Cruising on the Worcester & Birmingham canal
An early start, away by 7:30, the weather was sunny and warm after the night’s heavy rain. We didn’t meet any boats until the Otherton flight, then we passed three. One was a hire boat with a crew who clearly hadn’t been trained well by the hire company. Back to the marina at about 1
The plan was to start off early and get to Hempstead bridge about 8 o’clock as they come on duty, then make an early start up the river. The plan was foiled on two counts. Firstly we didn’t get out of bed on time! Secondly Llanthony bridge doesn’t open until 9:00 to allow all the
A quick trip to ASDA was called for before breakfast to get some milk, then off down the river to Diglis locks and onto the Worcester and Birmingham canal. We shared the two double locks with another boat from our marina, but they then stopped for coffee and we carried on. The weather was a
Hot day today! though it didnt start out that way. We woke early so decided to get going and were on our way by 7:00. It was grey and overcast. A pleasant cruise round to Windmill end and then through Netherton tunnel. We chose to take the Old Main Line route into Birmingham rather than
An interesting day today! We awoke to a clear blue sky so decided to head on up the canal towards Hanbury junction in case the Droitwich was now open. A check on the stoppages website later in the morning said that it was. A short stop for breakfast just north of Tibberton then up to
Only 2 miles and 6 locks today. I got an email from C&RT saying that the Droitwich barge lock was closed due to excess water. So there was no point pressing on too far. We did a bit of shopping in Worcester in the morning then at about 1:30 set off up the canal to
A cold grey morning to start with, but we were away by 8:00. In Vines Park there are several swing bridges across the canal. The locking mechanisms could do with a bit of maintenance as they can be very difficult to open. One of them is across the “Barge Lock”. This is a flood lock
A lovely warm day today. Surprisingly few boats about. The sky was clear and bright so we made a start before seven o’clock. There was a bit of panic when we got to Netherton tunnel. Our tunnel light didn’t work! Normally Heddi steers in tunnels. She doesn’t like tunnels much and finds that concentrating on
By the morning I could tell that I needed to do something about my hand. I thought that I had seen a doctor’s surgery in Tibberton, so decided to walk there later. We took on water by bridge 42. There was a village map there showing a doctor’s. So I set off in search, while
A long day today, 35 locks. We came down the Tardibigge and Stoke flights. We got into a pretty good rhythm with the 3 1/2 of us (Nikki was only winding the easy ones and taking a rest every now and then). With one ahead setting the next lock we only had to wait when