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Sunday, June 9: Canal Day 2: Tardebigge to Worcester
This was our monster lock day. 42 locks is a huge number. We also had to decide whether or not to shorten the route and avoid Worcester the next day. Additional stress was provide by the rising Severn River. It was quite possible that it would be closed by the time we got there.
We decided not to take the Droitwich Canal shortcut and risk it. So, we made it through Tardebigge Locks, through Stoke Locks, through Astwood Locks and through Dunhampstead Tunnel.
Monday, June 10: Canal Day 3: Up the Severn River
We got moving early, mostly to get on to the river before it was closed due to rising water levels. We arrived at the Diglis locks with the water levels at amber. You could just see the green markings down under water. The amber was more of an orange, and there wasn’t much to differentiate it from the red. 🙁
I let the current swing the boat around, and picked up my crew at a downstream dock. Then we swung around and started chugging up river. Lots of current and no speed limit. I was left alone to drive in the rain. We were quickly out of Worcester and into our first giant river lock. These are BIG, manned, and controlled by hydraulics. And always have a big weir nearby which takes most of the flow of the river. Lots of buoys and signs make sure that no boats go near the weirs.
The big locks require different techniques: the first boat attaches itself to a slider cable, then subsequent boats tie up to the adjacent boat instead. We chatted with our fellow boater, and then proceeded upstream with them, planning to pair up in the next lock again.
But, since we had missed dinner the night before, and DIDN’T want this to happen again, we stopped just before the lock and ate at Holt Fleet. It wasn’t set up for mooring up at all, but we found a way to tie up anyways. So many leftovers.
We talked to the lockie at the next lock, who told us we weren’t going to make it through the Lincomb Lock before it closed at 7. He suggested that we try mooring up at an excellent floating dock (necessary because of the rising water levels) near Hampstall Inn. It was perfect. It was also nice to have already had an excellent dinner.
Tuesday, June 11: Canal Day 4: Severn River and Stourport Canal
Severn River, Staffordshire & Worcestershire Canal, and the Stourbridge Canal, all in one day.
We pushed really hard on this day. We needed to adapt our route to fit in the only 2 safe mooring locations in Birmingham and we had to gain a day. So we cut off Wolverhampton and went up the Stourport Canal. This had been one of our options, and we decided to take it. We also hoped to make it up the Stourport Locks, another big flight of locks. And once again, we had a pub in our sights.
First we had to make it up and off the river. The Lincomb Lock was close and we had to wait for it to open as it is another giant, hydraulic, manned lock. Got there, went through quickly, and proceeded up the river in the rain. There are two sets of lock at Stourport, one set for wide beams, and one set for narrowboats. Helpful people on the shore told us which way to go. At these locks, we also met up with our travelling companion from the day before. He assisted us up the locks. These locks were pretty much flooded by the quantities of water coming down. Ironically, at this time, in the pouring rain and flooding locks, we stopped to fill up our water tank.
At Stourton, we switched onto the Strourbridge Canal, going up the Stourton Locks.
Alison rammed a bridge with the boat, and we took home a souvenir brick. In her defense, there were already a lot of chunks taken out of that particular part of the bridge. We continued to push hard in the driving rain, and once we started the Stourbridge flight, we really weren’t allowed to moor up until the end. We finally arrived, VERY late, and did the last couple of locks in the darkness. Not good. Even worse, about halfway up the flight, I realized that the pub would probably stop serving food by the time we got there. My fears were realized, and once again, we had breakfast for dinner.
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