Happy Valentines Day!

I hope you all got lots of cards, and not just those you sent to yourself…..

We decided to move on a bit today. Wolverley is a nice spot, but gets a bit busy at the weekend.

Got another 5 logs cut into rings before the chainsaw teeth lost their edge again. Without the correct files and guide, it was a bit of a lucky dip trying to get the profile right. So I sat down this morning afterwards and ordered a new chain and sharpening file set off the internet.

We got off at around 1 o’clock, up through Wolverley Lock past the Lock Inn.

A little further on we passed the mooring of NB Rome.

On the way up I saw this boat, and something was nagging me about it afterwards. I finally remembered why I recognised the name.
Way back in the ‘70s Waterways World did a blow by blow feature on fitting out a narrowboat, over 10 issues of the magazine. The subject of this article was NB Knottingley, and I bought the feature as a bound softback at the time.
More recently, when we were considering our change of lifestyle, I picked up the 3rd edition of The Narrowboat Builders Book. This was published some 20 years later, and is rather more professionally produced. The subject this time was NB Rome. Still looking good after 10 years.

1st and 3rd editions of NBBB

Through Debdale Lock and on to Cookley Tunnel.

Back around the ivy clad Awcliffe
Better shots of Cookley Tunnel than on the way down.
A mile or so on we crossed the county boundary, from Worcestershire to Staffordshire. We’ll be in this county for some time, now.

County Boundary
We moored up about a mile further on, just below Whittington Lock.
It’s been a dull, grey day. No rain though.

Black Country Faggots, mashed spud and carrots for tea. Yummy.

Locks 2, miles 4

So Long to Sunny Stourport

We had a very hard frost on Wednesday night, cold enough to completely freeze the basin and canal. Of course, this had to be the night I chose to let the stove go out so I could give it a good clearing out. We woke up at 7 o’clock, with ice on the inside of the windows and Meg trying to cuddle down between us.

I got up, hit the start button for the central heating, and had the stove cleaned out and relit in record time.

Last night I had a walk around, and the clear air gave an opportunity for a good shot of the Clock Warehouse
Cold morning at Stourport Basin.

A cup of coffee, and then Meg and I set off for our morning constitutional. We headed off down river, then turned north and up onto Hartlebury Common. This is a SSSI, consisting of upland heath, on sand deposited when the area was under water. It rises to 184 feet above sea level.

Hartlebury Common

Larch (or Spruce, I’m not that good on trees) Plantation

We dropped down the other side, and picked up a footpath running on a dismantled railway line back to the canal. The railway engineers had exactly the same trouble with the sandstone outcrops as the earlier canal engineers.

Cutting and bridge

I always think it’s quite ironic that the railways, which in no small way were responsible for the demise of the canals, have in a lot of cases closed, and have been completely lost or converted to cycleways and footpaths. Meanwhile the canals get busier and busier…

Dancing on Ice, duck style.
Adam of NB Debdale left a comment on yesterday’s post suggesting I go and see John and Kathy on NB Marmaduke, across the other side of the basin. I’m glad I took him up on it, we met a very pleasant couple. They came and joined us for a couple of hours last night, and we shared a bottle of wine and boating experiences. They had some trouble getting their boat finished; read all about it on their blog.

The weather warmed up considerably later in the day, bringing in some showers, but this morning was dry and bright again.

I had a walk up into the town to post some mail and visit the butcher recommended by John. Wow! I was like a kid in a candy store. I had to restrain myself, but still finished up with 2 different kinds of special recipe sausages, some Black Country faggots, and a lump of topside for Sunday dinner.

A couple of cakes from a baker on the way back, and my life was complete!

The town is very pleasant. Good shops, friendly people. There are no less than 4 butchers!

We untied and reversed back to the SS for water and disposals, then did a U turn and went back up York Street Lock

Back to the lock.
The chamber was empty, just as we’d left it a couple of days ago. No-one else has been up or down since us.

Paul on NB Free Spirit was on the 5 day moorings above the lock. This is his last day, and he was waiting for the owner to arrive to take the boat back. I think he’s a little sad; he’ll miss the lifestyle he’s grown accustomed to over the last 7 weeks. We have another convert to canal life, methinks….
We swapped phone numbers, and promised to keep in touch.

I’d spotted some sawn logs lurking in the bushes near Pratt's Wharf, while out with Meg. It seemed a crime to just let them rot, so we pulled over and snaffled them for the fire.

Loading logs.
Loaded logs
The rest of the trip was uneventful, up the 3 locks through Kidderminster, and then Wolverley Court Lock, to moor just above. I set to, cutting some of the logs into rings for splitting, but didn’t do much before my chain saw blade dulled. It was too dark to continue after I dressed the cutters, so I’ll do some more tomorrow.

