Started late, ended early

King’s Norton junction to Selly Oak and return

Another sunny day with a cold wind.  We didn't have much planned for today, so Dave took Jess for a good long walk and I cleaned through with the hand-held Dyson we brought from home.  The one that came with the boat was fiddly to use and gave up the ghost over winter so I was quite glad to see the back of it.  The Dyson was twice as efficient and much easier to use.  We cruised up to Selly Oak for a big shop at Sainsburys. 

Fire hose doors in bridge

There are at least two cruisers we have seen round here whose name refers to the rather disparaging term narrowboaters sometimes use for them, ‘yogurt pots’.  This one is called Yogurt and has an amusing little graphic.

Müllered

It was a four-handed shop to get the shopping back to restock the galley cupboards, and when we got back to the boat Dave immediately went off to Halfords while I put everything away.  We had lunch before retracing our steps back to King's Norton.  I had a Zoom meeting this afternoon, and rather than stay where we were where it is shady and the towpath is busy,  Dave steered while I zoomed.  Apart from the signal cutting out as we passed a high wall by the railway, and briefly as trains went by, it all worked well and I was finished in about half an hour,before we got back to the junction.  There is a lot of graffiti on urban waterways, a lot of it just tags, but it is always worth looking out for interesting examples.

Gypsy Tokes?

We knew what a toke was, although the spell checker on Word didn’t, but gypsy?  There were only two relevant references online.  A thread on Reddit reckoned it’s the names of two graffiti artists, one called Gypsy and one called Tokes which seems like a wild guess.  Or, as the Urban Dictionary says; A rule-breaking intervention during the passing of a spliff, where a 'middle-man' (aiding the passing of the spliff from one person to another across a long distance) cheekily takes a toke of the spliff before passing it on.  That sounds more likely to me.

Shortly before the junction was a sunken workboat.  We've seen plenty of sunken boats but never a workboat.  How on earth did that happen?

At the junction, we winded and reversed back to moor near where we were this morning.  Jess got another good walk and I got to write up the minutes of the meeting!

4½ miles

 

Let’s get that tunnel out of the way!

Sunday April 19^th; Crown Meadow Arm to King’s Norton

Wow it was cold this morning when we got up, less than 10 degrees in the galley.  But it soon warmed up once we got moving and the kettle was on.  Straight after breakfast I walked Jess down to the village centre for the paper.  Outside the Co-op are three stout Incredible Edible raised beds growing flowers, herbs and veg for locals to pick.  There were the remains of a couple of purple sprouting broccoli plants which looked as though they had been successful, chard, herbs and rhubarb.

Community raised beds outside the Co-op

We had another cup of tea when I got back but the sun moved round behind some trees and we started to feel cold.  So instead of a relaxing morning with the paper over coffee we put the kettle on again, got the insulated mugs out, wrapped up warmly and set off.

Cherry blossom near the M42

Just past the motorway is a house with a beautiful garden and a mooring for a narrowboat.  We have often thought what a super place to live that would be – just for one small detail, the motorway at the bottom of the garden.

You can’t see much of the house, which is quite nice looking too

We were soon at Upper Bittell reservoir, which is a source of water for the canal as well as a fishing spot.  Two chaps were fly fishing from a rowing boat, but of more interest to me was my first house martins of the year, hunting insects over the reservoir close to the canal.

The fishing lakes on the towpath side were very busy

We stopped at Hopwood to top up the water tank then pulled in on the visitor moorings for lunch.  The pub was doing Sunday lunches but we felt we wouldn’t have done a full lunch justice, so ate on board.  Although it was lovely sitting in the dinette with the sun streaming in we decided to move on and get Wast Hill tunnel out of the way.  I'm not a fan of long tunnels.

Wast Hill tunnel south portal

The tunnel is 2,726 yards long but straight, and with no boats to pass we were through in 30 minutes, and with no accidental touching of the sides either.  There was a group of boats moored at our usual spot several hundred yards before the junction with the North Stratford, so we went closer to the junction and stopped for the night about 100 yards before the old toll house.  Jess, knowing exactly where we were, bounced around until she got taken to play in the rec behind the trees.

A small furry visitor, luckily Jess was inside and didn’t spot it

When we were mooring a chap was throwing bits of white sliced into the belt of trees between the towpath and the playing fields.  He said he’d seen a rat (well of course, if he was in the habit of chucking bread about!).  I said, in a conversational way, and I hope non-judgmentally, we can’t feed bread to the birds where we live as it attracts rats (true) and he wandered off.  But clearly that squirrel is a fan.

