Christmas Day

Andrew joined us today,. driving across from Devizes and arrived just before 1 o'clock. Mike spent the morning preparing the rest of the Christmas dinner so that when we had finished lunch we were able to go out for a short walk.

We were all intrigued about just where the original line of the canal went after the top three locks. We found, what we had not really noticed before, is that the section just before the Rugby Club Bridge, after the present alignment turns slightly northwards, the old cut, full of reeds can be seen, still with some water in it. It disappears after the road and where it would have passed under what is now a small play area and car park.

We walked up to the junction at the top of the locks - noticing just how busy the Eagle and sun was serving Christmas meals. We later discovered from their web site that they had four sessions today!

We turned down the opportunity of a round trip once we discovered the state of the path across the field to the marina from the farm track!

Back down the towpath and to where we started and we tried to track down the old alignment. At first we thought we had found it but this turned out to be a much older stream which is, and was, marked separately on the OS maps.

For a short distance we followed a waymarked footpath and concluded that this was probably once the towpath. However, where it once crossed a fence it now follows the line of the modern property boundary and we surmised - later confirmed from the local Definitive Map web site, that the footpath had been officially diverted for the privacy of the new house owners.

Later, Andrew looked closely at the online maps using a transparent overlay facility which we had not spotted before and we could eventually compare the old and new alignments and features on the ground.

Back at the boat as the light was fading fast, it was time to set about in earnest to prepare our Christmas dinner. Juggling everything in the small oven takes a little planning and it was only just before 7.30 that we finally sat down with all the different elements ready and waiting. Not to mention a couple of bottles of good wine that Andrew had brought with him. By the time we had finished we were in no mood to complain if the tv schedules were entirely predictable!

Christmas Eve

The morning was spent on preparations and laundry. The parts of tomorrow's Turkey Dinner that take the longest - mainly cooking the turkey joint and the stuffings - are best prepared the day before. These days we go for a turkey crown - even a half would last us a long time so we left part of it in the freezer at home! On the other hand, it does mean that we have no waste and it fits into the boat oven. A full turnkey just would not fit and leave room for all the other bits. Even so it will be quite a logistic exercise shifting things around. The oven is not a fan oven so we have to recall our skills from way back to know how to use an oven that has a very different temperature at the top and the bottom!

Christine did one load of washing overnight and a second one this morning. Late morning she was just in time to buy from the office some tokens for the large dryer that is part of the marina facilities. The laundry is at the other end of the marina so, not wanting to carry the heavy load of washing all that way, we drove around.

In the process we tried out for the first time the security mechanism for vehicles at the far end - where we are is close to the entrance and we park in the unsecured area and use a pedestrian gate with a pin code on it. The vehicle entrance uses a mobile phone number which has to be called and then the gate opens automatically. (it's actually a bit more sophisticated but we are not giving away and more details here . . . !)

The tokens proved to be enough for 45 minutes so we returned to the boat leaving the laundry to dry. As Mike reached the boat pontoon he mishandled the car keys and they flew out of his hand, landing gently - plopped - in the water alongside t he adjacent boat! Arrghhh!

With little expectation we took out the magnet we have on board and some thin cord to hang it from - the water is over a metre deep here. Mike trawled back and forth but felt nothing so Christine, prompted by a neighbour, went to the marina office to borrow their higher powered magnet. Just as she was returning with the friendly marina person (they should really have closed by this time) there was a shout, more of amazement than relief, from Mike as he pulled up the magnet to move it to a different location only to see the keys hanging off the end! It turned out that we were even luckier than initially thought as only one key - our door key from home - was actually magnetic. The car keys on their own would have been lost forever. More coincidentally, when we returned home at the end of our last trip of the season we found that our front door lock had decided that it wanted a peaceful retirement and we had had to replace it immediately. The old key would also have not been magnetic. How lucky is that!

After all that excitement it was soon time to collect the laundry which was by now well dried and to have lunch.

In the afternoon we walked along the canal into town as we felt that we might need just a little more milk. It was mostly quite mild and only once did we feel a sharp wind. We had hoped that with just an hour to go to closing time - remember today is also a Sunday - that the supermarkets might be marking down short dated stock but there was little to rummage through. The staff were busy re-stocking shelves ready for an expected rush on Boxing Day!

