A bit more than we had bargained fo

Thursday 24^th April; Salwarpe to Bird in Hand, Stourport

Salwarpe is a lovely little mooring spot.  When I took Jess out first thing, I could hear a cuckoo in the distance – but only just, because a busy road was in the distance too.   It was a good day for birding today.   We set off about 9, knowing we had a long day ahead of us and glad we had come the extra two miles from Droitwich last night.  We were soon at Ladywood Top lock, where a boat was just rising up after a much earlier start than ours!  The couple living in the top lock cottage are boaters, whose boat is currently moored at Tixall Wide while they popped home for 2 weeks.  I wonder how many of the locked-up boats you see around are the same, the owners going home for 2 weeks before moving again?

Ladywood locks are hard work – they are doubles with heavy gates, and the paddle gear on the bottom gates is very stiff.  It’s also placed higher up than I find comfortable.  But the locks don’t leak much, and the rest in the flight were nearly full.  At the second I was joined by a walker, another boater from Droitwich, who walks this way every day to exercise his new knee, so he helped with the lock before retracing his steps.  He was using the Merlin app and said there were Cetti’s warblers along the canal – and at the next lock we heard them.

Ladywood Bottom lock

I didn’t have to close this lock, as a boat was arriving to come up.  We moored above the Hawford locks for half an hour, as we needed to get the anchor out from under the bed and secured at the bow, and make some lunch to eat on the river.  A boat came up the top Hawford lock as we prepared to set off again, and as Bonjour sat in the bottom lock we put our lifejackets on and got the dog on board before I emptied the lock.  We had been warned one of the gates was very difficult to close – it was the gate we were using and I only just got it moving as Dave was tying up ready to come and help.

Hawford bottom lock, showing the height of the gate paddle gear.  You can see that the lock beams are muddy and there is a cracked layer of dried mud on the gates, which is from the last time the Severn was in flood.

By now the weather was glorious, with long spells of sunshine.  The flow on the Severn was so gentle that we cruised pretty much on tickover for a while, admiring the scenery.

One of the pretty houses on the way to Holt

We had lunch as we cruised, spotting one of the only landmarks behind the trees – Holt Castle, a large turreted house.  Then at last we arrived at Holt Bridge and the first river lock was in sight.

Holt Bridge is one of the few road crossings on the navigable Severn

The lights were flashing red, meaning that the lockie knew we were there, then quickly changed to green and in we went.  I was delighted to see sand martins flying around the block of nest boxes that were installed a few years ago, and the lockie said 40 chicks had fledged last year.  I was at the bow, ready with the rope, and I had left my camera at the stern, so once again I have failed to take a picture.  After Holt lock it’s a long way to Lincomb, the last lock on the Severn.  We upped the revs a bit, as although the river is beautiful, especially in the sunshine, it does get very samey after an hour or two!

Beautiful but it gets just a tad tedious

Don’t look at us like that!

Approaching Lincomb lock

Eventually we arrived at Lincomb lock, knowing it wasn’t far now to the Stourport river moorings for our overnight stop. 
But oh no!  the visitor moorings were rammed!  And where was the entrance to the narrow locks up to the basin?  And where was the lock mooring?

Behind the Edward Elgar trip boat, that’s where!

Nowhere to get off to access the lock except for the ladder under the bridge….

A bit of a stretch, but Dave got the bow close enough for me to safely get back on land.  I took the photo from the bridge above.

I had asked the guys on the trip boat whether they had broken down, politely and not at all pointedly I thought, and the skipper was very snippy.  But he immediately rushed round to help with the lock and apologised profusely, explaining about his bad day.  They have a dedicated mooring at the far end of the pontoons but the signage still has not been put up and narrowboats had filled the space. 

Stourport locks, bottom of the first staircase, access a little tricky if the lock mooring is occupied!

From the top of the second staircase locks, you turn right through the Clock Basin, then turn left opposite the facilities block for York lock.  That was another tricky lock – the staircases are delightfully easy, the paddles can be wound up with one hand, but York bottom gates have angled beams because of the road bridge and one was a right bugger to close.  The top gate was even worse and Dave had to help me open it.  A gongoozler had recommended the Bird in Hand moorings on the edge of town so we made our way there, arriving at 5.30.  We thought we’d award ourselves a pie and a pint after such a long day, but although food was advertised outside, they ‘don’t really do food at the moment’.  There was no bitter on draught either, but the golden ale was most acceptable.

The little patch of white above the sign is the back of the female brooding her eggs.  I should have included the male, who was standing aggressively on the towpath staring at the drinkers in the pub garden.  I suspect he has experience of dodgy drinkers.

13 miles; 3½ miles broad, 8½ river, just under 1 mile narrow canal.

15 locks; 8 broad, 2 large, 5 narrow including 2 staircases.

It took us 7½ hours, almost twice our usual cruising time.

Internet access has been a bit dodgy so I am getting rather behind with the blog.