bridges – Narrowboat Firecrest

Five and a Quarter Miles

Another week of gentle cruising- although I should say one day’s cruise and a week of watching the world go by. Before the heatwave hit us the weather was a bit iffy. We’d moored up in Alrewas under a rainbow.

Looking towards Bagnall Lock at Alrewas, the river navigation board is on green, good to go

Not only do rainbows require rain, so do rivers, and if CRT get lucky, they get a lot of rain, but at Alrewas that means the short quarter mile section where the river Trent and the canal merge, it’s prone to fast flow and unsafe navigation. We didn’t want to hang around and wait for that to happen, so we donned our life jackets

And set off through Alrewas Lock past the “Quarter Mile Bridge” which the Trent flows under

Leaving Alrewas Lock to cross the River Trent

and across the canal where the water suddenly becomes clear enough to see the bottom- or you could if there wasn’t a garden of green down there

Makes a change from the usual muddy water

and out the other side around the floating barrier that prevents narrowboats getting swept the wrong way over the weir.

At this point I want to recall an incident we witnessed the day before at Alrewas Lock, as a reminder of the need to take Lock safety seriously. A boat had entered the lock to come up the canal. The crew had wound up to let the water in, and were walking across the top lock gate ready to open it. but there was a big splash, they had fallen off the lock gate into the canal. Not because they were being careless but because the boat had shot forward and hit the lock gate with such force that it shuddered and knocked the lady off. We rushed to help but there were enough people around that we weren’t needed and the lady was hauled out with only her pride injured. If the lock had still been filling she could have been sucked under never to be seen again. What we then found out was that the driver of the boat had left the helm and climbed off the boat because their dog was misbehaving on the bank, so there was no one actually controlling the boat, and the lady who had been knocked in was actually from the previous boat who had stopped to help. We all know accidents happen, but could this have been prevented if there had been someone at the helm? who knows. This time everyone lived to tell the tale and learn some lessons, – control your dogs, don’t bash into the lock gates and hold on tight when you cross a lock gate.
Anyway, back to our own story. Although the Trent isn’t a mile wide at this point, we think the bridge gets it’s name because it runs parallel to the canal spanning the flood plain for a Quarter Mile, between the Lock and just beyond the weir.

After the river section, we passed through Wychnor lock. The canal is quite busy at the moment and there was a crew waiting to come up in the next boat. They were already in position and offered to work the lock for us, hence a rare opportunity for me to post a photo of Firecrest leaving a lock

It’s about 5 miles down to Branston from Alrewas, and it feels like half of it is running parallel to the A38, its tedious and noisy, but we make it to one of the pretty locks, Tattenhall Lock

And find ourselves a pleasant mooring at the Branston water park

Just in time for another rainbow, whilst we were here, Adam and Adrian cruised past on Briar Rose, just enough time for a quick hello- must make it longer next time

And yes, Branston is the home of…..

Although it’s no longer made here.

And with it being a water park, no shortage of youngsters enjoying themselves

The Worcester Waddle

Back in August our journey north continued upstream on the River Severn. We enjoyed an overnight stop on the pontoon at Upton, a very pretty little town, built up to take advantage of river trade, and the fact that one of the few bridges that spanned the river for many miles.

That river trade is still in evidence as we realised when a heavily laden barge thundered past us. These are the 350 tonne Cemex aggregate barges that plough up and down steam all day, to both a processing plant and then onto the ready mix cement plant near Gloucester

Aggregate extraction, river transport is still the most efficient and greenest option.

We gave them a wide berth if we saw one approaching, and we carried on cruising up to Worcester.

We had planned to leave the river and moor in town, but, surprise surprise there was a problem with one of the locks, so we bagged another 48 hour pontoon mooring. And with a view of the cathedral it was a good decision.

We have friends who live in Worcester, so it was nice to be invited into a home for a cuppa and cake for a change. We made a few more friends in Worcester during our 2 days, as 80 penguins were also exploring the city as part of a fund raising initiative for the local hospice.
https://waddleofworcester.co.uk/

I think I saw about 20 of them on my waddle around town. They were auctioned off in October and raised £330,000. They were all fun to look at and even more fun was seeing the smiles on the faces of the children enjoying them

As boaters we still get excited seeing kingfishers along the cut, but they’re notoriously hard to spot. And sadly this is one i didnt spot.

