Pictures -- from the top
Mike's dessert -- Gillian gave him two meringues, but all of our desserts (or pudding, as it's called) were quite impressive, and tasty.
Entering the "very narrow cutting"
Downhill lock manuevers
Bratch Locks -- the bottom of three. This lock has a lockmaster who is pictured along with a commercial boat.
Botterham Staircase Locks
Observed on my towpath walk: a cridket game, heron up close and personal, and swans in the canal next to the towpath.
Gailey, where we spent last night, has a 3-story round former toll house, which is now used as a souvenir shop. Unfortunately it was closed both last night and this morning. I don’t need any canal trinkets but did want a few more postcards. Plus it would have been fun to see inside. Ah, well. We began moving at 9:15 because there is a long distance to cover today. The first 12 miles or so have no locks so we should make reasonable time.
I sat for quite a while at the back with Mike at the tiller enjoying the views of the countryside, including horses and cows as well as fields. Some sunshine, some cloud but a fairly chilly breeze continually. A bit of adventure came as we reached what the map describes as a “very narrow cutting.” With no warning and no signals, one enters what is basically a single lane of canal, but boats are going in both directions; this lasts for about a half mile. Because the canal was being cut through rock (lovely sandstone cliffs off to one side), apparently it was deemed too difficult to build a wider canal. We met another boat partway through. There are several pulloff places if a boat can fit into them; the Katie couldn’t, but the boat we were meeting was able to compress into one as we slowly squeezed by.
At Autherly Junction the Shropshire Union Canal comes in from the northwest and just a bit further on at Aldersley Junction the Birmingham Main Line Canal heads off to the east toward Wolverhampton. On that stretch of about 2 miles between Aldersley and Wolverhampton, there are 21 locks with a total rise of 132 feet. I now appreciate the amount of time and effort that would be expended to cover that 2 miles.
It wasn’t until 12:30 that we came to Compton Lock, our first of the day and the first on this journey where we’re going down rather than up. From now to the end of the trip we’ll be on descending locks. Those go a bit faster since emptying the lock is quicker than filling it (think of bathtubs). But the skipper has to get onto the boat to take it out of the lock by climbing a ladder on the side of the lock down to the roof of the boat and then scrambling down to the steering area. Apparently the addition of the ladder is a modern health and safety requirement; originally boatmen would have just jumped down.
We stopped at a boatyard to fuel up and have the tanks pumped out. The wastewater from sinks and showers goes directly into the canal, but toilet waste is held in a tank onboard and must be removed one or two times on a trip. Figuring the locations and seeing that such things are done are responsibilities of the skipper/boat master. (He also, as noted earlier, washes dinner dishes, and he cleans the bathrooms and guest quarters while we’re eating breakfast. A narrowboat hotel skipper has varied responsibilities. . .).
Light rain came and went. Finally about 3 p.m. we approached Bratch Lock, which is comprised of three separate locks in a flight, not a staircase. In a flight the locks are close together but each operates individually; Bratch is unusual, however, in that the water supply is in side ponds rather than ponds between the locks – so they look very close together (like a staircase). Just a short distance, and one lock, away is the Botterham Staircase Lock. This is a lock where the lower gate of the upper lock is also the upper gate of the lower lock. The lower lock always fills with water that comes from the top lock. Both of these types of locks can be confusing to amateur boaters and can take a substantial amount of time, even with experienced crew.
Because the weather had generally cleared by the time we reached Bratch Lock, I decided to get some exercise so walked the tow path, going about 4 miles in two hours time. The path was quite nice, wide and graveled, but I went slowly to enjoy the sights (and to put on and off sunglasses, rain hat, and jacket – as the weather constantly changed). As I walked by several locks, I was intrigued by the interesting shapes and styles of bypass weirs, needed to pass excess water from the higher to lower levels. I also saw wildlife – a blue heron which stood stock still within 15 feet of me as I slowly got out my camera to take a picture. Two swans (we’ve seen many) were feeding at the side of the canal just a foot away and undisturbed by my walking by. Nearby was a Canada goose; not as many here as at home, but people seem to find them as much of a nuisance. Across the canal was a cricket match with loud and enthusiastic cricketeers with a couple of boaters on the tow path serving as audience. The part of the path within the town of Swindon has some interesting informational plaques installed telling about the history of the area. All in all, it was a good walk.
