Kinver to Stourport
April 2014
Another balmy day on the southern end of the Staffs and Worcester, bringing out the thin trousers and tee shirts for the first time this year. The day was glorious right from the off, with a heron hovering directly opposite our Kinver mooring. He offered a great reflection but his patience as a fisherman outlasted mine as a photographer and I never did capture him actually catching anything.
A picture of patience
Its hard to beat this canal in springtime as it winds its was beside the River Stour, the canal channel at times cut right into the red sandstone cliffs which underlie the area. The newly unfurled leaves provide a thousand shades of green and the native undergrowth gets a moment in the spotlight before the Himalayan Balsam grows up and dominates all in its path.
Bluebells
The woodlands are a riot of blue at present with bluebells carpeting the ground in their millions.
Three fisheremen
There have been some human injections of interest too. Around Kidderminster new housing replaces the old industry and here and there old tree stumps have been artfully carves in to herons and kingfishers. And on a more natural level there has been a fruit tree planting programme underway on the towpath which will offer rich autumn pickings in years to come.
New fruit trees
Kidderminster church
One off phenomenon came south of Kidderminster where the seed pots were coming off the trees so thickly you could be forgiven for thinking the canal was covered in ice!
Call the ice breaker
From Kinver we played tag with nb Marsh Harrier, both of us heading for Droitwich and in the end we moored nose to tail on the Stourport visitor moorings. With poor weather predicted for Thursday we will make for Vines Park tomorrow, joining the Homebrew Boat who is already in situ.
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