River Avon, from Stratford to Evesham

We bought a 2 week licence to cruise down the Avon. It’s a 42 mile stretch of wiggledy windy rural loveliness, lined with trees and vistas of farmland. And some villages with houses that wouldn’t be out of place gracing the Thame at Marlow or Windsor. Unfortunately for us, the opportunity for wild mooring is virtually non existent with all the official mooring is restricted to 48 hours. And back during the first fortnight of July, the amount of rainfall was making us wonder what had happened to summer. This mean we were at risk of being hit by red warnings for strong flow and high water levels. Needless to say at Stratford, the wildlife was proving noisier than the tourists- or was it just that they started earlier in the day.

Early morning on the Avon opposite the RSC

So we untied the ropes and set off. Holy Trinity Church has one of the stunning skylines in Stratford although when the sky is blue, the reflection on the river is equally as impressive.

Being a river with quite a flow means there is a need for some strong bridges. Sometimes it’s not always clear which archway has been cleared for navigation, the willow tree certainly hadn’t been trimmed so Eric was left guessing which arch to head for

Most of the locks on the Avon are nice wide doubles, but Robert Aickman’s new lock holds 3 narrowboats. Robert Aickman was instrumental in maintaining and preserving the canal network in particular reopening the South Stratford canal and the Avon Navigation. Protocol says you always leave your exit gates open when leaving the lock which makes the locks easier to work.

Most of the available mooring on the Avon is on the locking channels that bypass the weirs. At the Offenham mooring we were treated to several low flying military planes passing by.

We are always intrigued by this structure at Offenham, but it transpires it is simply a monument built by Eric Prichard who was involved with building the locks and weirs.

We were pleased to see blue sky when we woke, but the flow on the river was still very lively. The warning boards, below the lock, weren’t clear, and our impression is that they could be positioned more visibly and better maintained. Above the lock all looked calm, but as we exited, we realised we were now nudging into red but having set off we put on our life jackets and carried on.

Those weirs really add to the speed of the flow

We were confident the boat could handle the flow, it was lively but not scary. But I made the mistake of distracting Eric at the wrong moment. We were on a bend and the current had other ideas about which line we should take. Eric was a moment too late to correct his course. It’s debatable which of us came off worse, us or the overhanging tree. The tree broke a branch and we are now sporting a go faster stripe down the length of the boat.

Lessons learnt, we survived, I guess we could relate the error to skidding on an icy road and we were lucky just to sustain a scratch in the paintwork. Of course 5 minutes downstream the river straightened and you’d never have known how fast the current was. The moral here is NEVER underestimate the power of water. We’re not sure ice on the road was the cause of this car’s demise.

After our scary moment the rest of journey was a real pleasure. And we have to say we love river cruising

Nice mooring at Workman Gardens in Evesham.

Some Perfect Spring Cruising

After my little jaunt away living the highlife, counting puffins Eric had moved Firecrest through Leicester and was waiting for me at Kilby Bridge. The weather was perfect and we were keen to be on our way.

Sometimes there’s no need for lengthy details as we watch the world go by

Sometimes the scenery and tranquility just speaks for itself as others just watch us go by, whilst we disappear into the tunnel

Sometimes quite a lot of people watching us go by, but what do you expect going up Foxton Locks on a sunny Sunday afternoon

Just so long as they evenings are peaceful

But its in the tunnels that you really hope you don’t meet anyone,

Mmmm that looks like 2 boats coming towards us, hope they move over. Crick tunnel is two way

But meeting a lockie on the Watford flight is always welcome.

The Watford flight would be very pleasant if it weren’t for the M1 thundering alongside the canal

And finally, Norton Junction. We’ve arrived at the point where our current Plan xxx route and our original plan A route rejoin, and we thought we’d have been here in March.

Spring in our step

Time to push on. After two lovely days enjoying James and Helen’s company we set them off Firecrest as we reached the Meccano Bridge so they could walk home along the Valley Park footpath.

