Hoping to beat another lockdown ……

Monday 19^th October; Droitwich Spa marina to Vines Park

After a good journey up the M5 – only held up briefly by a convoi exceptionnel – we arrived at the marina at lunchtime.  (I much prefer the French term, which was on the back of the load, to the rather boring ‘abnormal load’ on the back of the escort vehicle.)  We brought with us the table from the dinette.  The top had some nasty water-marks from the leaking mushroon vent, so we took it home after the last trip  and Dave spent some time at home stripping it down, staining and varnishing it.

Unfortunately, it wasn't till we returned to the boat that he realised it needed at least 3 weeks to harden off sufficiently for normal use - not the couple of days it had had!  So until I can find a cheap tablecloth in Worcester it is covered with a fleece blanket to minimise damage.  He hopes to re-varnish it just before we go home.

There was a brisk and chilly breeze as we left our berth, but once we were on the canal it was sheltered and almost mild.  The staircase was against us, but all the other locks were in our favour, though they had mostly leaked so I had to top them up.  Unluckily for the hire boat coming down the bottom of the previous (Hanbury) lock, we had no idea they were there, so not only were we first at the staircase, we had some help too.  Ann is a blog reader and she and her family are experienced hirers, so we had some difficulty keeping ahead of them at the rest of the locks!   There is an eating apple tree at the staircase and Ann reports that the apples are excellent, but as we brought plenty from our trees at home we didn't try them.  The bottom gates on the staircase and the lock after it have one paddle chained up.

 

This is to lessen the flow of water into the M5 tunnel, which has very low headroom.  At least I chose the right side of the lock to work!  These locks aren't the lightest to use.

The tunnel is indeed very low - I took this photo at the last moment before ducking down to sit comfortably on the step, while Dave had to crouch so he could see where to steer withour braining himself.

The restoration of the canal made use of an existing culvert under the motorway, where the Body Brook flowed, which explains the limited height.  I imagine an extra lockful of water (they are all deep locks) could easily make life difficult for boats navigating through the tunnel if both paddles were opened at the same time.

We made our way through the remaining locks, which were easy, and the three swing bridges (two of which can be quite awkward) and moored alongside Vines Park just before Netherwich Basin.  It’s much easier here for Meg – she doesn’t like the surface on the pontoons in the basin.  This is quite annoying if there is no alternative.

It got cold quickly, so the fire was lit earlier than usual.

1½ miles, 5 locks, 3 swing bridges, 2 tunnels (the M5 and Impney Way bridges, which are right next to each other, though there is slightly more headroom inder the second).