Today's Canal - Worcester and Birmingham
In complete contrast to yesterday, we awoke to an almost cloudless blue sky which remained until mid afternoon, by which time we had moored up for the day.
Everything was very cold to touch but the increasingly warm sun soon made it very pleasant to be out and cruising.
Very shortly after setting off we arrived at the two Bilford Locks.
Cruising between the two . . .
There is a notice on the top gate at Gregory's Mill asking boaters not to let swans enter the lock. Presumably there is a history of them becoming distressed once caught in an empty lock with all gates closed.
Alas, no-one seemed have told this pair about the problem as they did their best to outwit us and we had to do some rather loud shoo-ing to get them to retreat. They were not happy! They retaliated by refusing to pose properly.
A slightly longer pound followed which takes the canal through one of the older areas of dense worker terrace houses. The railway viaduct carrying the line out of Worcester Foregate is always impressive but never better than with a blue sky as a backdrop.
We continued down Blockhouse and Commandery locks to reach the service point at the start of the Diglis basin. Here we filled and emptied as usual - the water tank took a while to fill as we inadvertently left a tap running for a time yesterday.
Once the services were complete we turned the boat in the basin and set off back the way we had come.
Shortly after passing through Blockhouse Lock we pulled in to moor on a favoured spot for accessing he main shops. But first it was time for lunch .
Mid afternoon we walked into the city centre - the main aim was to find a replacement for the very well worn pair that have been Mike's firm favourites for a good time. (The other one was still wearable but that is not much use!) Christine also persuaded him to buy a waterproof jacket. The Body Shop followed and by then our bag was too full to allow us to pick up items from Asda. So, we returned to the boat to drop off the goodies and then back across the the supermarket.
3.1 Miles - 8 Locks
The reason for keeping the swans on one side of the locks is that they risk moving into the territory of the next pair who hang around the perdiswell park area. The males will fight each other and kill the cygnets if they catch them trespassing! The lockie who lives by Bilford top lock knows all about them and so does one of the other regulars.
ReplyDeleteWe are still hunting for a boat - if you come across anyone selling a semi-trad, 55-60', point them in our direction!
happy cruising
Debby