The Meccano Bridge over the disused railway

we were passing through some lovely rural countryside, through Penkridge, (great butchers and bakery), up through the Tixall wides and onto the Trent and Mersey canal

although it did get a bit narrow in places, even the ducks thought it safer to stick to the towpath, hope we don’t meet anyone coming the other way

But it wasnt all narrow, sometimes we had to duck as well

we met some thirsty cows

and some frolicking lambs

And some wagging wagtails

We also encountered a very aggressive swan at Weston, it chased us off its patch for over quarter mile, it even tried biting Eric’s leg. Funnily enough, we had the same thing happen 2 years ago in exactly the same spot. It must be the same swan-athough they all look alike to me,

If he’d asked nicely we’d have given him a lift

We seem to have settled into spring at last

we had a night on the Tixall wides but with it being a bank holiday weekend we decided to take the first available mooring, which was peaceful and just as pretty

A few days of firsts

We could happily have stayed a few days soaking in the tranquility at the lower end of the Stourbridge canal. But we were ready to continue our journey north.

just four more locks before the junction

And onto the Stafforshire and Worcestershire canal.

This canal was built in the 1770’s to service the potteries around Stoke on Trent. However trade declined when newer canals provided a more direct route between Liverpool and the South. In order to remain competitive the canal company increased the lock opening hours and reduced the tolls. Now there’s an interesting idea. It’s a very pretty canal that cuts through the red sandstone rock in places, and follows the meandering rivers and Smestow Brook.

Within minutes of turning north, the smell of wild garlic hit us, so I leapt off to gather a bunch to make pesto our first spring foraging treat.

You just need to harvest the leaves, but make sure you identify what’s garlic and what isn’t, everyth8ng looks lush and green right now

Our next first was seeing our first ducklings of the year, 24th April. Out of interest I looked back to last year and my first duckling photo was on 23rd April.

there were another 5 who were a bit camera shy

And another first, this time for James Brindley in 1770, as he managed to combine a lock and road bridge in one crossing.

And whilst we were ticking off firsts, we realised that this was the first time we had done the Bratch Locks in sunshine. It was raining so hard last time we had to bribe the lockies to leave their toll booth to help us

It’s an amazing feat of engineering, originally a staircase lock of three, the water level changes by over 30′. Although technically its now individual locks it still needs to be treated as a staircase and there’s usually a lock keeper on duty to make sure no one sinks. Sadly James Brindley died a few months before it became operational.

The locks are fierce and powerful, we often chat to the families watching at locks and always remind the children never to play close to the edge because of the undercurrents. We had never seen a whirlpool as big as this one at a lock

The vortex was between 8 and 12 inches across.

Finally something we’ve come to enjoy peaceful mooring

Moving swiftly on

We have mixed feelings about being in built up areas, sometimes they appeal and other times we yearn for the countryside. And having explored Birmingham last January the busyness of the Easter Bank Holiday encouraged us to move on after only one night.
Last year we had travelled into Birmingham on the Old Line, so this time we decided to explore a new route and leave on the New Main line

The two lines run parallel to each other for quite a stretch,

The advantage being that the improved new mainline tackles the summit with a tunnel instead of 6 locks, making it a much quicker and easier passage for the barges.

And also reducing the workload for the Smethwick pumping station

And whilst I’m sure they weren’t built at the same time, the M5 motorway provides a canopy over the Old line for quite a section, whereas the New line creeps underneath the two, although you cant see it, there’s also a railway line crossing at the same point.

Duck, going under the Old line and the M5

Last January we had taken 3 days to do this journey on the Old Line it was cold and bitter and section’s of the canal were still frozen. This time we had reached the Netherton tunnel branch in 3 hours.

And we were able to moor up in the very pretty and peaceful Bumblehole

Decisions, Decisions…

Decisions decisions
which way should we go to Birmingham,

Plan A- carry straight on up the Grand Union Canal via Knowle and Aston Junction exploring a new stretch of water

Plan A to carry on up the Grand Union canal

No, it looks like Plan B via Lapworth

Or Plan B turn left onto the Stratford Canal

We’d heard a rumour about a stoppage along planned route A so decided not to risk it. And besides, choosing route B cut 11 locks off our total journey. Despite the mindless graffiti on the bridge, Kingswood junction is a very pretty place with the Kingswood link branch joining the Stratford upon Avon Canal.

