I decided this morning to get a precautionary pump-out and diesel top up. Having guests next week I don’t need to be distracted by sanitary issues and it’s always nice to know that there’s enough fuel. Accordingly I tried to arrange my arrival at Bridgewater Boats for 9:30 am hoping that the office would be open by then. It was and the whole process was accomplished in 15 minutes. There are lots of marinas along the way where these services can be had, but mostly it involves tricky manoeuvring into obscure depths of the marina and is a lot of hassle. I remember motoring around one large marina further north for what seemed ages and never found the services I required. What a waste of time. So that’s why I like Bridgewater Boats where I can just pull in canal side to a decent wharf and get quickly dealt with. On the way I transited Common Moor Lock. I reckon that the towpath side ground paddle rack has become detached from the paddle because it was uncharacteristically easy to lift and there was no subsequent disturbance in the water. The same but worse probably at Ironbridge Lock where both ground paddles were exhibiting the same behaviour. In consequence it took ages to fill the lock just using gate paddles which tend to get partially blocked over time with plastic bags on the baffles.
It’s always a special moment for me passing Lady Capel’s Lock where I used to watch the coal boats passing as a boy in the 1950s, almost always as motor and butty and the skill of those boatmen. Then there was no vegetation bordering the canal as now. There was a clear view of the mansion on the hill (and my father’s allotment - a left over from the war when railway offices took over the site).
The weather is warming up now and it has been a lovely day. There’s quite a lot of water on the rivers still, testament to all the rain we have had. Looks like there will be a little rain here overnight, then more sunshine hopefully.
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