It is all in the timing - again! 11th August 2020

 Tuesday 11^th August 2020

Bird in Hand, Stourport to Wolverley Lock

5.5 miles, 5 locks

We woke to the sound of rain pattering on the roof.  Thankfully, it did not last long, but oh boy was it dirty!  Our lovely clean roof and solar panels are shiny no more!

 They will need to be rinsed off, but not until it is a bit cooler. 

We said farewell to the crew on Doris this morning, but I am sure they will overtake us at some point over the next few days.

I mentioned timing again – as we approached Falling Sands Viaduct there was the unmistakeable sound - a toot that could only come from a steam engine.  Chris dutifully slowed and we waited – our patience was rewarded when the train arrived pulling quite a lot of carriages containing happy, waving people.

We had just five locks to do today and they are made a lot easier on the Staffs and Worcs canal as most of them have a little bridge by the double gates.  It does save a lot of walking round, however Monty will still not cross them unless they have a rail each side!  This one is a definite ‘No’.

The lock in the centre of Kidderminster has diametrically opposed views at either end.

Looking to the south

And then to the north

When we arrived at Kidderminster lock the C&RT man (in the above picture) was walking down towards us to say that both paddles at the top of the lock were open, but he could not see a boat.  I think he should have shut the paddles first as the lock was full and then asked questions!  I checked there was no boat in sight, closed the paddles and turned the lock and we made it through and out of Kidderminster.  Who opened them, or more likely, left them open we will never know!

Timing again – we met a boat at a winding hole – we passed it before he turned, which meant we were ahead of him for the next lock.  Things were getting busy by now with boats going both up and down.  I have to say that people are keeping their distance and we feel quite safe. 

The one constant feature of today’s trip was a chap on a sit and ride mower going up and down the towpath and then up and down again (he must have passed us at least half a dozen times) creating great clouds of dust.  It was bad enough on a boat, but must have been much worse for walkers.  

Eventually Wolverley church hove into view., so we were near our destination - just one more lock to go.

Life was busy round Wolverley lock, but we managed to secure a mooring that will be in the shade eventually.  As I type at 5pm on Tuesday, it is still very hot.

Having braved a pub yesterday we decided we would treat ourselves to a drink and a sandwich for lunch.  Three very weary travellers made our way over the pub garden.  Whilst coming up the lock, I had spotted a little hidey hole at the far end of the tables that was fairly isolated and in the shade.  Monty fitted a treat under the bench and was relatively cool.

It was not the best cob in the world, but it is the first meal we have not prepared for ourselves in over 5 months – I think it would have been considered good even if it had been worse!  We treated ourselves to a bowl of chips – again the first in 5 months.

We then settled down to a very quiet afternoon with a quick trip out to get an ice cream from the tea shop – our first this year.  Who would have thought a year ago that a meal out and an ice cream from a tea room would have been such momentous moments!

We discovered that you can get beef and burgers from a local farm via the tea room.  We have two steaks and two burgers ordered that will arrive tomorrow morning.  We are not going far tomorrow, so there is no rush to move.