this is how it should be

After unhelpful weather we were half a day from our new base. the weather is glorious but we had to go back to celebrate Mum's birthday.
After an hour we moored up and washed the boat, a pleasant occupation on a sunny day. Lottie Lurcher flopped on the bank enjoying her freedom until she spotted a cat strolling along the towpath. She sped up to it at full gallop but the cat stood its ground and braced itself for impact. Poor Lottie stopped dead, and looked at the cat as if to say you're no fun, you are supposed to run. Saddened she returned to me and received a treat as compensation while the cat strolled nearer and settled down to wash itself. what a tease.
Later we cruised along to a new friend who lives next to the canal, his unique oak boat at the bottom of his garden. Lottie played with his whippet Amber while we enjoyed relaxing in his garden.

As soon as we set out a hire boater pulled out in front of us. it was just as well we were not in a hurry. The boat had several changes of tiller man each worse than the first. It  was amazing how they scraped the boat round each corner but it did make fascinating cruising. Many hire boaters are excellent at cornering and going through bridge holes but these were the worst I've seen in a long time. Eventually we moored up less than an hour from base.

Next morning we cruised to the marina where Nick and Amanda the resident swans showed off their cygnets. By 11.30 we had packed the car and set out for home. The motorways were kind today, no holdups so we reached home in just over 3 hours.

Lazy cruise back to base

Rocky overhangs make the canal narrow

We tackled the Stourton 4 locks leisurely but were still back at the junction with the Staffordshire and Worcestershire canal within an hour.

 

Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal

Paul promptly moored up for a leisurely brew. We set off slowly along this beautiful canal so we could enjoy the views. We stopped early and the sun shone all evening.


We had a cold start the next day. We moored up for a break and to warm up inside. Then we worked through the Bratch flight, which is both unusual and attractive. The bridges were also pretty. 



The Bratch 1of 3 linked locks

Waiting to ascend The Bratch

After lunch we moved on. It was slightly warmer but I found myself waiting for the sun to peep through the clouds to warm me up even though I had 4 layers of clothing to keep me warm. It’s more like March than May.


We found a lovely mooring but were disturbed by a pair of ducks which crash landed on our roof. They waddled up and down and sounded as if they were a pair of emus. It was the first time ducks have tried out our roof but we don’t really want clodhopping neighbours upstairs.

Noisy neighbours settled on the towpath

Next morning was sunny but turned cloudy quickly and got windy. It turned cold then it rained. Within an hour it had turned to sleet. No wonder the British are obsessed with the weather.

Beyond the Netherton Tunnel

 

Cruised through the Netherton Tunnel. Nothing came through towards us. No boat ramming us like in Blissworth Tunnel. it was all very tame. the other side of the hill was so different from Birmingham, seemingly peaceful and rustic, yet the Dudley canal was pronounced unsuitable for overnight mooring apart from Merryhill. I guess that's when all the Zombies come out to play.

At the bottom of Delph 8

We should have stopped there but carried on through the super deep Delph locks, speeded on our way by a local canal enthusiast called John. Thanks John, 8 locks in 80 minutes, that's flying for a crew of 2. We were not so lucky at the next flight of 16 locks a couple of miles further on. the locks took ages to fill and the gates were very heavy due to the deep locks. We dropped 145 feet in 1.3 miles and eventually moored up after 8.00 exhausted.