And the Stratford canal is all single locks

I know I’m a bit obsessed about the number of locks we’re doing, but that’s my achy muscles talking and I knew there were 19 to get to the top of the Lapworth flight. But as if to encourage me, the clouds dispersed and spring sunshine spurred us on.

This is the route we took last year coming south on our way to the Thames. And the Lapworth flight is where my phone took a leap in for a swim, never to be seen again, it didn’t stop me peering into the infamous lock 8 just in case I could rescue it.

surprise surprise the naughty phone remains in Navy Jones’s Locker. So we were able to marvel at some of the interesting historical structures instead. The bridges on the Stratford canal are metal and split to allow traditional horse drawn boats to pass through efficiently. On Bridge 32 there is a rotating wheel that helps guide the pulling ropes from one side of the canal to the other as the towpath changes side.

We made it up to Lapworth top lock and settled in to enjoy a few days of sunshine at Hockley Heath.

And the prospect of more than 20 miles without any more locks.

Turning Right at Bulls Bridge

Not sure where we’d end up or if its 87.5 miles or 187.5 miles we turned right at Bulls Bridge to begin our journey back up north. We suspect it should say Braunston, but maybe Birmingham. We settled for a few days in West Drayton soaking up the sunshine,

Opposite the train station at West Drayton

Enjoying the sunsets,

and the sunrises

All of which reminded us that we were still, infact, pointing west, not yet going north. And still just about within the Greater London confines inside the M25. Our autumnal cruising plan is to meander slowly up the Grand Union overwintering around the Milton Keynes area, roughly 50 miles and 67 locks. We decided not to venture down the 5 miles Slough arm, because although it is lock free, having chatted to the local boaters, we weren’t sure we could moor easily. Perhaps we missed an opportunity. Perhaps we’ll do it next time.

Cowley Peachy junction for the Slough Arm

but immediately past the junction we were climbing uphill and the locks, thankfully not all 11 foot deep like Denham deep lock

And under some high railway bridges

And past some railway bridges not yet built as HS2 passes over the canal around Harefield. We have to take a deep breath and remind ourselves what an eyesore building the canals must have been in the 18th century, but how glad we are to have them now.

In the late 1700’s William Capell, 4th Earl of Essex, was similarly concerned when sat of the board for the building of the Grand Junction canal, that would pass through his extensive estate, of Cassiobury and Watford. He insisted on the canal being aesthetically pleasing. And so it is.

Looks like Her Majesty’s at home, Windsor part 1, Eton

No wonder the tourists love visiting Windsor, everywhere you look there is history, pageantry and Britishness, which includes lots and lots of people and touts cashing in. But we were lucky enough to find a spot of unrestricted wild mooring, opposite the race course, just a 15 minute walk into town.

Wild mooring, opposite the Windsor racecourse.

At the weekends, Eton College opens it’s museums to the public, so as it was Sunday we walked up to the hallowed halls and enjoyed wondering what it would have been to have been educated in a place like this,

but as the Victorian Educator, William Johnson Cory who was an Eton Master expressed, its not so much about being educated, as being taught how to learn, and that was the vibe we picked up. It might seem like a privilege to be educated here, but oh boy we also got the impression that those boys work very very hard.

Eton, itself is not just a school but an entire town. Eton being derived from the old English word, meaning “river town”, was a hamlet in 1066, built up by people maintaining the road and bridge from London to Windsor. It wasn’t until 1440 when Henry VI chose to build his new college here that the name Eton became synonymous with an elite education.

Nowadays most of the town’s businesses, are dedicated to supporting the schools infrastructure.

Eton was the first place in England to have a post office and this early Victorian post box shows why in the style of a doric column helps explain why they are called pillar boxes.

A proper pillar box, with a vertical letter slot

Whilst we were there, we saw the Queens Baton relay arrive, which has toured the commonwealth in anticipation of the commonwealth games being held in Birmingham later this summer.

Not quite as exciting as an olympic flame, but still a great honour and I’m sure Birmingham will do us proud

The baton was carried over the Windsor bridge which has been pedestrianised to link Windsor and Eton. We also crossed the river and continued to expore….