We pulled pins from the Racecourse moorings at Worcester and headed up the river Severn towards Bevere lock .As this this sunken boat shows you can not take a river for granted .
We shared Bevere lock with a local boat and mentioned to them that we were heading up the Droitwich canal . The reply we got was , “well if you like reeds and no moorings you will enjoy it,but I certainly wont go on it again” . The guy then went on to explain that he thought the environmentalists and Anglers took over the restoration of the canal and it ended up being a canal that didn't particularly want boats on it. As we have always said we will have to try it for ourselves and see what we think of it.
With me operating a lock just for a change we head up and onto the Droitwich canal
The course of the newly opened Droitwich canal
There's certainly plenty of reeds . In fact you don't get to see a lot of the surrounding countryside .Also we did have a comment from a walker saying that you don't get to see a lot of the canal whilst walking because of the reeds. As for mooring anywhere before Droitwich you can just forget it. Although we did speak to the crew of a hire boat who said there were plenty of good moorings above and below every lock and they spent a good night on one the night before.,of course they meant the lock landings which you cannot moor on.
Having said there were no moorings before Driotwich once you reach the town the moorings in the basin are excellent. They are all gated and unlocked with a watermate key also with a water point and rubbish disposal just across the park you cant knock it.
After a peaceful night we headed on up the canal and soon came to the tunnel/bridge under the M5 Motorway. This is the lowest structure we have ever been through . Our cratch board just missed the height indicator by millimetres so we headed in very slowly.
When we came out the other side we hit the height indictor a good 3 or 4 inches up it which meant if we were coming from the other direction we wouldn't have got through…Work that one out ??? To John and Anthea on NB Digitalis … I think you might have been OK and got through , But i have to admit I would have done what you did ……
Making our way up and out of Droitwch and we have to go up this lovely new staircase lock.
On the top 3 locks we had the assistance of a Volilockie ( Volunteer Lockkeeper ). He told us that these were the only locks on the canal system that had side pounds and paddles in the middle of the lock which you had to operate before using any other paddles on the locks.
Eventually after reaching the end of the canal and discovering there were no moorings above Droitwich I don't think we will rush to get back here, but we were glad we did it ….If you know what I mean.
Happy Days
Lock 6 on the Atherstone flight also has a working side pond (although most people don't realise!)
ReplyDeleteThanks for that Adam ... We will be heading back down that way later on ,so will look out for it . We did see side paddles at Pershore on the river Avon , it's referred to as a ground paddle and it says that it must be used first when filling the lock.
Deletereally enjoyed the blog. must have been a bit scary going into that low tunnel. Carolyn your hair looks very nice the back was looking great, x
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