Heading north

Droitwich to Ashwood Junction

May 2018

We have finally set off on our northern journey which will see us arrive in Liverpool at the end of the month.

Max Sinclar's old cottage

The plan was to travel to Autherley Junction and then turn north up the Shroppie, but the breach at Middlewich means a few more locks and miles as we will go via Stoke. The downside is the climb to Harecastle and then down Wheelock Edge so lots of locking to look forward to.

Reed fringed Barge Canal

For now we started off bright and early, slipping out of Netherwich Basin before the other boaters were awake. The Droitwich Barge Canal was a delight, with deep water and the locks all set in our favour. Not that there were any other boats around, so we locked down alone. 

We breasted the boats up in the bottom lock ready for the passage upstream. This isn't the fastest way to travel but it is by far the safest and one where both boats are under control at all times. The downside is the speed. The Severn is comfortably in the green but it still has a strong flow on it, which slowed our progress to 2.5mph on most reaches but just below the locks where the river is at its shallowest progress slowed to an agonising 1.5mph!

Holte Bridge and Lock - River Severn

Holt and Bevere Locks passed in slow succession but all this time we had the river pretty much to ourselves. Locking up was a tad interesting because in both locks the keepers wanted us on the operators side. Unfortunately, this is the butty side which, with its minute 2m of straight plate, means we tend to swing round like a top. So, Instead of locking up with ropes attached we elected to bob about in the chamber and have the paddles raised very slowly.

We came into Stourport Basin in mid afternoon and after a pause on the service mooring we left the main basin and found a secluded spot on the visitor moorings.

Caldwell Lock

Thursday saw us slide upstream along a deserted Staffs and Worcester Canal, miles and locks passing us by is a steady sequence. Kidderminster offers good shopping opportunities including a visit to Sainsburys. One of the nice things about travelling with the butty is the reaction it elicits from passers by. As we rose up Wolverley Lock a German boating party were having a few beers in the sunshine and asked about the butty. Before we left the lock we had sold 6 jars which paid or a couple of pints of bitter and left a profit on top.

As the weather was lovely we pressed on and ended up mooring in the secluded environs of Ashwood Junction.

St Richards Festival, Droitwich 2018

St Richards Festival, Droitwich

May 2018

Phew, the 2018 Droitwich festival was a hot one!

As the festival approached the weather forecast got better and better, and when the weekend finally arrived we were treated to three days of wall to wall sunshine. Each day was hotter than the last and at the risk of stating the obvious, the success of canal festivals is very weather dependent.

Droitwich, or St Richards Festival to give its its proper name, is far more than a canal festival. It represents a significant event in the town's calendar and as such is able to attract massive numbers of visitors. The crowds flocked in and rather than sheltering from rain they sat around in the shade, eating drinking and generally making merry. Our customers turned out in force and we enjoyed our best ever Droitwich from a sales perspective, running out of some lines which is a bit of a shock for the first event of the year!

Given the unrelenting demand I never got to see any of the event beyond Vines Park, but that was ok. All day long people sat around outside the beer tent, listening to the bands till late in the evening. With a regular shuttle of beer deliveries arriving there was a steady supply of Bumblehole, our favourite beer and its sharp refreshing taste kept us going through the heat of the afternoons.

I lost count of the number of friends who came to the event and say hello. If you came and I barely saw you I do apologise!

Droitwich isn't really a big boaters event, and there was not a lot in the shape of historic boat interest this year. That said, Hadar was in the basin and Scorpio arrived bearing a cargo of salt which was used in the construction of a sculpture commemorating the salt making history of the town.

With the festival over we moved the boats to the basin and went home for a night, attending to various chores, completing several loads of washing and making a jam delivery to The Fairlawns hotel before returning to the boats and our nomadic summer existence. All in all a cracking start to the season and in one event made up for the fact that we have fewer trading days booked this year as we to a tour of the north.

Droitwich lock in

Droitwich lock in

May 2018

It was only supposed to be a short trip, so not much chance of anything eventful happening.

With a lousy forecast for Wednesday morning and a fine afternoon we stayed put till noon and, with the rain clouds giving way to blue skies we wet off for Hanbury Junction. Then we turned west and saw the most enormous black cloud over Droitwich and heading our way. Oh er - better grab our waterproofs.

An unexpected mooring on the lock landing

The new water level boards at the top lock were showing green for the Severn and amber for the Salwarp. Boats were coming up so all was fine to proceed. The heavens opened as we descended and we squelched our way through the staircase pair only to find a CRT employee at the last lock before the M5 tunnel. We were told that the water levels of the Salwarp has risen sharply and were now into the red - which meant that the river section was impassable and had to be closed.

