UK Canals - Journey reports

Gloucester Docks

The lock keeper opened up a bit early this morning, so we were entering the automated lock some minutes before the official 9.am opening time in company with nb Claro who would be turning upstream at the junction with the River Severn.  As we joined the Severn, I called Upper Load Lock to advise the keeper of our intentions.  The lock lies on a bend in the river and the keeper thus has no visibility for any distance upstream. Moreover, the lock is vast and takes ages to fill, so even though the traffic light was flashing red, we still had a 10 minute wait before the gates opened and we got the green.  The lock has wall bars, so securing the boat is easy.  After a while, the water level had dropped about 4 feet, and with an initial creaking sound, the bottom gates opened and we were on our way.  There isn't much to say about the 3 hour run down the Severn at what must be the widest part of the generally navigable river.  Haw bridge is one landmark and the slowly eroding Wainlode Hill another.   At the Upper Parting, 3 miles out from Gloucester Lock, we take the East Channel and call the lock.  We were told that the lock would be readied for us, but as we approached it was evident from the R/T traffic that we were going to have to wait.   Running down river, the GPS was registering 5.0 mph at our usual canal cruising engine settings, and in the East Channel this went up to 5.2 mph. Evidently quite a current running, but running towards the lock mooring wall, it seemed low.  We caught a wall chain to the stern of the boat well back from the lock and tied up the boat.   The true level of the current running then became easily visible.  Even so, when the lock emptied, the surge was such as to push the boat backwards, hence the warning to keep well clear of the lock in this manoeuvre.   The picture shows a boat exiting from the lock with the bridge lifted.   The historic Gloucester warehouses can be seen, now converted to commercial and residential premises.   We were asked to wait in the lock for 5 other boats to join us, so all in all we were waiting an hour before we found our mooring.   Tomorrow, we have a rest day before moving on to Saul.

Tewkesbury

After leaving our moorings, we reached the deep Pershore Lock with its ground paddle, the only one on the River.  After that, the frequency of locks decreases and the cruises in between become more lengthy.  It was about midday before we reached Tewkesbury, its proximity marked from miles away by the Abbey tower.   We found moorings easily on the lock-keepers side (£3.00 per night).  Shopping trips followed including several visits to the Berkeley Arms, a traditional 16th century pub.  The picture shows the moorings.  The lock entrance is behind the second boat.

Pershore

Much cooler today, more wind and overcast with threats of showers.  Whilst thinking about getting going a boat came up the lock, so there was no choice really but to take advantage.  We cruised straight through, arriving at the keeper operated lock at Evesham just before 9:00 when he opens up.  We took the opportunity to moor briefly on the other side while Pat went off to get a newspaper and some bread.  Once through the lock we continued on.  There are ample moorings for the town below the lock, we noticed.  Round the bend in the river we were reminded on the rope operated ferry and gave the suggested three blasts on the horn.   We saw no sign of the ferry last year, but this time the ferry operator was waiting for us to pass before crossing the river to pick up a passenger.  He actually winds the rope up on a winch to use it, so that it is stretched across the river at about neck height!   A little further on there is a free pump out facility, just before the railway bridge.  The control box consisting of a rotary time switch only is at the top of the bank and the pipework on the quayside (obviously).  So simple.  Just turn it on and use it.   If it times out before you have finished, you just dial in another 5 minutes.  Whilst turning to moor up we caught a gimpse of fellow Braidbar Boat 'Farne' on their way to Saul where we had planned to meet up.   They were ahead of us on the locks further on and seem not to have stopped here in Pershore.  The moorings here certainly are very pleasant and definitely worth scheduling in.  There is a grass recreation area betweeen the river and the football ground with a supermarket very close by.   Pat has gone off to recce the pubs for dining out tonight.

River Avon

A street market was setting up in Stratford by the basin at 6 am and we were in no hurry to leave, perhaps misguidedly.  So we waited for the morning papers and strolled around the market.  At 10:00 we entered the river lock watched by only a small group of gongoozlers and set off down river.  It took a while to remind ourselves of the heavy steel gated locks with their neat French winding gear.  At Stan Glover lock we stopped for lunch and water.  Setting our table up on the beautifully kept riverside lawn we did things in style – canapés and Pimms.  The plan was to stop at Bidford, but here we had to pay for our late start.  All the moorings were taken, so we moved on and settled at Robert Aickman Lock.   The wind is getting up and rain is forecast.

