From the racecourse to the park

Saturday October 20th;  Worcester Riverside to Perdiswell Park

Last night the Oktoberfest beer festival and its entertainment ceased promptly at 11pm, and apart from the occasional noisy clubbers chattering their way across the footbridge it was very quiet.  I know about the clubbers as I woke up at about 2 and couldn’t get back to sleep for a couple of hours.  I tried tiring my brain by thinking of waterways-related alphabetical lists – ‘canal towns and villages’ was too easy, apart from some of the high-score Scrabble letters, but ‘lock flights’ was hard enough to do the trick.  In the morning I wanted to be up promptly to join the parkrun at 9am, but with my wakeful night I overslept, so it was a bit of a rush even though I only had to trot across the racecourse to the start!  It was too foggy to see right across to the start point, though visibility was improving by the end; the finish line is in the far distance of the picture (taken by Dave). 

After a nice hot shower it was time to make tracks for the canal.  Moored as we were by the Worcester Canoe Club on a Saturday morning, we had a bit of a wait for some clear water to push off and turn to go downstream.  It was still misty but the sun was coming through as we let the current take us slowly through the assorted sculls, launches and canoes from the two clubs.  The big flock of swans (all likely to be too young to have paired up yet) was hanging about on the east bank.

The river was clear as Dave started the turn to the floating pontoon where you tie up before the crew goes to set the lock.  The bottom two locks of the Worcester and Birmingham are 18’ wide and can take large sea-going craft up to the basin.  The bridge can be swung, though we have never seen it opened.

The lock was empty, but by the time I had opened a gate and we were ready to cast off, a scull had arrived and was in the way, hanging around having a bit of a natter debrief.  Dave called out that he would need to make a wide turn to get into the lock, but they didn’t seem to understand that 55’ of steel is not as manoeuvrable as their little boat!

So Dave couldn’t go as wide as he wanted, but was able to use the current to bring the bow round for a clean entry.

A local boater was waiting for a friend at the top lock and helped us up that one, then we stopped on the facilities mooring to dispose of rubbish and empty a cassette.  While Dave dealt with that I went to NB Northern Light, the café boat in the basin, for some well-filled bacon sandwiches.

They were delicious.  We were a bit naughty in staying on the water-point while we ate them, but with no other boats moving we didn’t care. 

Two sections of the towpath edge here have collapsed, reducing the available mooring space; I hope it is on the list for winter work.

The first two locks were against us, and we were slightly held up too by the need to leave Blockhouse Lock empty; but while I looked after that Dave moved up to the next bridge to moor for the shops.

I arrived in time to help him tie up.  We went over to Aldi as they have Heatlogs for £3.99 at the moment.  The logs, which are made of compressed sawdust, looked rather different from what we are used to, so we only bought one pack till we know if they are as good as the old ones.

Then it was off out of the city.  At bridge 11 there is a little park with play equipment and a long mural.  We have been past several times in the last few years and have never seen it vandalised with graffiti tags.

And under the bridge …

Now it was just two pairs of locks in the sunshine, and a potter past Perdiswell Sports Centre and the football pitches to moor at bridge 17, opposite Perdiswell Park.  First things first -

Now we’ve had some rain the autumn fungi are looking good.

Here is a big one – Meg’s tennis ball gives the scale!  I haven’t got my book with me, but I think it could be a parasol mushroom (edible), but maybe a panther cap (poisonous).  So we left it where it was.

The park is opposite our mooring, just over the bridge, and a housing estate is behind the towpath hedge.  It feels almost rural.  But beyond the bridge are factory units on both sides of the canal for a considerable distance.  Dynasystems is on the edge of the park and has a tower near the boundary.  Their website says

‘Dynasystems is dedicated to improving perimeter security to ensure that personnel, assets and operations are protected against blast, ballistic and hostile vehicle effects. Dynasystems products include blast-resistant watchtowers, protective walling systems, ballistic windows, blast-resistant structures and universal construction systems.’

Is this a blast-resistant watchtower?  What do they expect from the good folk of Worcester?  Or maybe it’s those dodgy boaters they are bothered about.

Dave polished the brasses in the last of the sunshine.  It was warm enough to have the side hatch open; a couple of hours later we needed to light the fire.

4½ miles, 2 large locks, 6 narrow locks.