We walked up the narrow Tower Hill, a side street in the older part of the town centre, to take a look at one of the last brine pumps. The information board inside (we could look through the bars of the open windows) suggests that it is still used occasionally to supply a local private hospital. It is easy to miss this feature which is hardly signposted.

In the shopping centre we saw yet another modern statue - this one remembers Edward Winslow who was born in the town and joined the Pilgrim Fathers on their first journey to America. The design shows him landing at what is now called Plymouth Rock.

We returned to the boat along the towpath and arrived back just as darkness was falling. We noticed a wreath of flowers with no information that had been left on the bench alongside the top lock of the staircase. Perhaps someone is having a sad Christmas this year - even sadder that we do not know who.

Very much later in the evening we changed and drove to St Peter's Church for the midnight communion service. Whilst this too is a church that dates back to ancient times, much of the 20C development of the town has grown up around it.

It is a pleasant church, not too large so that people rattle around in it and with around 100 people there it was almost full and everyone was in reflective, festive mood. The service was taken by the curate who had obviously prepared very well for this special occasion. Her talk was well-judged for a congregation that was obviously (as in so many places) as much people who come only now and then - perhaps just at Christmas - than those who attend regularly.

As we waited before the service, Christine noticed that we were sitting right under the tablet memorial to Edward Winslow on the wall above us.

Back at the boat we treated ourselves to a late night drink and a mince pie - some traditions just about hang on!

Big Shop Day

Well, for us a big shop, anyway! Much of what we will use tomorrow we had already bought so it was mainly fresh goods that we wished to re-stock and it is only one day - Christmas Day - and then the shops re-open. Those who are nostalgic for 'the good old days' might remember back when we stocked up for several days, especially if Christmas Day and Boxing Day fell next to a weekend!

In the morning we stayed on board with a smoked gammon joint to be cooked that took most of the morning. We roasted it through fairly slowly before applying a honey glaze. Once it was all finished the outside looked a tasty dark shade.

The day generally was very pleasant but the view around the marina in the middle of the day was quite splendid.

By the way, nb Astraea, which lies on the opposite side of the long pontoon from where we are, is a 2014 're-make' by Brinklow Boat Services and is based on the design of an older Woolwich boat. The original Astraea was actually a butty, paired with a motor named Mercury. that worked for British Waterways and was eventually broken up in 1978. The name means 'Star'.

After lunch - and day two of Christine's latest soup - we drove into Droitwich. After picking up a couple of items from Boots we wheeled our trolley around Morrisons. Surprisingly, we found that some basic items - swede, onions, celery, lemons and even stollen - were awaiting being replenished. A young lad did manage to find some boxed of lemons in the back store. However, we did find everything else and avoided falling temptation to too many seasonal extras!

So, we then went out to Aldi on the edge of town - at least parking is free! We managed all the remaining items apart from mincemeat but we did track some down at B&M across the road although we shall have to see what quality it is.

Back to the marina and it took a couple of trips to and from the car to unload everything and we could batten down the hatches for the evening (not that tv was much cop tonight) and a salad based around slices from the gammon joint which by now had cooled down and was suitably tasty.

Re-fuelling

Our first planned task today was to re-fuel. The diesel tank was quite low (though perhaps not as much as we had anticipated but we did not want to get caught short) so mid morning we went for one of the shortest journeys we have ever done! About 60 m from our pontoon mooring to the service wharf!

It was a reasonably warm day but quite damp in the air with a fair bit of mist hanging over the area. Hope that it was not too difficult for the travellers on the nearby motorway.

We not only filled up with diesel but also disposed of rubbish, emptied the elsan and added a bag of smokeless fuel to our store for the stove - which keeps the main cabin nicely warm. Mike also took advantage of the solid concrete pathway to chop a few sticks - not easy on the boat itself and the pontoon is not suitable for that task. Just as we were setting off back to our mooring - another long trip , another boat came down from the other end of the marina also looking for fuel so we did a do-si-do around each other before we could reverse back and connect back to our services. Finally we filled the water tank.

A short while later as Christine stepped off the boat planning to empty the Dyson, she slipped on the pontoon  boards and fell heavily, cutting her lip and bruising her knee in the process. Fortunately(?) only one toe of her slippers went into the water. The weather and the birds have a lot to answer for! Christine needed a good bit of TLC until later in the day. A little later the people who own the boat next to us arrived just to check it out and without a word offered Christine a strong door mat to put down where we step off the stern.

