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Over the rainbow…
Posted on: Wednesday February 2, 2022 at: 1:47 pm
Last Thursday we took Brandy Pad out for a couple of nights. We were fortunate to have very pleasant weather and travelled up through the three top locks on the Droitwich Canal, then turned right to head towards Worcester. We moored up after a couple of hours at a favourite location we have stopped at previously.
A church and chocolate-box house
I have posted a photo of this scene before, but in the winter sunshine, it looked just as pretty.
The evening was clear and many stars were easily visible. We saw the ISS passing overhead, lit up like a huge, travelling star in the sky. It was easy to imagine some shepherds leaving their flocks to follow it had it been around a couple of thousand years ago.
The next day we did a Geocache which took us to visit the wonderful, old church in the picture. A wooden church is thought to have been on the site in the 1200s and was replaced with this stone building in the 15th century.
A double rainbow at Droitwich lock 1
On Saturday it was time to turn around and head home. Just as I was descending the first lock, I spotted this and was able to grab a picture just before I got too far down. Interestingly, the image betrays the limits of a camera’s ability to catch (and then display) all the colours that are visible to the human eye. Not all the colours of the rainbow are visible in the image.
It was a very windy day, which made lining up to get through the entrance into the marina very challenging. I am afraid we did rather bounce off the sides on the way in. Once we made it, we found ourselves travelling sideways down the marina. It was impossible to get the bow round into the wind, even with our bow-thruster going flat out. We eventually managed to get onto our landing stage successfully, but had to go in bow first, when we normally moor up stern first.
Hitch Hikers
Posted on: Saturday August 1, 2020 at: 4:26 pm
We moored up in Worcester last night. It was a very hot day. One of the problems with being on a river is that there is no towpath, so it can be difficult to find somewhere to moor and as the next possiblity was likely to be full (Upton upon Severn), we took the opportunity where there was space.
Today was a long cruise down the river to Gloucester. Over 30 miles which is, I believe, a record for us, but it was fairly fast travelling as we can cruise a lot faster on rivers than on canals.
2 racing pigeons joined us
As we passed through Upton, a couple of hitch hikers stowed away onboard. We know they were racing pigeons as their legs were ringed and they were very trim looking compared to feral pigeons.
They were very tame
We must have been going their way as they stayed with us for around 1.5 hours, before flying on when we stopped for the next lock (which was manned). Then they headed off the same direction we were going. Shouldn’t think their owner will win anything though. We travel a lot more slowly than a pigeon does.
The banana is just for scale
On a separate note, when we moored up, it was to the biggest mooring rings we have ever seen! (This one is for Rob and Susan)..
Tap the pictures for a bigger image
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A week of cruising
Posted on: Friday July 24, 2020 at: 3:23 pm
The popular Tixall Wide
We are currently moored up at Tixall Wide again, a lovely spot that is, as you can see from the photo, rather popular.
Having returned to Brandy Pad Thursday last week, we set off up the Droitwich Junction Canal onto the Worcester and Birmingham Canal, stopping overnight above the Astwood locks. An evening trip taking in 9 locks.
The next day took us up through the Stoke and Tardebigge flights, a total of 36 locks – brother Tony and wife Cathy will remember these as they helped us down through them last October. With a series of boats going up at the same time, it takes a while, and it is apparent the difference having more than one crew member makes as the boat in front of us, with 4 people, gradually pulled further ahead. On a long flight such as these, it is not surprising that you meet several boats coming the other way around the half way mark. I guess we all start the flight, up or down, first thing in order to clear them in a day.
Saturday took us into Birmingham and then Sunday down the Birmingham and Fazeley Canal to stop in the middle of the Curdworth flight, after another 34 locks. On Monday we stopped at Tamworth to do a bit of shopping.
Copperkins approaching us
I have previously mentioned our friends Rob and Susan, who have a boat “Copperkins ll”. They set off on a cruise the previous Monday, travelling North and then back South again to end on Thursday, while we set off from Droitwich heading North. We had been in touch briefly and had planned to meet up at the Plough Inn, not far from Lichfield, on the Wednesday evening. So it was an incredible coincidence that having arrived at the pub early, on Tuesday and meaning to wait for them, there they were at exactly the same place, coming towards us! Both of us a full day early.
Social distancing onboard Copperkins
It was great to meet up again and we both moored up then shared a coffee on the bow of Copperkins before meeting up later for dinner in the pub. Rather a treat at the moment.
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