It’s been a grand day, warm in the sunny spells, noticeably cooler when the sun slipped behind clouds. But it is only February, after all! And Friday the 13th, to boot!

Oh, and the Pork and Leek sausages are lovely!

Locks 5, miles 5½

History at Stourport

We left our overnight mooring at around noon. With only just over a mile to go to the end of the road, there wasn’t any rush.

Watched by another Beardie coming into town

Coming into Stourport is just like coming into any other town with a canal; backs of houses, backs of pubs, backs of factories.
But the short straight section down to York Street Lock has been improved, with smart new apartments on the right, and 5 day moorings on the left.


Heading towards York Street Lock
The lock took a while to fill; at 12 feet deep there’s a fair bit of water got to go in. We dropped down to the level of the Upper Basin, and out into the basin to the water point.

In York Street Lock
And out again
Filling with water, the Clock Warehouse in the background.


We pulled on to the overnight mooring just along from the Sanitary Station, just as it started to rain. It had been fine and sunny all morning, after a hard frost overnight.






Looking at the profusion of shiny boats in the basins now, it’s hard to imagine what they must have been like at the height of their commercial activity.



In 1760, this point on the River Severn was chosen as the terminus of the Staffs and Worcs Canal. At that time it was no more than a hamlet. 5 basins were constructed on 2 different levels, and all were linked to the canal and the river, and each other, by broad and narrow locks. Later on The Tontine Hotel, now being refurbished as apartments, was built by the canal company. An indication of how important the new terminus, christened “Stourport” had become.
The port became one of the busiest inland ports in the country, and the town grew on the tide of this prosperity. It must have been a real boom town, with industry sprouting up around the junction. By 1795 it had 200 houses and 1300 inhabitants.
The official website is here.

The Canal Company offices and the Tontine Hotel
The narrow lock entrance from the river. The level indicator shows that the river is nearly on the red.
Up the first staircase pair to the lower basins, and then through the bridge arch near the middle of the picture and up the second staircase to the upper basin.
The Clock Warehouse, between the 2 upper basins
Elegant road bridge over the river.
Across the east upper basin, 18:30 tonight, in between showers.
Not sure what we’re doing tomorrow. We might stay in the town for another night, or go back out into the country. Watch this space!

Locks 1, miles 1¼

The snow turns to rain, the towpaths turn to mud.

The snow lasted through most of the night, but disappeared rapidly under the twin onslaught of rain and warmer temperatures. Monday’s rain was persistent and heavy at times. We moved down to just above Wolverley Court Lock to improve TV, but had to use the dish as aerial reception was still very poor.
We joined Paul on NB Free Spirit at the lock. He’d moved down from above Wolverley lock earlier, so he could get a mobile phone signal. We’d seen the boat a couple of times, at Kinver then at Wolverley, and were a little puzzled by the fact that, although it’s a hire boat, it doesn’t seem to be going anywhere very fast!

Talking to Paul explained this odd phenomena. He hired the boat from Worcester over 6 weeks ago, and is on his way to Stourport to hand it back on Friday. The reason for the extended hire is to see whether the lifestyle suits him. Hiring and cruising during the coldest winter for 20 years should certainly answer the question! As a freelance writer and photographer, he could work from a boat. You can read his exploits on his blog.

By the way, the boat is one of the Gdansk built Aqualine ones. It’s the second of these I’ve seen, and, apart from some quirky design features, am impressed.

So yesterday it rained all day, washing all the snow away and turning the frozen towpaths to mush. Back to a normal winter, then.

This morning I walked back to Wolverley for some milk from the village shop. What a fascinating place it is! The church is Italianate in design, and stands proud on the sandstone ridge that dominates the village. This rock, being easily worked, has in the past been utilised to accommodate stores, a forge and a pen for wayward animals!
There are some fine buildings, the school and Court House for example. More info on the village here and here.










Church builders around here certainly liked to keep the parishioners fit. The churches of Kinver, Cookley and Wolverley are all on steep hills! Maybe the plan was to ensure worshipers were on their knees by the time they got to the service….
After slicing up some logs, it was nearly noon by the time we got away today. The day was much better than yesterday, bright sunshine but with a cool wind.

Wolverley Court Lock. Sunshine instead of snow for this shot.
We entered Kidderminster soon after. Those boaters reading this who use Nicholson Guides will recognise what I tried to achieve with this photo approaching Kidderminster Lock….

The canal through the town is not so bad, with retail parks and residential developments lining the route.