Stratford upon Avon

Stratford

It had rained heavily overnight and was continuing this morning.  So it would be the blue deck shoes (that stain my feet blue) and the Gortex coat with hood.  I got the bike ready for the Wilmcote flight.  On a lock flight single handed, without the luxury of crew going forward, it makes life much easier to be able to go straight from one lock to the next.  So I use the bike.  Once in the lock (going down) I extract the bike from the front well deck, and prepare locks according to lock +2: wind one top paddle.  Lock +1 open the gate.  Lock –1 : close bottom gate, then replace bike, drop the lock and shoot straight from one to the next.   Then start all over again.   If the locks are really close then I leave the bike out, but this means one walk.  Doing this I found the first two bottom gates closed themselves which made getting the boat out of the lock difficult as the gate wouldn't stay open long enough for me to get on the boat and drive it out.   So I had to use the rope to get the boat moving, then rush to open the gate before the boat hit it, then wait until the boat had jammed the gate open.   Nearing the bottom of the flight I waited for an upcoming which helped.  The rain had stopped.  The bottom pound was very low.  Apparently a piece of galvanised iron had jammed a paddle open overnight.  One of the boats below was aground and the skipper asked if I could help with a pull from the waterside so as to speak.   Thus I met Peter of  nb Tardebigge, Sheila and Norma who followed me down into Stratford and very helpfully closing gates as I went.   At the first bridge hole the boat was scraping the bottom and almost stopped, so I leapt off and helped the boat through.   Tardebigge following got totally stuck on the bottom.   Finding the nearby next lock empty I debated whether or not to fill it.   I decided in favour of doing so hoping that it might help draw them through.   They did appear shortly after.

 

Turning into Bancroft Basin is such a contrast. From the solitude of the canal one suddenly encounters hundreds of tourists, the colourful basin itself, street performers rousing the crowds and the beautiful gardens with the River Avon backdrop and the Shakespeare Theatre all make for a special scene.   Us boaters also provide a bit of the action. We found good moorings on the pontoons.  Off now to buy my 14 day Avon Licence (£44) and maybe an ice cream.

Wilmcote

The plan today was to go to Preston Bagot.  However, this seemed too short a day given that we are planning to meet Pat in Stratford tomorrow and there are some 15 or so locks to negotiate.   So we left our overnight moorings at 7:25 and after a few minutes cruising,turned left at Kingswood Junction and then on down the Stratford Canal.  Compared with our experience last year the canal was empty of boats.  In fact we met our first opposite direction at the bottom of the Lapworth Flight, and nothing appeared to be going our way.  So, most of the locks were in our favour, and once the traffic picked up, most of the boats were there to help us with bottom gates etc.  This was particularly helpful with the few locks associated with bridges where it would otherwise be necessary to exit, moor up and return on foot to close the bottom gates.   As a routine, I rope the boat out and close the gate before stepping down onto the roof to regain the boat.   None of the locks here are particularly deep.   We lunched at Preston Bagot and I was not very impressed with the general ambience.  At Wooten Warwen we stopped again to visit the farm and craft shop - actually, more of a country department store operating from the various converted stables.  There are antiques, boutiques, garden centres and the food shop with a marvellous selection of cheeses   Continuing on over the famour and slightly scary Edstone aqueduct where, because the towpath is at the level of the bottom of the trough and the sides of the trough cannot be seen looking forwards from the centre of the steering position, the boat appears to be floating in mid air. 

We reached Wilmcote moorings at 16:30.   Shortly after, I found out why the canal had been so quiet.  The Anglowelsh fleet passed us full of jolly hire boaters on their first day out.

Hatton

Left at 6:30, started Hatton at 6:50 and reached the top at 9:50.  (just for the record)    Pat leaves me today to return home once more nad will rejoin the boat in Stratford on Saturday.

Cape of Good Hope

Got back from London in good time and rejoined the boat.  It is only a short ride and two locks to the pub of the title.   Found a mooring OK and enjoyed a traditional pub meal.

Warwick

Needing to return home to collect Grannie and the two labradors we had arranged with Kate Boats at Warwick for overnight moorings.   We had in mind the 12:21 train, so an early start was necessary.  So we did a stealth departure at 6:30 and pottered along the lines of moored boats at tickover.  Soon we arrived at the Bascote staircase and then set about the descent down to Radford bottom lock.   All the locks were against us bar two, so Pat went ahead for the first few, but after Bascote they are spaced too far apart for practical walking.   Halfway down we came across a BW crew having their early morning cuppa.  They were waiting management instructions to close the lock to repair paddle gear.   They explained that in the old days they would just have got on with it, but now they have to have a Health & Safety assessment including working down holes, working behind dams etc, environmental assessment, lifting assessment, and more besides.  Failure for BW staff to wear a life jacket and pee-ing in the hedge are both disciplinary offences, so obviously, before they can work on the lock they need a lot of equipment including toilets.   No wonder our licence fees go up inexorably.   For our part ( with eyes closed so we couldn't see because we had not carried out the above procedures except for a job appraisal and that in our heads) we ferried one of the guys across the canal halfway down the next pound to drop a plank in a weir.