A hearty soup had already been made before all this happened and was most welcome when lunch time arrived.

Mid afternoon we went into Droitwich again. We did not feel much like doing 'the big shop' today and left that until tomorrow. This year the calendar is a bit strange as Christmas Eve is a Sunday and some shops were making sure that their customers did not forget and get caught out at the last moment! So we mostly looked for some of the harder-to-find items (failed again on the bun tin but the shallower one worked OK last night)

However, we spotted that St Andrew's Church in the town centre also had a Christmas Tree display so we took a look. There were about 20 from all sorts of organisations and made the church look very seasonal.

As we wandered along the older side streets we came across this remnant of the brine pumping history of the town.

On the way back to the marina we took a diversion to locate St Peter's church which is on the edge of town and serves a substantial modern housing estate. The local group of parishes hold the midnight service here  - perhaps because there is a good car park alongside.

Worcester Shopping

Yesterday we drove up from home for a Christmas and New Year break aboard nb Alchemy - mostly in the marina but hopefully with at least one short trip out. The journey was straightforward and traffic levels were generally remarkably light. We arrived around 2 pm, unloaded, lit the fire and later went to Morrisons in town for a few items. Main food shopping will wait until later.

Today we opted to visit Worcester to look around and chase down a few items, mostly non-urgent. We found that we could park at Droitwich station for £2 for the day and our tickets, with railcards, came to £5.50. However, the car park was not attended and payment only by mobile and credit card. This necessitated first downloading an app, then registering, entering car details and finally paying after getting the card details correct - second time (less usually it did not need a / in the expiry date)

The train took us to Foregate Station which is at one end of the main shopping street.

As we walked down Foregate we spotted this street sign - we can understand why the name has changed!

After meandering through the main shopping area we arrived at the cathedral at the other end, close to the river. We found the small cafe and enjoyed a sandwich and panini - well presented and tasty.

In the cloister there is the annual Christmas Tree festival with dozens of decorated tree provided by many different organisations. Many were from schools and cathedral department but other community organisations contributed, even a few commercial businesses.

Some of the displays were based on traditional - real or manufactured - green trees but plenty of other ideas were on show, some very inventive. This is a fund raising initiative and has been repeated for quite a number of years now.

We wandered around the main part of the cathedral - centrally placed is the famous tomb of King John, he of Magna Carta fame (or infamy?)

The present cathedral dates from the 11th century, although there were earlier buildings on the site which the religious community had outgrown. The first part to be built was the crypt - a wonderful, peaceful place with an amazing feel to it.

After leaving the cathedral we largely re-traced our route, but diverted off several side streets and shopping precincts. Only towards the end did we remember that we were looking for a bun tray to make mince pies. Despite spotting one in a specialist shop that was very expensive (we don't make that many mince pies!) we left empty handed.

We caught the train back to Droitwich and visited some of the local stores - surprisingly it took us until the third to find a bun tray. But we did find the rest of the more immediate items we needed including mushrooms for the beef stroganoff tonight.

Only a Short Visit

It was only a short visit and we have done almost none of the things we had thought about doing! Yesterday saw an even slower start - about the only reason for leaving the warmth of the boat was for Mike to empty the elsan and that is quite close.

After lunch we went out to look for a few items - Christine thought we were headed for Worcester but Mike went first to the Homebase out the other side of Droitwich. One of the items we were thinking about was a small electric free standing radiator to put in the font bedroom. Although there is an under-bed radiator fed from the main boiler (which keeps the main cabin really cosy, helped by massive output from the solid fuel stove) the bedroom is still rather chilly and it is not even frosty yet. Our weather station did indicate about 1C outside and only around 10C inside at times.

When the sun came out - which was really bright today - this bedroom was actually much warmer than the main cabin - we have not been keeping the stove in all day.

Christine had looked around on the internet and we had seen what might be useful on the Homebase web site - just a low power item as we were not sure about the effect that a 1.5 kW one would have on our electrics. The commonest seem to be 2 kW which is really pushing the limits of our shoreline when taking into account everything else.

The Homebase in Droitwich had a selection but not the low power ones. A very helpful sales assistant checked with Worcester. Even though their stock level showed six, the person at the other site offered to do a physical check and eventually returned to say that she could not find any at all! As result we at least saved ourselves another wasted journey.

