Wasps!

Wednesday October 9^th; Stoke Works to Hanbury junction

I got up at 5.30 to put the porthole bung in on the starboard side, as the car headlights of the early shift were shining through the curtains, but they were going right through to the far end of the business park, so with no noise of slamming car doors I soon went back to sleep.  This is not a pretty mooring but in yesterday’s rain it was perfect!  We were running out of milk so I went straight along to the shop in Ryecroft Road.  Sadly, the butcher’s shop next door – the Butcheress – has closed down.  I collected some good chestnuts from the grass below the row of trees half-way back to the boat.  After breakfast we moved along to top up the water tank a bit, but not fully as we are not planning another cruise before winter, though we will have to return to fit new batteries at some point.  Our coping measures are keeping the old ones happy for the moment.

It stayed dry and bright as we started down the Astwood flight, with one boat far ahead, but a couple of boats on their way up eased our descent. 

One lock had a top paddle out

And another had a bottom paddle out, as well as a rotten balance beam.  I hope they are in the stoppage list this winter.

Wonderful autumn colour near the winding hole above the second-to-bottom lock

The offside garden of Astwood lock cottage is always worth a look.  The roses have suffered in the wet weather, but the hollyhocks always look good.  This year the gnomes have been supervising a tall sunflower.

Eight-foot sunflower and pretty pink hollyhock

Plenty of seeds for the birds

We got down the flight in plenty of time for a lunch stop on one of our favourite moorings, though we had to reverse smartly from the first spot we chose because of a wasp’s nest.  We passed two on the offside yesterday, both marked with a yellow notice like the hornet’s nest. 

No sheep today! Frisbee opportunity at the bottom lock.

While Dave took Jess to the field to play, I went to mark the location of the nest.  I tried to get the what3words address, but the gps signal was so weak it thought I was a hundred yards away in a field.  I got the secateurs and garden gloves and cut some spiky brambles and hawthorn from the hedge – there were plenty sticking out over the path – to mark the spot.  

Beware!

The wi-fi signal wasn't that good either, but I did manage to use what3words on my laptop to get an approximate location, and to notify CRT in the hope that they would come out and mark the spot.  I know from experience you can still be stung in December if you inadvertently disturb a nest, and with this such a popular mooring spot I thought it was important it should be marked.  We moved on once this was done as we need to be at Hanbury junction tonight so Dave can get to the station early to go and fetch the car tomorrow.  We got the best spot – no overhanging trees and furthest from the road.  It was a good thing we’d moved on early as several boats came by looking for a mooring – there is only room here for three normal-sized boats so most had to move on to find somewhere to stop.

Robin’s pin-cushion

It rained on and off all afternoon.  Dave went down the engine hole to check the battery size – he shouted the dimensions from under the golfing umbrella while I sheltered inside to write them down.  We ate in the Eagle and Sun, where there is a daily carvery.  It was ok – the beef was good, the veg ok but of course had been kept (fairly) hot for a while.  The Yorkshires were a disgrace and would not have dared to show their faces in that beautiful county.

2½ miles, 6 locks