Two locks from the end opposite direction traffic had set the locks in our favour, but at the bottom lock some lock wheeler had got there first and drained the lock.   We had to wait ages for his boats to appear, easily enough time for us to have been down and gone saving him the work and BW the water.

Needing provisions we made for TESCO Warick.  To our surprise we found them occupied by what looked like residential boats with washing lines in the trees and other furniture on the bank side.   This inspite of a BW 24 hour max stay notice.   Considering the convenience of the mooring site for TESCO and its popularilty with boaters it is really surprising that there are no mooring rings or more ujpgrading of the site.  This should be a 4 hour max shopping mooring .  In the picture (click to enlarge) a Wyvern boat has to breast up to a long stayer.

Kate Boats were very helpful, and we even got an earlier train than planned.

Long Itchington

A leisurely start – 7:30.  A narrowboat called Bijou joined us and Terry offered to help us as well, so we shot down to Braunston.   Changing our plans, as we do, we decided to carry on to Calcutt Boats for a pump out and refuel as Braunston was still asleep.  Then on again down the rest of the Calcutt Locks and on to Stockton Top Lock were a single boat (Thomas) had just started descending.  So they offered to wait for us and we shot down there as well, mob handed for crew, but not perfectly organised nonetheless.   We are now seriously ahead of schedule.    Our plan was to shoot home on Wednesday, pick up the dogs and Grannie and return, but now we can afford the time to do an overnight.   Leaving a boat overnight in Leamington is not recommended, so we have been doing some research and can probably use a boatyard in Warwick.

Very poor signals for the last few days, so communication has been difficult. No 3G on the Vodafone card since leaving home, so the pictures I have been saving will have to wait. It just takes too long on GPRS. (Since updated at home on broadband)

Braunston Top Lock

An early start again, first the tunnel, then the long drag to the bottom of Buckby.  Elinor of Rickmansworth which we had passed moored near Blisworth came up behind at a rate of knots, so we let them pass.  However, there they were waiting at the bottom of the flight so be joined Dave & Pauline for the climb.  They moor at Aylesbury and were on their way to Braunston to pick up a new boat.   Time went very quickly as it does in good company.   Our plan was to spend the night at the top, but there were no moorings available, so the best thing seemed to be to do the Braunston Tunnel and moor at the top of the Braunston flight.  In spite of the fact that there is an historic boat rally next weekend, the moorings were empty apart from a Canaltime.   I did some roof painting and Pat did some cleaning.  After supper of spicy sycilian sausage and pasta, salad, garlic bread with a bottle of Negroamaro followed by strawberries & cream we set off down the flight to try and get a mobile phone signal.  On the way we met the Canaltime crew who were wondering about the matter of where to turn their 45 foot boat.  Our advice was that they should go down to the next pound where there was plenty of room.  At the bottom, our mobiles leaped into life and I learned that I am a grandfather – Lee my first daughter had sprogged.   A celebratory pint and return to the boat.  Terry and Doris, our Canaltime folks had decided to turn the boat, so we gave a hand and spent a very enjoyable rest of the evening chatting over a bottle of wine.

Stoke Bruerne

Last night, at Gt Linford, ther must have een some sort of festival/rave up in the park opposit, for there was a lot of loud music.   Some of it emanated it seems from a narrowboat on the park mooring, but there certainly were crowds.  The sounds of cavorting and merriment went on until past 2 o'clock in the morning.  We were glad to be moored up on the other side of the canal.  To our surprise, this morning, we found that it had rained overnight butg the skay was blue and the wind warm promising another sunny day.  We took 1 hour to get to Wolverton and Pat went shopping there in the massive Tesco store.   The truth is that yesterday, cruising in the sunshine, we had salivating moments dreaming about a fantasy of us enjoying capanes and Pimms on the back deck.  To Pat this was a sort of "dare".   So it was that having passed Yardley Gobion, out came a plate of stuffed olives, with canapes of pate & gerkin, cream cheese and tomato with miniature pork pies and cheese straws together wioth, yes, Pimms.   Amazing!   The Stoke Bruerne flight was busy with some new hirers from Blisworth coming the other way.  One boat coming down ahead of us tied up in the lock and nearly got hung up.   Very slow progress!   At Stoke Bruerne top lock we entertained the gongoozlers.  The skipper of Bullrush we had shared the fkight with remarked that he was more famous in Japan then here at home.   Fortunately we found a mooring and cold beer was very welcome.

