A morning cruise before more rain

Sunday 31^st August; Commandery to Perdiswell Park

After last night’s shenanigans we were relieved to have a peaceful night – at least once the Karaoke at the nearby pub had stopped.  Before we slipped our moorings, I got the paper and some milk from the handy garage just down the road.  On the way back I could hear the cathedral bells ringing up for morning service.  When not in use bells rest hanging down, but they can’t be properly rung like that, only chimed.  So on Sunday mornings, practice nights, and for weddings etc, they have to be ‘rung up’ and then ‘set’ , balanced facing up against a wooden stay, before ringing proper can begin.   This is not safe if a non-ringer were to pull the rope without supervision, so bells are rung down when ringing is finished for the day – and the door to the tower is locked.  This is true of the grandest cathedral and smallest village church, though in most places visiting ringers (and spectators, if there is enough room in the ringing chamber) are welcome on a Sunday morning or on practice night.  I would have loved to ring with them, even though we need to be moving on, but Worcester requires advance notice of visitors.  I think they were ringing ten of the 12 bells at the Cathedral.  A gongoozler told me that they often can’t get enough ringers capable of ringing the heaviest bells, so stick to 10 for normal services.  The ring (the bells all together) is one of the heaviest in the world, at over 16 tonnes.  It was lovely to listen to them while I walked up to set Blockhouse lock, and then as we cruised to our first stop of the day at bridge 5.  Dave had to go to Wickes, then he walked the dog for a while.

The towpath changes sides here.  Jess, eager for her walk, is barely visible behind the foliage!

The canal was very quiet this morning and nothing else was on the move as we made our way out of town.

The wretched floating pennywort is spreading again

You know the Jester Song don’t you?  Jester Song at Twilight?  My Dad would have loved this boat and I hear him singing the song every time we pass it.  He loved a good pun.

The two Gregory’s Mill locks were empty when we reached them, but not so the two at Bilford.  Finally there was a boat on the move!  Ok, it was ahead of us, but it stopped, and then so did we, passing them to moor a couple of hundred yards on at our favourite spot near bridge 17 at Perdiswell Park.  Jess was poised to go and play, but she had to wait until after lunch.  As it is the weekend, golfers were out in force but there is plenty of room for dogs and walkers too.  I took this picture next morning, when it was quiet.

The golf greens in the park were so startlingly bright against the brown that we wondered if the grass was artificial.  It’s not, just manicured to within less than an inch of its life.

Although there was rain during the afternoon it was showery, so Dave grabbed the chance in a sunny spell to paint the area between gunwale and rubbing strake on the starboard side.  It rained again just as he finished, but luckily most had gone off by then and the boat was shielding that side from the prevailing wind.

5 locks, 3½ miles