mill bottom lock we spotted fuel boat Roach and stopped to get some coal.  Rich indicated the boat moored in front of him – that was the one that had come to grief.  The owner had stripped out the inside to do a complete refit so not much had been lost there as he had only replaced the insulation, though obviously the engine might be another matter.  He said that the boat had been overplated, and the chine now projected from the baseplate by about 2” on either side, so it was now wider than a standard 6’10” narrowboat.  As Gregory’s Mill top lock is the narrowest on the Worcester and Birmingham  it was unsurprising that he got stuck!  As it was already late jn the afternoon, CRT couldn’t do much till the morning so he went home to sleep.  But as Rich explained, the canal ‘weirs through’ these locks (ie there is no bywash) and the stern of the boat acted as a gate – until the water rose above the stern deck and flowed into the boat.

Refloated

We carried on to wind outside Lowesmoor Basin, coming back to the little park for a lunch stop in the sunshine.  We didn’t stay for very long as more rain is forecast. We saw a swan dozing on her nest, the second we have seen this year - the first is a regular at Droitwich Spa marina who is known to be sitting on 7 eggs - she nests on a little island at the end of a pontoon, right alongside a resident boater.

As we approached Gregory's Mill bottom lock for the second time, we spotted the owner of the recovered boat down his engine hole, assessing the damage and hoping he could coax it into life.  We wished him luck. 

At Gregory’s Mill top lock Dave said there seemed to be a bulge in one wall just inside the bottom gates, maybe that is where the boat had jammed. There was damage below the gate, which may have happened during the recovery yesterday.   

Once more Jess and I walked between the 4 locks, and at Bilford top she crossed her first top lock footboard.  We went back through the park with the ball we had earlier fished out of the cut. 

Glimpse of the canal from the park

We arrived at the mooring to help Dave moor up just as the first drops of rain were falling.  After a very heavy shower Jess got another walk in the park and I got to go to Sainsbury’s to replenish the store-cupboards. 

The rain started again before 9.  Tomorrow’s forecast is pretty poor. 

8 locks, 3½ miles.

The first lock of Spring

Tuesday 26^th March; Droitwich Spa marina to Perdiswell Park

Today was Jess’s first cruise.  She was unperturbed when Dave turned the engine on, but we still thought it wise to shut her in as we cast off.  But she was soon out again sitting on Meg’s locker seat.

What’s going on Mum?

The plan was that she’d stay on the boat as we worked our way up Hanbury locks, but as Dave pulled in to let me off she nipped past us and was on the bank while we were still collecting our thoughts…  so on went the lead and she stayed with me.  I only had to work the bottom lock by myself as the volunteers had arrived.

How did he get there?

The Hanbury volunteers are brilliant, they are often early to work (as they were today) and sometimes turn up even when it’s not their ‘official’ day to be working.

Round Hanbury Junction we went, turned right through the bridge and passed the Hadzor long-term moorings.  Green woodpeckers were laughing in the woods, chiffchaffs singing their little hearts out, and it was wonderful to be out boating on a beautiful spring day.  Jess seemed to be enjoying herself, looking out from her vantage point or at the stern … and quickly saw her opportunity at a bridge.  Off she jumped, so I grabbed the lead and got off too.  We walked as far as the towpath closure near Dunhampstead Tunnel, which had been closed after a landslide at the end of last year.  The bank had collapsed, bringing trees with it and closing the navigation.

As the area has poor access for vehicles it was weeks before a start could be made on clearing the navigation, and the towpath remains closed.

Our plan was to get down to Perdiswell Park at the edge of Worcester, where we would be unaffected by the sunken boat which is a bit further on at Gregory's Mill top lock.  Jess slipped off again at the bridge before the Oddingly mooring spot, so there was a short pause while we got her back on board. But it was lovely cruising weather, quite bright, birds singing, the blackthorn in blossom and the willow catkins covered in pollen.

Blackthorn

Goat Willow or similar

As we approached the top of the Offerton flight, we could see a cyclist playing on the ramped sides underneath the M5 bridge. 

He came to ask if he could help with the top lock.  He has recently started work as a fundraiser for CRT, and was keen to ‘have a go’.  Of course I told him how much we needed him – for the money, not the lock! – and gave him a quick instruction on gate operation.  Of  course we wished him every success in his fundraising endeavours!  At the second lock the young chap at the cottage, who was working on his car, came and made a big fuss of Jess before closing up for us.  Jess was off the boat with me, but is tied up at the locks until we are more sure of how she will behave.

I think I’m getting the hang of this now

I’m not so sure Jessie!  Maybe once you've fallen in and are aware that you can’t walk on water ….  we’ll see.  We pulled in to moor below the bottom lock and had some lunch.  We didn’t stop for long – the rain is forecast to start between 3 and 4 and we want to be moored before then.  This time Dave walked Meg and I steered.  It’s very noisy on the outskirts of Worcester – the roads surround the canal below Offerton locks and although they seem to be quite far away the noise is intrusive even at night, as we found out to our cost last year.  Factories and works lie behind trees on the towpath side.

Coltsfoot

The conditions were very calm; this was lucky, as at Tolladine lock one of the top paddles was out and a bottom paddle was very slightly open so the levels wouldn’t equalise, and I had to hold station for about 10 minutes.  I would have been in trouble if there had been any wind.

You’d have thought this could have been dealt with during the winter

Dave and Jess walked as far as Blackpole lock, where we swapped roles again and Jess was kept on board till we had pulled in and moored just past bridge 16.  This is a great mooring for walking a dog, and Dave took her off into the park straight away before the rain came.  They managed half an hour in the dry, then it rained until well after dark.  The news came through at lunchtime that the sunken boat had been removed, and two hire boats came past in the pouring rain some time after Dave and Jess were back.  We are now on a slight tilt – a walker said that the canal had been dewatered for a while so I suppose it’s not surprising that two boats coming up had taken some of our water depth.

7 miles 1 furlong, 11 locks

 

 

 

 

Bonjour, Bonjour!

Monday 25^th March; return to the marina

How lovely to be on the way back to the boat, even though the weather was diabolical for half the journey!  Soggy Devon doesn’t need any more rain for a bit and neither does Droitwich – the canal down to the town has only just reopened after ‘Reg the Dredge’, a brand-new dredger, was brought in to clear the silt dumped below lock 6 by the Body Brook, an innocent little stream which winter rains turn into a torrent of silt. 

The mess left after Reg went back up to be lifted out at the marina

CRT is looking into using bundles of tree prunings to slow the water and trap the silt before it reaches the canal.  This was shown in the recent Countryfile about the winter works on the Pontcysyllte aqueduct, where the offside bank was being repaied nearby.

We were accompanied by our new Boat Dog Jess, after the sad loss of our lovely Meg last year.  Jess is another Border Collie, 3 years old, and she's made us realise how much Meg had slowed down over her last couple of years!  She hopped onto the boat as though she’d been doing it for years.  The first command we will teach her is ‘on boat!’ which Meg used to do so well and so quickly - it's very useful when speeding cyclists or nervous people approach, or you're trying to moor quickly in the rain.  After a cup of tea, and refilling the water tank, we went down the towpath to the town to get some bread in Waitrose and give Jess some exercise – she needs a lot!

Primroses by the M5 tunnel

Fortunately the weather stayed dry but it was pretty cold by the time we came back and lit the fire.  Sad news came through this afternoon that a boat has sunk in a lock on the way to Worcester, made even sadder because the owner had only just bought it.