5 miles, Wast Hill tunnel

The larks ascended, and so did we

Saturday 18^th April; Tardebigge flight to Crown Meadow Arm, Alvechurch

By ’eck it was cold this morning.  We left our quiet mooring at 8.20, wanting to be ahead of any other boat to take advantage of the empty locks – most of the locks on the flight drain overnight, which is why we checked last night before bed that the lock below us was doing exactly that and we wouldn’t end up aground.

Our overnight mooring

We weren’t in a rush, no point with 24 locks before the next mooring opportunity.  Neither of us is really locking-fit and we both have a dodgy knee so were prepared to stop in a lock for a breather if we felt we needed to!  But this is a lovely flight with not-too-heavy gates and only the occasional stiff paddle, so if you take it steadily everything is fine.  The larks were singing their feathery little hearts out and the weather was glorious (if you ignore the need for gloves and woolly hats for the first hour).  The towpath was busy with runners, and the closer to Halfway House Bridge we got the more dog walkers there were – they park along the road there.

Halfway House Bridge

This is a misnomer, as the true halfway point of the flight is a few locks further on.  But this is where we were hoping to pick up a volunteer or two .... unfortunately the little hut place where they brew their tea was locked up and their car park empty.  Perhaps they would be parking at the top and cycling down?  No matter, we had hot cross buns and biscuits to keep us going – sadly not the home-made flapjack I had hoped to bring, there was no time to make it at home, and most of the ingredients I need to make it now are still in the Sainsbury’s at Selly Oak.  On we went.

Beyond that bridge is the edge of Tardebigge reservoir

We know that from here there is still an hour or so’s work before we can moor, but the lock numbers are in the psychologically significant 50s, which means the number of locks remaining is now in single figures.  A few locks further on and we were leaving the reservoir behind.

The water levels have recovered at last

At 12, oh joy! we were opening the top gate of the last-but-one lock of the flight, with a long stretch of mooring just round the bend.  We felt we had deserved a lunch break – 24 locks in 3 hours 40 minutes, no CRT volunteers on duty, and our knees were still working.

The question then was whether to stay put as we usually do, or move on - we were about to run out of milk and had run out of wine!  The nearest shops are in Alvechurch, a few miles further on.  Dave checked the weather forecast.  There was time to move on a bit before the rain was due to start, with only one more lock to do.

The towpath wall of Tardebigge Top Lock had to be completely rebuilt last year

You may remember that this lock was closed last year, officially from April to the end of August.  It was already restricted to boats of 6’10” beam or less, as the older boats like Mikron theatre’s Tyseley had been getting stuck, but with winter stoppages elsewhere on the way to Hanbury Junction the flight had been effectively closed from November the previous year.

You are still requested to leave the lock empty, which is annoying

Just before Tardebigge tunnel we saw our first ducklings of the year (not strictly true, as their dead sibling was belly-up below the lock).

Tardebigge tunnel was mostly dry, as was Shortwood tunnel a bit further on.

Lovely bluebells between the tunnels

We made our way through Alvechurch, waving to Helen and Andy Tidy who bought NB Briar Rose (Adam and Adrian’s previous boat before they moved onto their newbuild Kingley Vale).  

We moored at our favourite spot along here at Crown Meadow arm, where the M42 is not too noisy. .  By 4.30 Dave had walked the dog and I had been to the Co-op for essential supplies (getting caught in a sharp shower along the way).  I had to buy myself a chocolate bar to help me up the long hill back to the canal, it’s nearly a mile after all.  We were mightily pleased with ourselves though – 25 locks on our own, which is 100 paddles and 75 gates (though passers-by opened or closed four of those).

We were knackered and really enjoyed that glass of wine.

2 dodgy knees, 25 locks, Tardebigge and Shortwood tunnels, 5¾ miles

 

 

 

 

 

A chat about paint

Friday 17^th April; Astwood Top Lock to Tardebigge flight above lock 33

We started a little earlier than usual as we wanted to to call in at Crafted Boats at Stoke Prior at about 9 to discuss a repaint.

