Damsons and blackberries

Sunday 20^th September; Dunhampstead to Perdiswell Park

Quite a chilly morning under cloudy skies, and we didn’t leave till about 10.  There was a welcome sight at Offerton Top Lock

and most of the other locks were in our favour too.  We had to wait for just one boat on our descent.  I picked blackberries as we worked our way down – not particularly plentiful now, but super-ripe and very sweet.  Once we had moored up at the bottom I went back to the bottom lock for some damsons.  They were mostly squashed over the towpath, but I knocked some more down with the boat pole and got half a colander full.  We like stewed damsons with our cereal in the morning – and blackberries too.  A passer-by said there were lots more damsons on the lane running parallel to the canal – it’s actually an old tarmac road, now disused – but I couldn’t find any, though I did get more blackberries. 

Chuffed spied from the lane

We had lunch and watched a procession of Black Princes, which must have been on their way back to base at Stoke Wharf.  Then we pottered on down Tolladine lock, where the damsons had finished.  These are in direct sun, whereas the ones at Offerton bottom were on the north side of the hedgerow so were slightly later ripening.  These locks have a handy set of steps for the crew to get back on the boat.

Once down Blackpole lock, we moored at the park.  We never normally have any trouble getting in, but the bottom seemed a little closer to the top than usual this time, with some reed growth too, and we couldn’t get right in to the side.  Dave took Meg to the park, then got on with some painting.

8 locks 4½ miles