Though with no activity obvious, I think this development may be a casualty of the economic downturn…
There are moorings at several locations through the town, but this might have been a bit dodgy outside Tesco. Shopping trolleys and boat propellers don’t mix. Or I should say, they do, and with disastrous consequences!

Tesco off their trolley?

Leaving the built up area, the picturesque Caldwell Lock is reached, with that sandstone cliff still doing it’s best to intimidate passing boaters.

Caldwell Lock
Then, 20 minutes later, there’s Falling Sands Lock. I wonder if they had problems with the excavation here?

Over at Wilden, a ½ mile east of the canal, there used to be an extensive ironworks. It looks like the site is now occupied by a modern industrial estate. Anyway, the River Stour was made navigable for a mile or so to the works, and linked to the canal via a lock at Pratt’s Bridge. No sign of the link remains, though, just the bridge carrying the towpath over the arm.

Pratt’s Wharf Bridge
We pulled in behind Free Spirit just short of Bullocks Bridge
Paul and NB Free Spirit
This gave me a chance to walk the last mile and a bit down the canal to Stourport Basins. I wanted to check out the mooring possibilities before arriving. The wharfage just above York Street Lock looks OK, but I think we’d prefer being in the basin. I couldn’t find anyone to ask, but I’ve got a phone number to ring.
I took quite a few photos, but will do a post about the area tomorrow, after we arrive. I think this one has gone on enough!

Locks 3, miles 4

A wiggly way to Wolverley…

We decided to move on from Kinver today. Although we left behind boats that were there when we arrived, we’ve already over-stayed on what are officially 24 hour moorings.

It’s a pleasant place, is Kinver. I was disappointed that the butcher had sold out of pre-war recipe sausages, though. These were recommended by Bruce on Sanity. Made do with their premium sausages instead, and those were pretty good. I’ll try again on the way back up, if we stop.

Leaving Kinver. I wonder if some of these boats will still be here when we come back up…

Another sharp frost overnight left ice on the canal, but we’re getting quite blasé about it now. In previous years we’ve been affected by ice only a couple of times, but this year it seems to be the norm. It was only thin anyway, and by the time we got to Counsall Bridge we were able to follow the channel made by a boat which had been moored there and left before us.

Whittington Lock was the first encountered, after about 25 minutes. Alongside is Whittington Lock House, on the market for a while now. Word on the towpath is that the asking price is unrealistic, but the Estate Agent’s bumf in the window in Kinver is just asking for “offers”.

Poodles on parade at Whittington
Whittington Lock House
The bywash from the top of the lock actually runs under the front room! Puts a whole new meaning on “hot and cold running water”. It goes under the little bridge on the bottom left.

Damp Course?

That familiar sandstone ridge is very much in evidence at Austcliff. At one time it overhung the canal, but was removed for safety. It still looks a bit dodgy to me….

Austcliff

Moving on, Cookley Tunnel is just around the corner, this one a semi-respectable 65 yards long, though still not meriting lighting up the tunnel lamp.

Cookley Tunnel
Another couple of tortuous bends following the river on the right and Debdale Lock is reached. Like Rocky Lock further north, this is cut into the rock, with recesses for the gate balance beams to swing through.

Debdale Lock
Unlike the other, though, this has a chamber hewn into the cliff on the offside. You can see the doorway half way along on the above picture.

It is rumoured to have been cut to provide stabling for boat horses. It runs 10 or 12 feet either side of the entrance and about 8 feet into the rock.

Stable?
More bendy bits, including a tight hairpin, and we arrived at Wolverley, just as the weather broke and it started to rain. RAIN! I don’t think we’ve had any of that for a couple of weeks.
The lock seemed to take ages to fill so we could go in. Like the other 2 today, it was against us. We were watched by a couple having lunch in The Lock, alongside. Dropping down and out under the busy road bridge, we pulled in on the visitor moorings. Not a good choice though. The mooring is OK and handy for the village, but we can only get Channel 4! Mags is missing Dancing on Ice! You’d have thought she’d have seen enough of that recently….
Still, I could watch Time Team, so every cloud…

As the afternoon wore on and the temperature dropped, the rain turned to sleet, then finally to proper snow by about 16:30. I took Meg down to the next lock, Wolverley Court, to find that this is set in open fields, with a far better chance of getting a TV signal. And it’s only ½ a mile away! Too late to move by the time we got back, we’ll shift that far tomorrow. It’s quiet there, and I’ll be able to slice some of the logs up off the roof.

Wolverley Court Lock and Meg in a snowshower.

Then Tuesday, which is promised to be nice, we’ll do the last few miles to Stourport.




Moored just down from us is NB Anoushka. Clearly she has an optimistic owner…











Locks 3, miles 4¼.