Stopped at the stop lock

Thursday 25^th April; Autherley Junction to 48-hr mooring between bridges 7 & 8

It was certainly cold early this morning but at least there was some sun.  I walked to Morrison’s for a few supplies, crossing Pendeford Park, which is being developed as part of a series of green spaces for the local community between the canal and the main road.  A great place to walk your dog too.

Clocks

I got back just after Jess had had her play in the park.  I went off round the corner to set the stop lock down on to the Shroppie, while Dave started the turn off the Staffs and Worcester.  I always have trouble working out which way is up and which way down at a stop lock, as the fall is so small.  There are no mitre gates so I had to look in Nicholson’s.   The bottom (far) gate was open so I went to close it – but something very solid indeed was in the way.  Back to Bonjour so Dave could pass me the boat-hook and secure the bow-rope on the gate.  I couldn’t do more than establish that the object was hard, quite large and heavy.  Dave continued to investigate while I went to borrow a keb from the Anglo-Welsh hire base.  This is a very long-handled implement like a muck-rake, which is like a long-handled garden fork with the tines at right-angles to the shaft, so theoretically you can hook the object out with it.  It’s just by Dave’s foot in the photo below.  Dave continued to try and hook the thing and after a few minutes two other chaps were clustering round, itching to have their go too.

What can it be down there?

I went off to meet the boat waiting behind us and say what was going on.  After 5 minutes of the men taking turns at fruitless poking around I called CRT, as two boats were now waiting to come up the lock as well as the two of us coming down.  And wouldn’t you know it, it wasn’t long before the offending item had been hooked.  It was a large log, so completely sodden and heavy it was right on the bottom of the canal. 

Extremely heavy!

Just then the local team called back, so I could give them an update.  The gate still wasn’t closing fully, but it was good enough to operate the lock.  We made it through and tootled up to wait for the water-point to be free.  Once we were tied up – just a single ring here - and the tank was filling I walked back to dump our accumulated rubbish.  The CRT team had arrived and the bottom gate was now closing fully.  They told me that there are often problems here, as the fall of the lock is so small that silt and gravel doesn’t get flushed away and builds up – along with any other sunken rubbish.  We pulled a car tyre out here once.  By the time we left the very slow water-point it was nearly lunchtime, so we stopped at the 48-hour moorings at Pendeford bridge.  There are rings here, but the notorious Shroppie Shelf is so wide at this point you would need car tyres to keep your boat away from it.  We cruised on to moor for the night at the next ‘official’ moorings, between bridges 7 and 8 – a good edge and no shelf, thank goodness.  Out in the country, quiet and peaceful with only the birds and a tractor for company.

Not sure what he was doing here, definitely not ploughing or adding nitrogen

Dave went out and gave the starboard side and half the roof a good wash down.  I had done far too much yesterday, so I did quiet stuff inside.  It hadn’t been particularly cold today and we didn’t need a fire in the evening for the first time this trip.

3 miles, 1 lock