We were expecting Andrew just after 9:30 so Mike drove into town early for a few items from Morrisons, paper milk, bread etc. The water tank needed filling before leaving the mooring as Christine had used quite a lot of the last fill with the washing machine. Back home, our old machine was in the kitchen and had been disconnected as part of the initial stage of clearing the space for the new installation. As a result, in an inversion of the usual practice, we brought a load of washing up to the boat, then to leave in the car.
Preparations finally over, we cast off from the pontoon - but the first stage was just to the fuel mooring as we needed to fill and also bid farewell to the the marina staff, planning now not to be back until the end of the season.
Finally we were off. Of course, we came this way only three weeks ago so finding new things to photo is not easy. This blog is made all that much harder by discovering at the end of the day that the camera lens needed a clean. Just to help with the blog we have included some pictures but, beware, there is a smudge just where the focus of interest ought to be!
After the bright blue skies of the past few days, today was overcast right from the start although still remarkably warm. Photos would not have been spectacular anyway.
We immediately dropped down the two-lock staircase and then under the M5. Our first sighting of ducklings: a large family mostly went one way as we approached but two wayward offspring ignored their parents instructions and then found themselves scared by being on the wrong side of a large steel object!
This picture of a road bridge not normally merit inclusion in the blog but we have crossed this one any times as it is the link from the town to the motorway.
Not long before we arrived at the Barge Lock which marks the start of the broad beam section. Here Andrew left Mike and Christine to work through whilst he popped across the road to Waitrose for important catering ingredients (the sort that come in bottles!) which he had not manged to stock up before leaving home.
Just after passing through Vines Park we spotted Pamela May 2. From their web site we knew that it was nearing completion so we asked the chap on board whether they were pleased with it - yes - and when they had taken delivery - last week! The first Pamela May, a trip boat like this one, was used to help promote the restoration project and had made many trips but the trust were keen to offer even greater opportunities for people with restricted mobility.
We have made many attempts, in both directions, to navigate under Salwarpe Bridge and nearly always ending up having to do a multi point turn or take a trip into the shrubbery! It us a much sharper turn than is initially apparent (especially coming southwards) and there is a shallow trap on the inside of the bend for the unwary. Today, by taking a very careful line, Mike managed it in one go and no shrubs - we are trying to keep as much of the new paint on hull as we can, at least for the first day - so all he has to do next time is remember how he managed it!
At the next lock Christine had to avoid a couple of workboats which were manoeuvring around the top gates - we discovered that they are working below the next lock, repairing a collapsed wall. The new clay to backfill the piling has to come from Tardebigge base and in two ton loads which are then loaded onto the workboat until it is full and can be taken down to the work site.
At the next lock we saw the completed piling that was just being started when we came up a couple of weeks back. It has been backfilled but awaits a finish to the towpath itself. A large pile of what looks like boiler clinker (it may well be more sophisticated than that!) was heaped up in the car park ready for the next phase of the project. Although these works often go unremarked by many boaters, they are important in maintaining the integrity of the system, both for boaters and walkers.
We continued down to Hawford Junction where we called the lock keeper at Holt - no reply, left message - before starting up the River Severn to Stourport.
The sight of Holt village and the distinctive Holt Castle are an early warning of the approach to Holt Lock which is a little further upstream at Holt Fleet.
A better indicator is the road bridge, opened in 1828 and made to a Thomas Telford design, very similar in appearance to the Galton Bridge across the New Main Line between Birmingham and Wolverhampton. Originally just cast iron, it was upgraded in the 1920;s for modern motor traffic and a lot of concrete was added to increase the strength.
Although the locks on the river look very large, in normal flow conditions they only change the level by a modest amount and, with the operation by the lock keeper of powerful mechanised sluices and gates, we passed through quite quickly.
Not much traffic on the river today - the Droitwich was comparatively busy - we did pass a couple of cruisers coming downstream.
Holt was about 45 minutes from Hawford and the reach to Lincomb Lock is just an hour (at least going upstream, coming down is faster)
Although the weir looks potentially menacing, today it was very placid and the main stream passed over quietly!
Not far then to Stourport where we planned to stop overnight. We were fortunate to find a space on the two day pontoons below the locks - a check later on the visitor moorings in the basin revealed them already occupied (only two spaces) with the last space just being occupied by a hire boat on its way down.
15.6 Miles - 15 Locks
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