A locked canal and the Smestow in flood

Our options were to stop before the M5 tunnel (advised) or to continue through to the lock landing above the last narrow lock. A mooring beneath the M5 is very noisy so we decided to have a crack at the tunnel. We approached the gauging board and were about an inch too high, but these things are always a bit pessimistic. We therefore edged into the tunnel with a warning that it dips a "bit" in the middle. With just an inch of clearance above our cratch plate we were keen to understand what a "bit" entails. No clarification was forthcoming and I was told it was my call.  We went in very slowly and can report that the min clearance when the level board showed 1.8m was about one centimeter. Just enough if no one flushes a lock of water.

Flood waters at Vines Park Lock

And so we made it to the lock landing above the river section and instead of a trickling stream these was a seething torrent, sliding smoothly over what is usually a small waterfall. A cursory examination of the lower landing stage showed that the water had recently covered it, but oddly even with the barge canal locked, the river in spate and the gauge in the red, the depth reading at the top stayed firmly in the green.

Contradictory levels at the start of the Narrow Canal

An odd observation about dog ownership. As we sat on the lock landing a passing dog walker asked if we had a plastic bag. We supplied a bright orange Sainsbury bag which was duly used to pick up the poo deposited by his Staffie. Good on him we thought.

Locked in!

Later we walked into town and there at a towpath entrance was the said Sainsburys bag, complete with poo - discarded and abandoned. On our way back the bag was gone, presumably picked up by a civic minded resident. Sadly not, because on our passage down the next day there was the knotted bag hurled into the midst of a big bramble patch. Why, if you bother to pick up your dog poo, do you then leave it wrapped in polythene for all to enjoy!

After a night on the lock landing the water dropped into the amber and the padlock was removed letting us enter Vines Park and take up our position for trading over the weekend.

Geared up for trouble

The Saga of the broken gearbox

May 2017

I left you moored in Stourport Basin eagerly awaiting a new gearbox, the old one having spewed its contents into the bilge as we made our way out of the Black Country.

Droitwich Canal Festival 2017

Well, things have move one, but only a bit and truth be told its all been a bit of a saga.

Our expectations were that we would have a new PRM120 within a few days and we would be on our way, but sadly this proved not to be the case. There were no spares on the shelf so a new one had to be ordered from Beta before the job could be scheduled. Days dragged by with no firm news till eventually at noon on Wednesday it became apparent that there would be no repair till after the Droitwich weekend.

Trading at Droitwich

So a decision had to be made, to set off down the Severn with a very dodgey gearbox of to resign ourselves to another week in Stourport. The options were considered and as the oil was only dribbling out of the gearbox I figured I could keep topping it up and hopefully we could make it to the festival site. If all else failed we could stop on the river and wait for a tow from one of the other boats making for the event.

It was a nervous 2.5 hours but we made it to the Droitwich Barge Canal without incident and refilled the box and saw an alarmingly large pool of oil under the engine. We carried on up the canal and reached Vines Park with no oil showing on the dipstick!

Festival goers enjoying some sun

And so we managed to trade at the 2017 St Richards Festival under a grey and leaden sky. Not ideal weather but our loyal customers came out in force and we ended up with a very satisfactory event from a sales perspective. Of course, there is more to events than sales and it was great to spend time with other traders and the festival organisers.

As for the gearbox - it has arrived. Sadly an essential tool was missing so the engineers will return tomorrow and hopefully we will be off by the afternoon.

Colours from Morgana

And so the Droitwich show closes

Dog days of spring

May 2015

Yes, yes, I know its the dog days of summer but in Droitwich the Bank Holiday Monday is dog day. The day of the dog show when hounds of every size and hue congregate in Vines Park, mingling with the organised walks and bike rides.

Fortunately the weather took a turn for the better, with blue skies replacing grey, the wind veering to a light southerly and the temperature picked up a good 10 degrees C. As a result the parkas were replaced by tee shirts and shorts and the crowds were out in force, making this the best day of the three for attendees and traders alike.

There was little time for photography as the preserve reserves ran low and we ended the day with a much lightened Jam Butty. If I take a purely commercial view of the event across its three days it was pretty much the same as 2014.

After a promptish take down to the beat of the end of event bash in the beer tent we headed upstream at 6.00pm, making out way up five locks to Droitwich Spa Marina, the boats temporary home for the next ten days as we wait for the Alvechurch Beer and Boat Festival.

And so normal life resumes back at home but kick started with a visit to Longwood Boat Club where we juggled a couple of mooring spots to squeeze both boats into the arm in preparation for our arrival in a couple of weeks time.

St Richards Festival, Droitwich

St Richards Festival, Droitwich

May 2015

Having arrived in Droitwich on Thursday we have seen the festival site in Vines Park being built and then the event get into full swing as part of the Worcester Birmingham 200th anniversary celebrations.

