Christmas Soup and a new mixer tap

Thursday 19^th February

The weather doesn’t seem to know what it’s doing does it?  The Met office keeps getting it wrong and whoever the BBC uses seems to be worse.  The hours of rain forecast for today didn’t turn up till the evening, which I was pleased about, and yesterday’s biting wind had dropped too.  But it is very cold still and the windows were streaming with condensation this morning when we got up – the window vac was deployed three times as the boat warmed up.  We needed some milk, so we all walked down to Droitwich.

The canal at the M5 bridge had risen overnight

Dave and Jess went off with the ball and I went into Waitrose, wishing I wasn’t wearing thermals and fleecy-lined trousers!  I cooled down afterwards by strolling along by the Salwarpe in Vines Park with my free cup of Waitrose coffee.

The brine spring outlet is usually well above water level.

The canal shares the Salwarpe’s course between lock 7 (closer to the motorway) and Barge lock (on the edge of Vines Park), and is where the Droitwich Barge and Junction canals meet.  It has been on red boards continuously since 4^th February.  In the summer, the weir alongside Barge lock is usually completely visible and kids play below it.

The pink football was being swirled around below the weir.  Periodically it was sucked below the water, popping up again some distance away from where it disappeared.

Red board at lock 7.  A tiny bit of yellow was beginning to show, but the heavy rain later on would have dealt with that.

I know the Salwarpe is only a tiddler compared with the Trent for example, but I still wouldn’t care to fall in when it is in flood.

I wouldn’t want to be boating on it either

Back at the boat, we warmed up with Christmas Soup from the freezer at home – stock from the bones of turkey and ham, stuffing, various veg – delicious!  Later in the afternoon I took Jess out again, this time up to Hanbury Junction where we turned north along the Worcester and Birmingham for a bit.

Remains of a burnt-out cruiser. I wonder if it was an accident or deliberate - the municipal tip is just over the towpath hedge, they could have waited for the fire to go out and taken the bits there themselves.  Instead it’ll be CRT picking up the bill.

The towpaths were very muddy in places but I wasn’t too worried - the residents’ facilities block at the marina has a dog shower, with a hot water supply!  Jess wasn’t impressed, even though she usually has to put up with a sponge and a bucket of cold water, but I was delighted – a clean(ish) dog and warm hands!  When we got back Dave had replaced the mixer tap in the galley.  It developed a slight leak last year, but yesterday it got worse very quickly – luckily he had already got the new unit.

It rained again this evening.  At least Jess didn’t fall in again.

Might it be warmer and drier in the Midlands? No.

Wednesday 18^th February; in the marina

So much for our anticipated New Year trip on Bonjour!  Instead we were in bed with flu (probably).  By the time we were fit again the rains had well and truly arrived and appointments too got in the way of planning.  When at last the weather forecast intimated there would be a few dry days in Droitwich, and even sun today (Wednesday), that was good enough for us. 

The banks of the Avon near Bredon are well and truly burst

The sun had disappeared from the forecast but we had an easy journey up the M5 and got the car unloaded in the dry.  But by ’eck that wind was cold.  It was only about 6 degrees inside the boat but at least it was out of the wind!  Apart from some cupboard doors having swollen a little, the boat was dry inside, though as always on a winter visit we needed a fair few matches to get the gas lit for a cuppa.  Then before we really got the boat warmed and sorted Jess needed a good walk so we went down towards Droitwich.

The rain has meant the canal from the M5 bridge to Droitwich has been closed for several weeks.  It’s always a bit of a tight fit to get under the M5 but it doesn’t take much rain to close it. It's affected by the Body Brook, normally a gentle trickle but a bit full at the moment.

Everything was grey and drear, and apart from a lot of paw and boot prints there was little to see – no birds, people, early flowers or leaves – just us and the icy wind.

A deer had been by earlier

Once we were back the Eber went on and the fire was lit.  We had already run the engine and connected the shore lead so we hunkered down for the rest of the evening.  Heavy rain had arrived and the boat was rocking in the strong gusts.  Dave drew the short straw and took Jess out before bed – not only was it wet and windy, he also had to haul her out of the water – in the dark she failed to realise you can’t cut corners on marina pontoons!

Roundup for 2025; part 2

July – December 2025

After a stressful few weeks obtaining quotes for the repair to our water supply at home (much more difficult than we thought it would be) we finally got a date for the work to be done in August, so we were able to come back to the boat in July.  But where to go?  Our first plan had been a trip to Oxford and thence to Calcutt marina, but with the flights at either end of the summit pound on the South Oxford already on restricted hours because of the lack of water it would have been selfish to go that way.  Second choice was the Leicester Ring, which we haven’t done for a long time, but we would have been pushed for time with Foxton and Watford flights already on restricted hours.  A section near Leicester was soon closed anyway, before Foxton and Watford followed suit.  In the end we opted for a gentle potter on the direct route.  The weather by now was blisteringly hot and we cruised less than half a mile on our first day to the woods on the way to Nuneaton.

