Droitwich Spa Salt Festival 6th - 8th September 2019

Droitwich Spa Marina to Netherwich Basin, Droitwich and back again (SALT  FESTIVAL)
3 miles, 10 locks, 6 swing bridges

We were to be on duty during the festival as Canal &River Trust volunteers on Saturday 7th September from 09:00 to 10:00 and again from 14:00 to 16:00, so we decided to take the boat down and moor in Netherwich Basin.  I know it is just 48 hour mooring there and we overstayed by 24 hours, but we were on (C&RT) duty and it was never full, so we exonerated ourselves!

We set off on a windy Thursday morning to find we were the third in the queue for the first locks (a staircase).  The big question then is 'will there be space in the Basin?'

We arrived in Vines Park to find the first signs that preparations were underway.

I was hoping for lots of choice of food products at the Farmers' Market (good to see an apostrophe being used correctly!) including breads, but was sadly disappointed.  It was mostly 'tat'.  We did find some really good pork pies and sausage rolls.  There was also a great cheese stall and another selling very naughty fudge!  So not a complete disappointment.

The blue tent in the far distance on the left in the above photo is where we were to report to and just in case we missed it marked on the path....... I wonder how long it will take to fade?

Friday was a mostly chill out day, dog walking and a bit of shopping which proved interesting.  We had taken Monty and Chris tied him up in the glass entrance porch at Waitrose.  We were at the check outs when we were suddenly joined by a Border Collie with his lead trailing behind him and a Waitrose lady in hot pursuit, but you have to be very quick to beat a BC with a destination in mind!  In future it will be a double knot!  Thankfully we have not been barred from darkening their doors again.

Friday evening there was to be a firework display which turned out to be just 500 yards from our boat.

We had a great view, but with a dog that hates fireworks we were not sure what to do.  We had no car to remove him from the area, so decided he would have to just cope.  I sat outside and enjoyed the spectacle, whilst Chris was inside with Monty with all the doors and windows closed, the engine on (we had warned our neighbours we would be breaking the 8pm curfew) and a CD on somewhat louder then usual.  Thankfully he hardly turned a hair and I enjoyed the show which lasted 15 minutes. It started at 8pm which meant it was dark enough to enjoy the fireworks, but light enough to get a few photos.

Saturday morning I took Monty for a good long walk before we reported for duty at 09:00 to find the tent deserted and very few punters around, so we took it in turns to wander off and have a look round. 

I spotted the Town Crier reporting for duty

His job was to introduce the Mayor who opened the festival

with musical accompanient by the local Air Cadets

and a very talented local musician who gave us a fascinating talk at our local canal society club a couple of years ago.  The number of instruments he owns and plays is quite incredible.

We popped across the road to Waitrose to get the paper and to enjoy the view from across the road which includes the new trip boat 'Pamela May 2'.  She is all electric and was new this season.  To date they have managed 270 hours cruising on solar panels and no electric hook up.  I am glad to say she did a roaring trade all weekend and was the main reason all the swing bridges were manned.

Between our two 'working' stints we had visitors on Saturday - a good friend of mine and our daughter and family.  George and Jamie enjoyed themselves.  The both decided to have a go on 'Tin Can Alley'.  Thankfully they both had their eye on a booby prize as it is far from easy.  They were happy.

In the afternoon we were working on the swing bridge by Waitrose.  It is always busy at these events and is quite an art to get both ends blocked off to stop the flow when a boat approaches and you need to swing the bridge! The sky does look rather grey, but it stayed dry which certainly helped to encourage the foot fall.

Sunday dawned dry, bright, sunny and lovely and warm.  No work for us today - just the pleasure of the company of two friends.  We went for Sunday lunch at Bullocks - a Bistro in the High Street.  The building is very old dating back to circa 1550 and has seen many owners and different trades over the years.  The first recorded owners in 1709 were Abel Wood, a saddler and George Langford, a joiner.

In 1908 the building was purchased by Edward Bullock who established a bakery.  He was followed by his son, Alfred, in 1932.  During the 20's the building also housed a silversmith, Chritine Frey and Ernest Batty removals.

In between times it has also housed a slaughter house & stables, a glovers, a boot & shoe maker to name but a few - if you want to see the full history have a look HERE.

The food was excellent and we think the prices are reasonable - a two course Sunday lunch is £14.95. We were also there about 10 days ago with two other friends for a mid week lunch was was £11.95 for two courses.  The choices are limited, but what we had was excellent.  We would definitely recommend a visit if you are down this way.

We did go for a wander round the festival site before lunch.  I am in awe at the patience of whoever created this amazing model of HMS Belfast out of matchsticks.

After our friends left and we had made the decision to move back to the marina I headed off with Monty and our boat/house guest for the next 2.5 weeks - Monty's best friend, Kiera, whilst Chris unmoored the boat and sailed single-handed towards Vines Park.

As I mentioned above, I had no work to do as Chris sailed through the first two swing bridges and the lock with a swing bridge as you leave Vines Park. 

There was just a slight delay at the first lock (at the end of Vines Park) whilst a boat came through making its way into Droitwich - this, of course, should mean (we hoped) that all the locks would be in our favour. (They were!).  Mind you, for the hire boat and crew it must be quite daunting to arrive in the middle of such a big event with no idea it was happening, especially if you only picked the boat up the day before!

In all your guides this will be referred to as Barge Lock.  On Sunday it was renamed 'Max Sinclair Memorial Lock'.  Max was a driving force behind the restoration of this lovely canal.  I, for one, am very grateful to him and all the others who must have worked so hard to see their dreams come to fruition.

Chris made his way through once the lock was clear - it is not often one has to dodge model sailing ships! 

They all survived the encounter.

Back on the boat I made sure the dogs stayed on the bow for extra 'ballast' as we went under the M5 culvert.  We had filled the water tank and taken the cratch cover down before we went for lunch, so were prepared and made it with about 4 inches to spare.  You can just see my rather fetching new trousers - I am not sure that purple would be my first choice, but when they are on offer for £4.99 (reduced from £40 which I would not have contemplated) it would have been silly not to get them.  Perfect for boating with plenty of pockets and no worries if they come into contact with grease on the locks.

A swan had preceded us through the M5 culvert making its way all the way to above the top of the three locks.  There was by necessity a lot of 'plodding' as it made its way round each lock.  The top two are a staircase, so it was a long plod. 

Here we are tied up back in the marina for at least the next week as there are things to do at home, but we hope to be back and on the cut again on Tuesday 17th September.