Saturday is generally that main day of this town event, with a farmers market, an Italian market, a craft market, over 200 classic cars plus the canalside events in Vines Park. In the past the weather has favoured this event, with long hot days encouraging the visitors out in droves. Sadly the run of luck ran out this year for the Saturday with temperatures way  down in the single figures which kept the numbers well down.

Sunday dawned much warmer but there was always a threat of a downpour, but with the sun shining on the site the general mood rose and people thronged the beer tent all day, listening to the various acts performing and drinking some very acceptable Ma Pardoes real ale.

Of course, its not all about visitor numbers. Its the season's kick off event where we meet up with old friends, chew the cud and make plans for the forthcoming boating season.

Sunday was boosted by a visit from Dan who was with us for most of the afternoon and there was plenty of scope for Dad and son time, including a pint of Entire as we sampled the contrasting delights of a heavy metal thrash band and the Worcestershire Ukulele Band!

And so we move into the third and final day of the festival, and one which promises the best weather. After that the boats will be laid up in Droitwich Spa Marina for 10 days before the Alvechurch Beer and Boat Festival, also run by the Worcerster Birmingham and Droitwich Canal Society.

Droitwich Scenes

St Richard's Festival - Droitwich
May 2014

The St Richard's Festival in Droitwich is a relatively new event in the canal festival season which is really getting into its stride, run by the Worcester Birmingham and Droitwich Canals Society. The event was launched on the back of the canal restoration opening event in 2011. After a year's gap in 2012 Wychavon Council approached the Canal Society and between them they expanded the existing one day St Richard's Festival into the three day event we see today, operating from a canal side base in Vines Park over the early May bank holiday in 2013 and 2014.

Lazy Sunday afternoon

Perhaps the surprising thing is how the event has matured into something so substantial so quickly, with an estimated 10,000 visitors attending on the Saturday and in excess of 20,000 over the whole weekend. Perhaps the secret of its rapid success is its partnership with the the town who delight in the restored canal and whose activists lay on a broad spectrum of activities and entertainments, which really attracts a crowd. Not only are there the usual canal based attractions there are also food markets, art exhibitions, classic cars, medieval re enactment and war memorabilia exhibitions. Enough attractions and activities to make it a great day out in a remarkably attractive little town.

 Barry and Sandra from Areandare

 Two Captains

Whilst the local residents have been quick to recognise the event's appeal, the boating community have been a bit slower off the mark with only two Roving Trader boats taking advantage of the very significant sales opportunity.

The Canal Society is the powerhouse behind the festival, drawing on the significant resources and expertise which underpin the nearby Black Country Boating Festival and Parkhead Historic Boat events which take place in the autumn. Of course, two consistent years of good weather have helped boost the event's appeal and  David Wheeler, the Society's Chairman, confirmed that it will return to Vines Park in May 2015.

 Trading and towing

Another day in downtown Droitwich

St Richards Festival

A day of preparation

May 2014

What does one do on a lazy day in Droitwich, waiting for the festival to begin on Saturday?

Well, we are here early because the forecast for today (Thursday) was terrible and neither of us had the inclination to slog through a bunch of locks in the rain. Nor, for that matter, do we want to be rocking up at the 11th hour, as is so often our habit.

Wand'ring Bark starts to enter into the spirit

So, like the Homebrew Boat, we have been making preparations, which sounds almost Biblical. Boats have been shuffled to optimise the space available whilst ashore tents have been erected and the infrastructure connected up. Most crucially of all, I saw the barrels of beer being unloaded so as Forest Gump's mother used to say "that's one more thing".

The Homebrew Boat

The council have been hard at work too, delivering big rubbish mins and applying a fresh coat of paint to the Voulenteer, a pretend boat in Vines Park. The crews of Areandare and Wand'ring Bark have also been hard at work livening up their boats with some decorative bunting but, as ever, the Capt's attempts barely passed muster. She who must be obeyed was satisfied with the end results but less enthusiastic about the non environmentally sound plastic coated steel garden canes used to hold the bunting aloft. There was me thinking that fact that it matched our corporate green would be the all important factor in winning her seal of approval!

Volunteers get the site into shape

But we did some more practical work and a huge batch of Red Onion Marmalade with Sloe Jelly was chopped and produced ready for future events. In between all this industry I managed to find time to natter to Barry for an hour or two... and then a later session in the pub. Its a tough life.

Oh, have I mentioned the beard. I thought I would drop that in at the end.

A gauntlet (well a thinsulate glove to be 100% accurate) was both thrown down and picked up to let the facial hair grow for the duration of our time away. If you are not a Facebook follower of Helen this is the sequence for the 1st 5 days:

 Day 1

 Day 2

 Day 3

 Day 4

Day 5