Sunny but cold leaving Worcester

 Saturday 26^th September; Commandery to Perdiswell Park

We could see that the sky was blue, but were we eating our breakfast basking in the sun streaming through the windows?  Alas not, the mooring was in deep shade and it was FREEZING.   I nipped up to the garage above the canal to get the paper, then we got the full cassette out (it wasn't full enough to have emptied it yesterday morning when we were down there) and trolley-trundled it all the way down to the basin to empty it (the Elsan is next door to the little chandlery – the one that was on by the water point suffered so badly from vandalism that it has been closed for ages).  While Dave did that, Meg and I went round the basin to look at the river but the towpath by the big locks was in shade, and the strong wind was so cold that we gave up and went back.  We set off at about 11.  The wind wasn’t really that strong, not like yesterday, just jolly cold.  We stopped at bridge 5 for Dave to get some more painting supplies from Wickes, then carried on up towards Gregory’s Mill locks.  A blogger has already commented on the mural at the playground.

It must have been painted by youngsters from the community as it’s been there for years, yet not been defaced by graffiti.  One of the other bridges has suffered a bit but the young louts could have caused a lot more damage. 

I have been trying to get a photo of this proud boast for years but never get the camera switched on in time to catch it.  I managed this time because there has been a working party litter-picking and snapped two of them just before the bridge.

As we rose up the first lock I got the flapjack ready in case of a swan alert, but they were nowhere to be seen,and turned up some way above Gregory’s Mill top lock.  They ignored us as we passed, so I ate the flapjack, and we went up Bilford Locks to moor once again at Perdiswell Park.  Just below the top lock is a very large clump of Pickerel Weed, which you can buy in garden centres for your garden pond.  It’s non-native but although it is beginning to get well established in the wild, it has not yet been declared an invasive species.  It grows very large, and strongly, so I trust it will be.

You can see why people would want it in their pond, but if it gets too big they should put it on the compost heap or the bin and not 'improve' the canal!

After lunch Dave put his painty clothes on to get a top coat on the stern lockers and surrounds.  Meg and I ran away to the park to play, but then did some exploring for shopping research.  We met a crew the other day wanting to know where Sainsbury’s was, supposedly not far away from here.  We knew there was a little convenience store not far from bridge 15, but didn’t realise there was anything else.  So I asked Mr Google, then studied Nicholson’s and noticed a track leading from the towpath and under the railway.  Through the tunnel we went and along a scruffy-looking path, meeting another dog-walker and a couple of pedestrians going to the park.

We turned right at the main road and discovered the Blackpole Retail Park with Halfords, Pets at Home, M&S food and Lidl.  We turned left at Lidl and discovered a big Sainsbury’s, which has recycling bins too.  It was only 15 minutes from the mooring, where we found that Dave’s painting has made a massive difference to the stern and it is beginning to look rather smart.

It soon got cold again, so we lit the fire and had a cosy evening in.

2½ miles, 5 locks