This is the third swan sitting on eggs we have seen in less than 24 hours

There isn’t much space at Crafted Boats at the moment, and we had to breast up against a recently built boat which has a permanent mooring there – or will do once the wharf has been extended.   The owner helped us tie up and Aaron came out to have a look at Bonjour.  We have to choose between a full repaint – windows removed, back to bare metal etc – which would be £15,000 plus, or something less thorough.  We had a lot of questions, which he answered very thoroughly.  As we don’t live aboard and are unlikely to keep her for long enough to recoup the cost of a full repaint, we will probably go for the cheaper option.  That’s something we will have to decide in the next few weeks.

The first lock of the day, Stoke Bottom lock, wasn’t much further on.  After a brief pause to dispose of some rubbish we continued up the rest of the Stoke locks, mooring opposite the Queen’s Head, just below the Tardebigge flight.  It was early enough for a cup of coffee before a relaxed lunch.  And decision time – the forecast was for rain within the hour, but not much of it – and it would take us a bit less than that to get up the first five locks of the Tardebigge flight and moor on the handy length of piling above lock 33.  Before we did I went to check that the space was free – and there was a boat coming through the bridge behind us.  Were they going to moor up?  As I came back down they were entering the second lock and yes, they were going all the way up this afternoon.  By the time I reached the bottom lock, Dave had already cast off and was on his way.

Tardebigge bottom lock

I had my windlass with me so got to work, and it took just 50 minutes to ascend the five locks.  They are pretty easy.  It did rain, but not heavily, and we were soon moored up.

The only mooring on the Tardebigge flight

One of my Christmas presents was a windlass holster from CraftyBird.  It is made from an old welly.  I tried it for the first time yesterday on the Hanbury locks, thinking I could ask a volunteer what would be the best place on your belt to put it.  But the one I asked had only just got his, and was having to work it out for himself as none of the others had the same design – so I would have to do the same.  This is what I decided in the end.   

 

It is straightforward to use (as long as you aren’t wearing a waterproof) and doesn’t get in the way when you lean on a balance beam to open a gate.  It also means you have two hands free for negotiating lock gates.

Soon after we had stopped the rain got a lot heavier.  Dave and the dog got pretty wet on their walk but I stayed on board.  I did think of the two chaps still on their way up the flight though, I hope it wasn’t too unpleasant for them!  The sun came out later and it was a beautiful evening.  Cold though, so we lit the fire.

11 locks, 2¼ miles

 

 

 

 

Lucky locks on our first cruise of the year

Thursday 16^th April; Droitwich Spa Marina to Astwood top lock/bridge 41

For various reasons our first cruise this year is rather later than usual, but here we are.  We didn’t leave the marina till gone 3, wondering whether there would be any volunteers on Hanbury duty – they usually knock off at 4, earlier if it’s quiet.  A boat had left the marina just ahead of us so we knew the locks would be against us.  But that was to our advantage as the lockies, just about to pack up and go home, had spotted them just in time, and luckily saw us too in time to set the second lock for us.  I had hardly any work to do after closing up the first lock.

A new lead with an extra securing clip for easy attaching to a lock beam.  Bonjour is in the lock but I can't open the top paddles until the side pond water has been used to partly fill the lock.

Jess was excited to be cruising at last, bouncing around and desperate to be on the towpath.  With the fast road alongside the Hanbury locks she has to be on the lead at all times - here she has her eye on a squirrel.  But she had plenty of fuss from the lockies – five of them!

Second lock; 4 lockies visible and one more at the bottom lock behind me

The lockie not in the picture was filling the side pond from the full lock, as that lock leaks badly and this would avoid wastage.  We were their seventh (and final) boat of the day.  But we had gone up the flight so quickly that it was still only four o’clock, so rather than moor below the Astwood fight as we often do, we went up.  The locks were all empty so it didn’t take long, especially as a hire boat coming up behind us closed a couple of the top gates for us.  They were surprised we appeared to be going faster than them (with their two crew) even though we are a great deal older!  But we have our system, which still works efficiently, in spite of our creaky joints.

Astwood lock cottage gnomes present and correct

The weather stayed dry and not too cold, and we were moored up by 5.30.  The hire boat was due to hand over tomorrow so went on to get a bit closer to base at Stoke Prior.  They had done the Stourport ring in a week and had a great time.

Astwood Top Lock

We moored a few hundred yards beyond the top lock, with a good open view across fields before the canal passes through a long built-up stretch.