We got the second best shady spot, with just enough solar at midday to keep the batteries topped up.

We stayed there for three nights.  It wasn’t just the heat - I needed to attend a family funeral in Cambridge, an easy rail journey via Peterborough.  But I returned via King’s Cross and Euston as the normal route had closed because of the heat.  Dave saw several trains still stranded on the line between Nuneaton and Peterborough when he walked the dog in the evening.  The day after that was so hot we couldn’t bear to leave our shady spot, then with a little cloud forecast on the following day we made an early start as we needed a stop for supplies and would soon be needing water.  By lunchtime the cloud had gone, so as soon as we found a patch of shade we moored up.  By juggling closed curtains and removal of hopper windows we managed to keep cool enough.

Sunset at Marston Junction

We took a couple more days to cover the 10 miles to All Oaks Wood, with just the one lock at Hawkesbury Junction.   The weather was still hot and sunny but with increasing wind, until to our astonishment there was a downpour as we approached Rose Narrowboats on the North Oxford.  I was steering and eventually got my waterproof on, but poor Dave and Jess were on the towpath, and though a dripping Jess dived on board as I came through the swing bridge, dripping Dave had to close the gate before he could get back on board.

After a quick change, Dave steered so I could go in and get dry

The heat returned after that, and though there was a cloudy and even drizzly spell in the next day or so, it was stiflingly hot.  A lot of boats were on the move, many making for (or coming from) Hillmorton locks to avoid getting held up by the restricted opening hours.  The morning we went up it was all quiet at the bottom, but boats were already coming down and a queue was building at the top.

Hillmorton bottom lock

Over the next couple of days we pottered along past Braunston towards Calcutt marina, and it was slow going.  On one day the hire boats were going back to the various bases around Napton junction, and then the following day all coming out again – but with Napton locks closing within the week they couldn’t go on the South Oxford and they all seemed to be passing us.   And then of course this stretch is one of the busiest on the network anyway, and boats were mooring early to bag the shady places even in unsuitable mooring spots.

Sharing Calcutt locks with Polly Perkins, also making for the marina

We had little chance to cruise for a few weeks once the school holidays had started.  As well as grandchildren staying at various times, the work on our water supply finally started.  Even two feet down the ground was dry as dust and hard as concrete, and the mini-digger took nearly two days on what would normally have been an afternoon’s work.  Luckily the digging and plumbing work was done in time for us to escape from Calcutt before the Grand Union was closed later in August from Calcutt to Radford Bottom Lock near Leamington.  We had expected the route to be busy with boaters running to avoid the closure but there were far fewer than we expected, so we guess many boats had already moved to safety.

The volunteers at the Stockton flight said there was plenty of water.  There really wasn’t.

We met a Kate hire boat and shared the rest of the downhill locks with them, as far as Radford Bottom lock and the end of the looming closure.  Kate’s normal base is Stockton Top marina at the top of the Stockton flight near Calcutt, and the hirers had been instructed to make for the old Kate base at Warwick.  There must have been many other hire companies having to make alternative arrangements.  Now we were past the imminent closure, there was another two days’ hard work before we could relax in Birmingham and Dudley for a while.  We made an early start to climb the Hatton flight to get it out of the way before the weather got too hot in the afternoon.  Because it takes around 4 hours to do the whole flight, no boats were being allowed to start after 1.30.   The volunteers said it had been very quiet – we were the last boat going up the flight and they locked up behind us. 

We cracked on to so that we could join the North Stratford and complete the Lapworth flight the following day.  Then we could have a few days without any locking - much as I enjoy it, it’s exhausting in such hot weather.  We spent three nights in Birmingham.  Moored opposite was Goliath the ice-cream boat.  Of course we bought ice-cream – it would have been so rude not to – and he was happy to give me a couple of empty containers as food waste bins. 

We moved on through the Netherton tunnel to Windmill End.  The canal was very quiet now, even though it was still in the school summer holidays.  The drought continued.

Fun at Windmill End

We realised we were retracing our spring cruise – once again there was just a single route available to us.  Tardebigge top lock was still under repair, and with the Wolverhampton 21 now closed to save water, we couldn't have gone along the Woverhampton level to join the Staffs and Worcester at Aldersley junction..  There was rain in the forecast, so we decided on another long day to finish the Delph and Stourbridge flights before the bulk of the rain arrived.  We made it almost as far as Kinver on the Staffs and Worcester, and had moored for the night before it started.

The excellent mooring above Hyde lock

There was rain over the next couple of days too, with scorching sun in between.  Enough to relieve the gardeners, but nowhere near adequate for agriculture or the waterways of course.  We both got wet at various times.  The Staffs and Worcester seemed to have no water-supply problems and a lot of boats were taking advantage.

