A peaceful mooring, mostly

Our mooring last night was one of the best. It's one of the few we've used in the past years that has no road noise at all, not even in the distance. It used to be that there were quite a few such on the rural canals, but the steady expansion of the motorway network has reduced their numbers considerably.

So the main source of row outside the boat (apart from bicycles hurtling by) was the birds. There was one, in particular, whose startling call was familiar but caused us both to have the equivalent of a tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon for it. In the end, Sheila cracked it. It was a green woodpecker earning its alternate name of yaffle. The sound really is quite unmistakable, the closest we have in the UK to a laughing jackass, but more urgent. There's a good example of it here.

With only a couple of hours run contemplated today, we made a leisurely start and got away just after 8.15. I walked to Gothersley lock and worked us up, then on to Rocky similarly. Both were empty, so it didn't take long, though they are deep locks. I then rode a little way before hopping off again at Flatheridge Bridge and walking on to Greensforge. This was our last chance for water for a bit, so we stopped on the service point and filled the tank. Good pressure here, so the answer is to use either Greensforge or Kinver and avoid Stewponey.

At Hinksford Lock, Sheila wanted some exercise, so I took over steering for the last stretch to the visitor moorings at Swindon whilst she walked. There were a few boats tied just before the 48 hour moorings, but we are the only one using the restricted section.

After lunch, we took a short walk up into the village, bought a loaf of bread and checked out the chippy. We're planning to have some of the doubly recommended fish and chips tonight, yum.

Tomorrow, it's Sheila's turn to do the work as we put in a solid day up Swindon, Marsh, Botterham Staircase, Bumble Hole and the Bratch. We plan to stay a couple of days there – it's a good spot for blacking the gunwale as the towpath is comparatively low.

Great food, scary food

First things first: The Green Man was great, a real find of a pub. For a start, it's a proper pub with regulars in the bar chatting to mine host and various odd nooks and crannies if you want to hide away or if you see someone in the bar that you owe money to. We ended up in the dog-free room, which was clearly meant for eating as well as supping. In addition to the usual stuff – tables, chairs, that sort of thing – there were several bookshelves full of old books ranging from the Bible and Book of Common Prayer through Bookkeeping for Beginners to uniform editions of The Count of Monte Cristo (in two vols), Black Beauty, A Tale of Two Cities et al.

(The Count of Monte Cristo was really handy as one of last Saturday's GK crossword clues was his personal name (6,6). It's Edmond Dantès, of course.)


A notice explained that this was so that you had something to read whilst waiting for your food to be cooked to order and that reading glasses were available from the bar in case you'd forgotten yours. The menu was quite short but more than adequate, real boater's food that reminded us of the Boar's Head in Poynton. We were feeling sharp set so ordered a starter and main course each. This was a bit of a mistake as the portions were huge and we couldn't finish any of them. And all that for less than £25 plus drinks which came in at under a fiver for a pint and a half.

After we'd eaten as much as we could and were preparing to waddle home, the landlord took a bit of trouble to chat to us about our boating and our cruising plans in a non-intrusive way, just making us feel at home. Definitely a pub to go back to, though probably either for just a main course or maybe starter, chips and dessert. The desserts were things like rice pudding or blackcurrant cheese cake...

Despite our gluttony, we both slept well and managed a prompt start this morning. It was an excellent cruise along what must be a contender for the most picturesque length of canal in the country. You can keep the Caldon and the Llangollen if I can have the southern Staffs and Worcs. Sheila was locking and was soon working off all that steak and chips, not to mention the large portions of "rabbit food" that came with everything. (Well, ok, maybe not the rice pudding.)

Every lock was against us and had to be turned and for most of the morning we didn't see another boat on the move. Down and down we went until we reached Stewponey, the place that always reminds me of the Reverend Spooner reciting The Burial of Sir John Moore after Corunna:

Not a drum was heard, not a funeral note,

As his horse to the rampart we curried

Like I say, scary food!

Anyway, on we went and got to Kinver just after eleven. There was plenty of room on the visitor moorings, though they've comprehensively filled up now. We've had a trip up into the village, bought pre-war sausages from the butcher and some other bits and bobs from the Co-op. It's turned out really fine and warm again, so most of the rest of the afternoon has been spent sitting on the bow, reading and smiling cheerfully to the passers-by. I must say, the locals make very good use of their canal towpath for walking, cycling, dog exercising, you name it.

An easier day tomorrow, just on to Wolverley before the final run through Kidderminster to Stourport.

 

Steadily South

The lockkeeper at The Bratch comes on at eight and although the flight is no longer locked overnight, navigating it without the lockie's advice is at your own risk. Accordingly, though we've done the flight several times before, we decided to get to the lock landing a bit before eight and wait until we saw him. As it turned out, we were early, half seven in fact, but so was he and we went straight in.

The Bratch is not a true staircase, though it was originally, but a curiosity in that there are three separate chambers, each with top and bottom gates, but virtually no distance between them. The flow from one chamber to the next is balanced by side pounds rather in the way of the Watford and Foxton staircases. In this case, the rule is "blue before red", the blue paddles being the top paddles of each chamber and the red the bottom paddles of the one above.

We soon got down with the lockie's help and were on our way towards Bumblehole and Botterham. Between the former and the latter of these I was able to get a washload running, just. Botterham is a true staircase of two chambers; no fancy stuff here, you have to have the upper chamber full and the lower empty regardless of which way you are going. We waited for a boat to work up and then set off down. There were two boats waiting below and one at least above by the time we'd finished, illustrating yet again the wisdom of "start early, stop early" on a popular canal at this time of year.

It wasn't long before Marsh Lock appeared, soon followed by Swindon and the rain. We'd planned to stop at Swindon and the washing was just getting into its final spin as we locked down. There are good moorings below the lock which had just the one boat on it when we arrived. Another has since turned up and settled for the day like ourselves.

After coffee we had a mooch round the village and checked out the pubs. The Pub Guide has no entries for here so we thought to remedy that deficiency by eating out tonight. Our choice has provisionally fallen on The Green Man, but I'll report tomorrow on the final result. Of the other two pubs mentioned in the canal guides, the Old Bush is still trading – and offering two curries for a tenner tonight – but the Greyhound is currently being turned into domestic accommodation and will soon be surrounded with tightly packed new houses.

Indeed, the whole village is a bit like that. There is very little sign of the original place and it's now a dormitory suburb for Wolverhampton and, apparently, Telford. There's a Post Office and general store for emergency supplies, but of course Kinver has a much better range of shopping opportunities. We plan to be there tomorrow so haven't availed ourselves of Swindon's scanty facilities.

The weather is gradually improving and we have hopes for tomorrow. Meantime, we've had a quiet afternoon on board which has at least enabled me to catch up with the backlog of entries for the Pub Guide.