After picking up a couple of items from Aldi next door (including a ready made pizza for the evening meal) we then went across the road to the B&M shed but no luck there with a radiator although we did find a thin floor mat which we are thinking about trying as alternative insulating layer above the freezer. Although it is fully enclosed we have found that it encourages condensation which makes the dinette cushion that lies on top sometimes a bit damp. We have been using newspaper but that has a tendency to go everywhere.

Back into town as nowhere out here sold newspapers so we had to brace ourselves to pay another 50p for car parking outside Morrisons. However, we first went into Wilko and this was fortunate as they did have a small 750w oil filled radiator that is small enough to fit under the bed when it is pulled out.

Shopping over we returned to the marina and back onto the boat where we stayed until morning! The pizza was quite OK - at £1.76 we could not really have lost much! At least Christine was impressed - more so than with Mike's mixed salad accompaniment! The cheesecake from Morrisons was a great but quite heavy so most of it was put back into the fridge to go home!

Another bright and sunny morning today but probably quite cold - not yet ventured further than looking through the windows! We are leaving this morning - must not linger too much as Mike has a meeting at 4.30 to help set up Egloshayle Church projector ready for tomorrow morning and the team have asked for a sight variation on our norm so it needs checking out.

It has only been a short visit but we have enjoyed the chance (excuse) to do very little! But we have finished the books we were reading!

Late November Short Break

We drove up from home yesterday. We left in good time and as this is about the nearest marina we arrived by 1 o'clock. The boat was in good shape and it did not take too long to restore everything to habitable status, with the water tank filled.

Apart from Mike making a short trip to Morrisons in town for a few supplies, we were happy to stay cocooned in the warmth - it was blowing a strong wind and not too pleasant to be outdoors. Although Mike tried to put up the satellite dish, a strange sound some minutes later signalled that it had fallen over in the wind. Fortunately we had restrained it with a mooring rope so at least it did not not go into the water!

Today we enjoyed a slow start but mid morning drove into Droitwich for a few items from Morrisons. We did pay for an hour so that we could walk around the town centre to remind ourselves of the layout. It is a little while since we were last here. On the last few times (including last month) we have come along the canal we have only made quick forays to the nearest shops.

We took a brief look at the salt museum in the tourist information centre - we may come back next month when  Alice and Jess are with us. It is fairly compact but does set out the way in which the town was shaped by the large amounts of good quality salt laid down deep under the surface in this area.

A statue is a reminder pf the men who worked in the salt production.

Looking at older maps we have discovered just how much of the centre of the town is very recent with the older, more industrial areas having been replaced. Sadly, much of that replacement is unimaginative and unlikely to last as long as any predecessors!

High Street is the only part with older shops buildings - it is easy to see why there have been problems as many of the buildings are at odd angles as a result of subsidence.

In a gap between various buildings we could see across to the old church on the top of the hill opposite. If you look carefully you can see that a rainbow spanned across the picture. The weather was generally favourable but a brief light shower (which just missed us) lasted just a couple of minutes after which the bright blue sky returned.

We returned to the boat for lunch - which did include part of a fresh pork pie from a small independent butcher on High Street.

Although we had discussed driving to either Worcester or Great Malvern, in the end the bright weather persuaded us to talk a walk from the marina. Once across the Rugby Club access bridge we turned onto the towpath towards the junction. The first part was rather muddy but soon we discovered that there was a better surfaced alternative!

We walked up, passing the three locks to the junction.

Here we took a look at Hanbury Wharf Centre, a collection of a few small businesses including a boat sales operation and others unrelated to the canal - including one selling garden shelters.

Back at the towpath we retraced our steps but at the access bridge we continued on to the new locks just before the motorway. Crossing the M5 was one of the major obstacles that the restoration engineers had to solve. The original route had been completely obliterated by the embankment for the motorway but fortunately they established that a tunnel could just - only just - be made through  a culvert for Body Brook which is much smaller than the River Salwarpe which it joins just the other side.

We were tempted by realising that the next lock was only a short way further one and continued. Here, the new alignment joins the river but leaves it again at the start of Vines Park with the almost-level Barge Lock.

Of course, once at the lock it was only a short extra walk to Waitrose - we missed that we needed some red kidney beans and this would avoid having to drive back in a second time!

Eventually it was time to retrace our steps back to the boat - arriving as the sun was just going down below the horizon!