All the best laid plans!!!

Last afternoon, whilst moored, the boat tended to surge back and forth with the lock activity, so I tightened up the mooring ropes to make sure all would be well overnight. However, overnight the pound level dropped about 4 – 6 inches, which produced a degree of disorientation when getting up in the morning because of the pronounced list to port. So I went and slackened everything off and pushed the boat away from the bank about 2 feet, which sorted the problem. However, what I didn’t want was for a boat to pass us, cause more surging and then get us well and truly aground, so we decided to leave right away at 6:45. The lock was full, bar a few inches, so the plan was for a stealth departure to avoid disturbing the other boats including a Wyvern Shipping hire boat on the lock landing. Unbeknown to me, as I walked back to the boat, Wyvern appeared and asked Pat if they could join us down.  No problem until I saw to my amazement a breasted up pair rounding the corner and by the time I had taken in the mooring ropes they were abeam and without another word took the lock without a word or by your leave. I followed them in short order, but they got jammed up by the Wyvern because of is position already in the lock entrance. We could only laugh about it. Talk about all the best-laid plans! To cap it all, this pair then got themselves jammed in an abandoned bridge hole about half a mile further on.

With all this excitement behind us we did our top up shopping at TESCO canal side in Leighton Buzzard and carried on entirely uneventfully through the Soulbury Three, Stoke Hammond and Fenny Stratford lock and on to what many describe as the most boring bit of canal through Milton Keynes. Sure it has all been nicely manicured but every corner looks
just like the one before with its neat paths, bushes and alternating original and new road bridges. We were glad to reach Great Linford, but sadly all the tidy moorings on the park were occupied and we have to be satisfied with towpath moorings. No access to the pub then.

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Grove Lock

We were off at 7:15 again but got caught out by the "anti vandalism" gate locking routine at the first lock. Resigned to a wait until the published opening time of 08:00 we were pleasantly surprised to see the lengthsman at 7:35 opening up for us. There was quite a lot of opposite direction traffic as we climbed the hill, though no signs of anything ahead of us. The weather seemed to be warming up again,although Tring Cutting was chilly in the shade. Going down Marsworth we passed a number of boats including the Mikron Theatre Company. Lunch at the bottom where the local towpath warden, Hazel LLoyd introduced herself, reminded us of the 14 day rule, and then realised that we were only stopping for lunch - 45 minutes as it happened. A pleasant, leisurely saunter down to Grove Lock followed where were moored up on the grass bank behind a BW work boat on the "nice" moorings.

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Berkhamsted

Old habits die hard. So we were up at 6 am and ready to leave by 7:15. Two locks later we came to the new housing development on the site of the old Ovaltine factory.  Much of is still under construction, but I have to say I don't like the look of it. Much is very close to the canal edge and the large communal buildings stretch back towards the railway line just like barracks blocks.  At the Kings Langley lock end there are some smaller houses/?apartments which look more attractive, though small. It will be interesting to see how this pans out. The new Apsley development is now some 4 years or more old and seems to be developing some character with shops, cafes and a new Fullers Pub. The buildings at Apsley are centred around a busy marina and much more in keeping with the waterside, but at Kings Langley there is nothing like that in evidence.

On reaching Apsley Pat went shopping whilst your writer took the opportunity to top up the water tank. Just before leaving a Wyvern hire boat came up behind. We offered to wait at the next lock, but they too wanted water, so we carried on, however, we were delayed by opposite direction traffic at Fishery Lock where they caught up with us again. So we shared locks from then on until arrival at Berkhamsted. The family on board were on the last legs of their Thames Ring cruise and had obviously had a very good time.

The weather - cool and overcast and so far, no rain.

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First Day - Hunton Bridge

Arriving at the marina for the start of our cruise to the Saul Festival we found the boat extremely dirty with dust and dead tree flowers. An hour was spent unloading the car and stowing the result. Then it was time to leave, but the engine starter battery did not have enough juice to start the engine. The domestic batteries supported by the solar panels are always OK, so a jump lead dis the trick and we set off, initially for TESCO at Rickmansworth to stock up the larder. The weather was overcast but warm following early morning rain, but soon the sun came out and it heated up again. After a lunch stop above Lot Mead Lock, the clouds returned and by Cassio Locks the heavens opened to finish off my work on the roof with the mop. It continued raining until Hunton Bridge, where we moored past the bridge on the corner. Its deeper water there. No Freeview signal, but we have just about got an analogue one. Tonight we are trying for an Indian.