Plenty of cooling showers on the Severn

We had our first experience of boat vandalism when we were moored by the racecourse on the river approach to Worcester (we once got ketchup squirted over the stern deck in Birmingham but that doesn’t really count).  A bottle was thrown, causing damage to the paintwork but thankfully missing the windows.

It could have been a lot worse 

We returned to our winter mooring at Droitwich Spa marina a good 6 weeks before we had anticipated, relieved that the marina had a space for us.  We’d met several boats trying to beat the closures and there were more stories back at the marina. 

At home, the water-supply saga continued.  The electricity supply to the pump needed an armoured cable, and for this we had to have an electrician   Since June, the emergency supply of three ordinary extension leads (joins well wrapped in heavy-duty polythene) had failed twice - the damp had got in and triggered the safety cut-out devices, so we were keen to get it fixed.  It was a long job - the lovely Carl had to replace our old fuse-box with a modern consumer unit before he could do the rest of the work, which included a lot of rewiring elsewhere in the old part of the house.  It was October before we could return to Bonjour, and we pottered down to Worcester and back for a week of short cruising days and work on the boat.

The local locks have signs reminding boaters to keep the swans out –there are two territories close to each other in this neck of the woods.

We spent some time in the Perdiswell Park area – there is a good edge to work on the boat, excellent dog-walking and a retail park with supermarkets and a Halfords in walking distance.  I got the flue swept and Dave did outside jobs on the port side before winter.  We spent time in Worcester too, where Jess occupied herself looking for squirrels, both on her walks and from the boat.

Port Royal park (plenty of squirrels for chasing) overlooks the Malvern Hills, the Severn valley and the site of the last major battle of the Civil War.

Once we had winded, Dave started work on the starboard side of the boat, both on the damage from the bottle-strike and with the paint-restorer and T-cut.  We moved on closer to home, a few other boats on the move too.  We met a couple of owners, who couldn't take their friends for a trip on their boat as it was trapped above Knowle locks (closed now because of the lack of water) so together they had hired where cruising was still possible.

Autumn colour on Offerton locks

It was hard to believe on this trip quite how badly the drought had affected the network.  We think we got off lightly.  OK, we couldn’t go to Oxford, or do the Leicester ring, but we weren’t caught out either as we had several days in hand to ‘escape’ from Calcutt.

No water supply problems on the Worcester and Birmingham

The closure of the 30-lock Tardebigge flight (for a major repair to the top lock) from February to the end of August must have played a large part in maintaining water levels on the long pounds round Birmingham – with 2 hire bases above it and two below, the flight is normally busy.  This year we couldn’t do as much cruising as we usually do for various reasons, so had hoped to be back on board for New Year.  But we got flu!  It wasn't as bad as it could have been as we'd had the jabs in October.  We are still aiming to get away before the end of January, weather permitting.

Stats for 2025

We spent 60 nights aboard, considerably fewer than last year’s 81, and travelled just over 328 miles 5 furlongs, passing through 309 locks, 27 tunnels, 7 movable bridges and crossing 6 aqueducts.

Narrow canals: 274 miles, 6½ furlongs; 247 narrow locks.

Broad canals: 32 miles 3¼ furlongs; 57 broad locks

Rivers: 21 miles 3¼ furlongs; 5 wide locks.

Tunnels: M5, Impney Way, A449 (Droitwich canals), Cookley, Dunsley (Staffs and Worcester, twice each), Netherton and Galton (BCN Main  Line, twice each), Brace Factory and Curdworth (Birmingham and Fazeley), Snarestone (Ashby, twice), Heath Crescent (Coventry) twice, Newbold (North Oxford), Shrewley (Grand Union), Brandwood (North Stratford), Edgbaston and Broad Street (Worcester and Birmingham), Dunhampstead also on the W&B, five times.  Canalplan reckons we travelled just over 5 miles 3½ furlongs underground, though as that includes long road bridges and underneath a factory it wasn’t strictly all underground.

Aqueducts (longer ones); 6; over the Tame between Fazeley Junction and Glascote locks (Coventry canal); Shenton and Shackerstone twice each (Ashby); Avon at Leamington Spa on the GU.

Moveable bridges: 7.  Three in Droitwich, two above Lapworth locks and the Shirley Drawbridge (North Stratford canal), Rose Narrowboats (North Oxford).

Waterways; Droitwich Junction and Barge canals; River Severn; Staffs and Worcester; Stourbridge and Stourbridge Extension canal; Dudley 1 & 2; BCN main line; Birmingham and Fazeley; Coventry; Ashby; North Oxford; Grand Union; North Stratford; Worcester & Birmingham.

Marinas: Droitwich Spa, Springwood Haven, Calcutt.

 Reflections on the B&F, May