By the time I got picked up by the Katie it was obvious that we would only reach Greenforge, the original destination for tonight, rather than Kinver, the destination newly established from the Birmingham office. Since it was after 6:30 when we reached Greenforge, there is no way we would have made it to Kinver before 9:30 – way too late for dinner and settling in for the night. So we’ll need to start early tomorrow and push ahead.
I sat for quite a while at the back with Mike at the tiller enjoying the views of the countryside, including horses and cows as well as fields. Some sunshine, some cloud but a fairly chilly breeze continually. A bit of adventure came as we reached what the map describes as a “very narrow cutting.” With no warning and no signals, one enters what is basically a single lane of canal, but boats are going in both directions; this lasts for about a half mile. Because the canal was being cut through rock (lovely sandstone cliffs off to one side), apparently it was deemed too difficult to build a wider canal. We met another boat partway through. There are several pulloff places if a boat can fit into them; the Katie couldn’t, but the boat we were meeting was able to compress into one as we slowly squeezed by.
At Autherly Junction the Shropshire Union Canal comes in from the northwest and just a bit further on at Aldersley Junction the Birmingham Main Line Canal heads off to the east toward Wolverhampton. On that stretch of about 2 miles between Aldersley and Wolverhampton, there are 21 locks with a total rise of 132 feet. I now appreciate the amount of time and effort that would be expended to cover that 2 miles.
It wasn’t until 12:30 that we came to Compton Lock, our first of the day and the first on this journey where we’re going down rather than up. From now to the end of the trip we’ll be on descending locks. Those go a bit faster since emptying the lock is quicker than filling it (think of bathtubs). But the skipper has to get onto the boat to take it out of the lock by climbing a ladder on the side of the lock down to the roof of the boat and then scrambling down to the steering area. Apparently the addition of the ladder is a modern health and safety requirement; originally boatmen would have just jumped down.
We stopped at a boatyard to fuel up and have the tanks pumped out. The wastewater from sinks and showers goes directly into the canal, but toilet waste is held in a tank onboard and must be removed one or two times on a trip. Figuring the locations and seeing that such things are done are responsibilities of the skipper/boat master. (He also, as noted earlier, washes dinner dishes, and he cleans the bathrooms and guest quarters while we’re eating breakfast. A narrowboat hotel skipper has varied responsibilities. . .).
Light rain came and went. Finally about 3 p.m. we approached Bratch Lock, which is comprised of three separate locks in a flight, not a staircase. In a flight the locks are close together but each operates individually; Bratch is unusual, however, in that the water supply is in side ponds rather than ponds between the locks – so they look very close together (like a staircase). Just a short distance, and one lock, away is the Botterham Staircase Lock. This is a lock where the lower gate of the upper lock is also the upper gate of the lower lock. The lower lock always fills with water that comes from the top lock. Both of these types of locks can be confusing to amateur boaters and can take a substantial amount of time, even with experienced crew.
Because the weather had generally cleared by the time we reached Bratch Lock, I decided to get some exercise so walked the tow path, going about 4 miles in two hours time. The path was quite nice, wide and graveled, but I went slowly to enjoy the sights (and to put on and off sunglasses, rain hat, and jacket – as the weather constantly changed). As I walked by several locks, I was intrigued by the interesting shapes and styles of bypass weirs, needed to pass excess water from the higher to lower levels. I also saw wildlife – a blue heron which stood stock still within 15 feet of me as I slowly got out my camera to take a picture. Two swans (we’ve seen many) were feeding at the side of the canal just a foot away and undisturbed by my walking by. Nearby was a Canada goose; not as many here as at home, but people seem to find them as much of a nuisance. Across the canal was a cricket match with loud and enthusiastic cricketeers with a couple of boaters on the tow path serving as audience. The part of the path within the town of Swindon has some interesting informational plaques installed telling about the history of the area. All in all, it was a good walk.
By the time I got picked up by the Katie it was obvious that we would only reach Greenforge, the original destination for tonight, rather than Kinver, the destination newly established from the Birmingham office. Since it was after 6:30 when we reached Greenforge, there is no way we would have made it to Kinver before 9:30 – way too late for dinner and settling in for the night. So we’ll need to start early tomorrow and push ahead.
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