I said I would go up and see if any lockies were about, if not I would open the gates of the bottom lock. Through the picnic area, I went, and along the road and over the bridge to the top of the bottom lock. I'd barely got halfway up beside the middle lock when three lockies burst out of the little octagonal office, bursting with excitement to see me. Most unusually we were the first boat to go through today and as the senior lockie said "We were getting very cramped and bored in there".
They leapt to and opened the gates and we waited and waited. I could see in the distance Tim and Mike with the bow mooring rope, but no movement. I waved madly and Mike raised a hand. The lockie who had joined me said "it is today you're planning to come up?" which made me gesticulate even more frantically to Tim and Mike. Eventually Tim pointed to the stern (which the lockie and I couldn't see) and mimed unzipping his fly, and the penny dropped. In his usual fashion, Lawrence had said "is everyone ready, right let's go" which prompted a flurry of action from the crew while he went for a sit on the loo!!!!!
So it wasn't until 9.45 that L brought Aqua Beatha into the bottom of the Bratch Locks.
Now entering the middle chamber
Having entered the middle chamber one lockie closes the top gate on the bottom lock and the lockie and trainee volunteer start to close the bottom gates of the middle lock.
Looking back down from the top of the flight. We had moored for the night alongside the grassy bit the middle distance.
A.B. rising in the top lock
We continued on our merry way, mostly under leaden skies, with the odd shower and even rarer ray of sunshine to break up the grey.
Only got distant glimpses ocassionally as this section of the canal is mostly tree lined
We, or I should say Tim and Mike as I only did two, had good luck today and most of the locks were set in our favour, or better yet, there was a boat coming down out of the lock as we approached, so after dropping Tim and Mike off, we could cruise straight in through the open gates.
Watching the lock fill
What's around the corner
A.B. hovers whilst waiting for a boat to come down the lock
Not allowed to go for a Sunday Roast it was my turn to get lunch. Way back at Venetian Marina on the Middlewich Arm of the SUC I had purchased some frozen, 'guaranteed the best tasting' sausages. Well L and I had some that same night, and suffice to say the rest have remained in the freezer. So it was time to get creative (I can just picture George and Rhonda shuddering as they read that word!).
As the sausages were party frankfurter sized and had the same consistency, were flavourless and a creamy grey colour, something disguising was called for.
In the cupboard I found some tikka masala paste and canned tomatoes and thought ah ha, the bangers are nearly the same colour as chicken this will do. Missing the other suggested ingredients I had to improvise - hence the creative bit. Well to cut a 2 hour cooking process short the end result was a long way, a very long way short of 'gastro pub', or any sort of pub, for that matter. Lets just say that Tim, who had been vociferously complaining about the lunch we'd had at the Vine in Kinver never mentioned it again and nobody wanted seconds! Pub food was suddenly looking good again :)
Anyway, having pulled up on the Compton visitor moorings at 10 to 12 to give Tim time to cook the rice and broccoli (After his complaints about the broccoli at the Vine, I wasn't going near it!) and after politely (at least Mike was very polite) gagging down my sausage concoction the blokes cleaned up and we set off again at 1.45pm.
The irony was that as we cruised past we found the far building on the left contained an Italian Restaurant :(
contained an Italian Restaurant called Fiume, and to which our canal guide gave a big thumbs up :(
The big woosh when the gate paddles are opened.
Going under the old Wombourne branch railway line bridge (now a public right of way) on the outskirts of Tettenhall
A variety of shrubbery and trees line the canal
A really lovely stretch of canal
With regular skinny bridge holes to keep Lawrence on his toes
Sometimes the Staff & Worcs doesn't look like a canal at all
Addersley Junction coming up
Just after the bridge a fishing competition was winding up. Handsome as he is, the attention of this pic is not on Mike but on the fisherman in the background AND all his gear! Some of them cart an amazing amount of gear down to the canal to torture some fish and then put them back!
Not far after Autherley Junction we passed NB Contanze owned by Fran and Rich of Floating Our Boat fame (a you tube channel which I watch). Contanze was looking very smart after her blacking and paint job at Stafford Boat Club.
Once passed Autherley Junction we were on to new territory for Mike and Tim.
The start of the narrows called Pendeford Rockin'; a long very narrow cutting through rock, where there is only room for boats to pass in designated spots.
When we passed through here aboard NB Emily in 2014 I thought it was called Pendeford Rockin' because as we gently careened from side to side through the length of the cutting, Emily got up quite a rocking motion!
When we passed through here aboard NB Emily in 2014 I thought it was called Pendeford Rockin' because as we gently careened from side to side through the length of the cutting, Emily got up quite a rocking motion!
I have since learn't that is not the way to traverse a narrow cutting and the name is derived from a local farm and Rockin' references the fact that the canal in this stretch is hacked out of solid rock.
After getting through the narrows without meeting another boat, always a fortunate circumstance, we cruised on for another half hour and moored up north of Coven Heath about 4.00pm.
It was mega nana naps for everyone except Tim - I think the first bit of sunshine in well over a week was a bit much for our bods!
No one wanted my sausage concoction left over, so they remained lonely and neglected in the fridge and Tim made a delicious apple crumble.
8 1/2 miles, 9 locks, 6 hours 40 mins.
No comments:
Post a Comment