Last night our pals presented us with a special plaque to mark our 30th wedding anniversary. Nice surprise!
Have temporarily fixed it above the bookcase on the boat.
Set of at 0900 in nice sunshine but still cold with snow lying in places. First section is slow as there are many moored boats coming out of Kinver and there seems to be getting more each time we come this way. There are now several above Hyde lock. Some of these boats are live aboards and there was a guy collecting wood in the Hyde Woods to take back to his boat. This prolonged spell of cold weather has put a strain on the finances of some live aboard boaters as they have used more fuel this winter than usual.
At Dunsley passed Jim (My brother in law) coming the other way steering Swift one of Canal and River Trust heritage boats looking good in its Cowburn and Cowpur brown livery. Cowburn and Cowpur were famous canal carriers in the Manchester area..
At Stourton Juncton we we deviated from our usual route up the Stourbridge Canal and stuck to the Staffordshire and Worcestershire canal. This heads heads north across Prestwood estate and out into the wilds of the south Staffordshire countryside. At Stewpony lock a boat was hard on our tails. I said to Joanne "Shall we let him go ahead" to my surprise she said "no make him wait" (!) So he followed us for the rest of the day.
At a sharp bend in the canal after Stewpoy ock you pass a mysterious looking cave with a bolted door on the front. Is this an entrance to another world or just an old boathouse cut out of the rock. Its called the devils den on the map.
Devils Den |
At Greensforge saw another of at least 2 boats called Stourbridge Lion although this one was The Stourbridge Lion so not quite the same as our name.
Finally at Womborn we negotiated the dramatic Bratch locks. The keeper there checking our licence detail as they always seem to do at that location. Very cold for the last hour so moored for the night above The Bratch locks. Got telly reception so settled in for the night. Cooked food on the boat.
The Bratch Locks |
14 Locks 7 miles (17 total)
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