Saturday 15th September; Kingswood Junction to Dickens’ Heath
We didn’t plan an early start, and didn’t get one; the single-hander moored in front of us left early and there was no other movement, but we thought she was going up the Lapworth flight so there was no point in hurrying just to catch her up. It was chilly when we left at 9.30, though the sun was out. I walked over to set the lock for Dave; lock 20, which boats coming from the Grand Union normally use instead of 21, was out of action, so he had to breathe in through the narrows and use 21 instead.
The paddles on lock 20 were encased in black plastic, and red stripy tape festooned the gates. A sign on the next lock explained there were ‘paddle issues’.
I raised a paddle as Dave made the turn, dumped the recycling and returned in time to open the gate for him and left him to come up on his own. I raised the paddles on the next lock before nipping across to the shop for the paper, getting back in time to open up for him. A volunteer turned up at the next lock and gave us a hand up the next few, as we were having to turn them all, then disappeared as we entered the longer pound below lock 14. As I went to turn lock 14 I could see him ahead with the single hander.
He did a sterling job, locking ahead for her then coming back to raise a paddle for us on the lock she had just left. Luckily he had a bike! Once we had a short wait for a boat coming down, then carried on making speedy progress till the two short curving pounds between locks 9, 8 and 7. We could see several people milling around, couldn’t even tell if a boat was coming down to start with. It turned out to be a 70-footer, a trust boat used by the Guides, and 3 new skippers were having a training weekend. Not the best place for us to meet them, but what a training opportunity for them! They passed the single-hander between 8 and 7. Luckily she was short enough to sit out of the way while they negotiated the curve.
We sat in lock 9 and waited. The instructor came down and asked us to pull in to give them the clearest run we could; it was a very slow and careful manoeuvre by the novice skipper and he did well. I’m not sure what would have happened if we had been 70’ too; we would probably have had to move across into the side pond. Things were complicated by the strong bywash pushing them into us, and then us against the side.
Changeover accomplished, we went up the next lock for another merry dance above it, this time with a 65-footer. It was a simpler manoeuvre this time, with them pulling in and giving Dave an easy passage.
The volunteer went back down at the next lock, leaving us with time to get the kettle on and a brew made before the last two pairs of locks. We met boats at each of the first pair, and the crew at the second was keen to discuss the architectural merits of the house above. The yuccas in flower were rather splendid I thought.
As we cruised by we could see the people inside having their coffee and ignoring the boats completely. It all looked a bit sophisticated for us.
At the last but one lock a gentleman was opening the bottom gates for us. It turned out to be the American (whose name I have forgotten) who used to live in the house at the top lock and was often around as an unofficial volunteer. Though he moved back to the States after his wife died, he decided he much preferred it in the UK and now lives in a house in the village. The single-hander was in the top lock; she was on her way to Swallow Cruisers for blacking the hull, which she was going to do herself. it wasn’t long before we were up too, and met her at the first lift bridge. The original plan had been for her to open it and go through, then for me to get off and close up, but access was poor especially on the upstream side so I did it for both of us. It’s not a difficult bridge, just a lot of winding – 40 turns up and 40 turns down. She moored up at Swallow Cruisers and we carried on by ourselves. The last bit of work was another lift bridge; 24 or so turns, very easy – at least till it came to close it, when strangely it was much harder work than opening it.
We slotted into a space at Hockley Heath for lunch, then I went to the little shop for some cream and yogurt to have with the summer autumn pudding I made last night. The little shop at Kingswood doesn’t do much in the way of dairy, just milk really.
We decided to move on a few miles; usually we like to stop just a few hundred yards further on, but today we wanted to get a bit closer to Birmingham. So we went on to between bridge 15 and the first footbridge at the mostly new-build settlement at Zombie Town Dickens Heath, though I think its official name is Forshaw or something similar. We had a quiet country mooring, close enough for a few strollers and dog-walkers but away from the built-up area.
6½ miles, 19 locks, 2 lift bridges.
Time for a rest tomorrow.
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