More visits down the weed hatch

Friday 9^th October; Oddingley to Perdiswell Park, bridge 17

Last night’s rain had more or less cleared when I took Jess out first thing, but it was overcast and rather mild.  We were ready to leave soon after 9, but first Dave had to go down the weed hatch to remove last night’s collection of reed stems.  They get wound so tightly that it is more effective to pull them out by hand than to use the Prop-mate.

There was still plenty of weed about - it was clear that the CRT’s contractors had been doing the end of season edge-to-edge cut as there were long stretches where the cut ends of reeds and other plants were visible along the Armco.  With lots of floating debris it wasn’t surprising that we had to stop at Tibberton bridge to clear the prop again.

The Bridge pub at Tibberton has had mixed fortunes in the last couple of years with periods of closure and a change of ownership.  The current rumour is that it will become an Indian restaurant, which would be great, but a dog-walker said he wasn’t sure they had even applied for planning permission yet for the changes they need.

Looking rather neglected now.  There used to be a nice garden behind that boarding.

Having seen no moving boats yesterday we were pleased to see one at Tibberton making ready to leave, so we warned him about the clutter in the water.  Then another boat appeared just before we reached the motorway bridge so we hoped the six Offerton locks would have held on to some of their water and not emptied themselves before we got there.  They had mostly stayed fairly full so it was an easy descent, especially as we met a boat coming up. 

Offerton bottom lock

There were just a couple more locks to do before our planned lunch stop.   We picked up more reeds on the bow but they floated off as we went through Tolladine lock, where the last few damsons were still squished on the offside bank. 

Artwork under bridge 22A

One more lock to go, Blackpole.  We could see activity – was a boat coming up?  Well yes, but the lovely crew had seen us coming and with the lock almost full had refilled it for us instead of emptying it for themselves.  They were seasoned hirers who had already been down to Diglis basin this morning, turned and were on their way back.  We had a friendly discussion on the differences between hirers and owners – they are there ‘to boat’, not potter about as we do!  We still haven’t decided whether to turn at Diglis and potter gently back or carry on down to the river and complete the Droitwich Ring. 

The weed-cutter was moored below Blackpole lock.  The hirers are just leaving the picture.

There were a few drops of rain as we moored below bridge 17 opposite Perdiswell Park in time for lunch, but the afternoon was dry.  Once more I had had to haul out a great pile of cut reeds and yellow flag from the bow, while Dave went down the weed hatch once again.  We then had to decide whether to move on closer to Diglis or stay put, and staying put easily won.  Dave took Jess over to the park for a good long walk straight after lunch, and I took her out again later before it got dark.  Lucky dog.

I reported the floating debris situation to CRT via the website.  It is clear that the contractors have done a slapdash job, just strimming along the edge with no thought to where the cuttings end up, and have caused delays and annoyance to several boaters.

8 locks, 3¾ miles, a lot of strimmed reeds in the water