9 locks, 2¾ miles

A visit for some jobs

Tuesday 17^th to Friday 20^th March

I had a very busy week in prospect, so Dave took the dog and popped up to the boat for a few days and a couple of uninterrupted evenings watching football on telly!  He found the solar had kept the leisure batteries topped up, unlike the starter which needs the engine to charge it.  He had ordered a new chimney (the inner lining of the old one was beginning to rust through) so the first job was to fit the new one.  The next morning it was very cold when he took Jess out, and as they hurried back to the warmth of the boat poor Jess was spooked by the next door cat which was sitting under the pram cover, glaring at her through the gap where the swan’s neck comes down.  It put her off her breakfast!  After he persuaded her to eat it they went off for a lovely walk on the sunny towpath - with drier recent weather the towpaths were much better for walking than they were a month ago!  Remember those two days of spring we had before it turned cold again?  He wished he had taken his shorts.  Jolly cold and windy down here in Devon though. 

New chimney and shiny(ish) boat. 

Dave had ordered a new set of brasses – the surface on the old ones had been getting pitted and discoloured and no matter how he tried he couldn’t get them to a good shine.  Fitting the new one involved scraping off the old washer and sanding down the rough bits on the roof, then the holes needed enlarging to fit the new bolts.  Aligning the bolts with the holes was tricky.  Anyway he got the first brass done, then washed and polished the port side which came up quite well.  Poor Jess was on Cat Alert the whole time.  Nina, the boater next door who lives aboard came out to chat but I’m not sure if Jess approved.

Sunset over the Rugby Club after a beautiful day

On the Thursday he fitted the two remaining brasses, much easier than the first now he had got the alignment sorted out.  Then he turned his attention to the roof, where the gutters inside the handrails were very mucky, and there are various places where the paintwork will need some attention.   Next morning, when it was time to pack up and come home, the cat was no-where to be seen, much to Jess’s relief.

Our first proper trip this year will be after Easter after our grandparent duties have been fulfilled.

Hot water, and home

Friday 20^th and Saturday 21^st February

On Friday morning when I drew the curtains I could see one of the swans who breed on Swan Island (at the end of the main pontoon) laying claim once more.

The view through two unoccupied boats

We walked Jess on the Worcester and Birmingham today.  If it wasn’t for the trees, we would be able to see the junction with the Droitwich canals from our berth – it's only about 400 yards as the crow flies, but a mile on foot once you’ve walked round the marina and up the locks.  A boat was going into the middle of the three Hanbury locks – they had just started their journey to Dunchurch Pools.  They could easily get there in two weeks with plenty of time to stop if the weather was bad, but they will need to plan around a 10-day stoppage in March, when the HS2 viaduct near Wood Lock – the bit actually above the Grand Union - is due to be constructed.

River levels board at the top lock – Severn and Salwarpe on red

We called in at the chandlery at Hanbury Wharf for some Marine 16 and a browse.  They are quite small but will order stuff for you which usually arrives the next day.  It wasn’t raining for once, and it felt quite mild if you weren’t walking into the wind.

Catkins in the icy wind

The hawthorn and other autumn berries have mostly been eaten - now it's time for the ivy berries

The showers started again after lunch, and although small fragments of blue sky appeared now and then they didn’t last.  The wind got stronger and by evening was buffeting the boat again, blowing directly towards the bow, so the boats moored each side weren’t protecting us.

Last January we realised that the Eberspacher was only heating the radiators and not the domestic water supply.   What with all the hassle around replacing our hugely heavy leisure batteries – in the end we had to get help with that – it got shuffled down the list of jobs over the summer and forgotten about.  As we tend to only turn it on to warm the boat up once we’ve finished cruising for the day, when the engine has already heated the water, it wasn't a problem.  To access the Eber, the stern steps have to be removed and a panel unscrewed.  The steps had swollen slightly and were jammed in place, but luckily we have an immersion heater so as we have been on shore power we could use that.  Eventually Dave managed to get the steps out, remove the panel and turn the control knob which was on the ‘radiators only’ setting.  Easy.

It’s the blue knob

It must have been on this setting when we bought Bonjour in 2022; the previous owners we gather had health problems and hadn’t cruised much.  Being in the marina and on shore power they would have used the immersion heater for hot water, with no need to use the Eber for anything but heating.  When I had a look last year, while Dave was out with the dog, I hadn't thought to look at the instructions, or wonder what the blue knob was for .....

With the two main jobs completed we went back home on Saturday morning, which was sunny and dry.  Lovely cruising weather!  If only it had been like this on Wednesday ...  heigh ho.

I am posting this on Monday 23rd; notification has just come through that the little Salwarpe is back in the green, so navigation is possible down to Droitwich.  It's quick to respond when the rain stops.

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