At last a glimpse of the sun as we tie up on the Curdworth flight

Wednesday 2^nd October; Whittington to above lock 8, Curdworth flight

We didn’t get away till 10 today.  I had to wait for a phone appointment and the signal was so bad it dropped out twice, even while I was standing outside, but they did call me back straight away.  At least the rain has stopped, finally.

A pleasant mooring but rather too close to the railway

It may have been dry, but the weather was cold and dreary and we were glad of our winter woollies.  We liked this weather-vane on a barn somewhere near Hademore.

As we approached the woods (aka the military firing range) that lead to Hopwas we noticed that the red flag was flying, so even if we had managed to get this far yesterday – as we had originally hoped – we couldn’t have walked Jess in the woods this morning.  We started to notice expanses of water across the meadows beyond the towpath and realised that was where the river Tame should be, flowing gently through green fields ….

It had well and truly burst its banks

We could see what looked like pig arks in the flooded fields.  They turned out to be giant round bales of hay standing in several inches (at least) of water.  I hope they haven’t been completely ruined.  Where we usually moor, past Hopwas Wood bridge, the river is usually contained in its channel below the embankment.

When you’re cruising, you shouldn’t be able to see water through the trees

The remains of a boat near Bonehill Road bridge have almost sunk beneath the surface.  If it gets clobbered by another boat it will probably disappear below the surface and be even more of a hazard.

We turned towards Birmingham at Fazeley junction and moored for lunch beside Tolson’s Mill. 

Goldfinch threatening bullfinch - or the other way round?

A cruiser owner nearby got chatting and told us how he had been given short shrift at Fazeley Mill marina, where in the past he has popped in via a gap in the towpath railings to pick up Towpath Talk and get a jerrycan of fuel.  It has been taken over by the Rothen Group, and the lovely ladies who used to work there (who we met when we stayed there once) took redundancy rather than have their hours cut.  He was told sternly that it was private property and he had to go to the main gate and ring the bell to be let in.  When we got going again, hoping to call in,  a boat was just coming out – they had wanted fuel, but the office was closed and there was nobody about.  We had hoped to get a bag of coal.  Oh well.

Drayton footbridge with yet another sunken boat

It was too late to get all the way up the 11 locks to Curdworth, so we aimed for the Dog and Doublet area to spend the night.  It was finally beginning to get a bit brighter, and less cold, as we started the flight.

Lock 10, Curdworth flight

The balance beam was all patched up and missing the step up to the beam, but it looked as though the non-slip surface had been repaired across the gate itself so I hung on to the rail and swung myself up to walk across.  Once on the other side I noticed the blue warning notice …

We paused briefly at the Bodymoor Heath services to dump rubbish as the sun began to put in an appearance.  Not far to go now.  Every now and then something startling and amazing catches your eye.  This was it today.

This exotic-looking shrub is the native spindle tree.  Orange seeds in shocking pink fruits!  Isn’t it fabulous?

We passed the Dog and Doublet and went up the next lock in bright sunshine, and even found a patch of sun to moor in.  The motorway is a bit noisy, and we’re almost under the flight path from the airport, but we’ll put up with it.  I’m sure it will quieten down a bit later on.

9 miles, 4 locks, sunshine at last.