Much Ado About Nothing.

Or the Best of British? Personally I go for the latter. 

Another day another performance for Alison. Today we are in Stratford upon Avon. 

Alison is performing during the morning service at Holy Trinity church. 

It was a big service that started with a marching band. 

And all to celebrate the birthday, life and death day of the chap buried at the alter. 

After the Service we walked back to the car via the canal, this was the first bit of canal we ever took Magpie II on. 

This is the first narrow lock we ever went in

And this lock has a very strange beam with which to open the bottom gate. Alison really struggled with it.

It was a lovely day in Stratford, quite bright sunshine and very warm. Spring is definitely in the air as this swan proved.

Grantham

On Saturday Alison had a gig playing in Haydn's Creation in Grantham. They have a canal don't they?

During the week I made contact with the Grantham Canal Society and asked about ordering a couple of their publications. Tony, the member in charge of them, said we could save the postage and he would meet us in Gramtham on Saturday to give us the books. What a fantastic approach. 

As it turned out we were going virtually past his house so we arranged to go there instead. 

With the transaction duly completed, Tony suggested that as the canal is culverted under the A1, there isn't too much to be seen in Grantham and we should try going to Woolsthorpe Wharf where there are seven locks, three of which have been restored and four which haven't. 

The restored locks look great. 

This is also where the Grantham Canal Society keep their boats, their working boat is of 1930s vintage with a lovely Lister engine. 

I was very intested in the fact that the locks were manufactured by our namesakes. I didn't realise this firm existed. 

The unrestored locks show how much work has been done, but how much is still required. 

The canal will also require a lot of clearing after the locks. 

At some point, presumably when the original gates were removed, the cill was built up to maintain the water level above the lock. I've never seen this before on a disused waterway. 

At bridge 61 there is a milepost underneath the bridge. 

When we got to Grantham itself, the weather turned somewhat inclement and I was left with little to do but check out local hostelries. No hardship I hear you cry. 

As we had walked along part of the Chesapeake and Ohio canal last summer I couldn't resist keeping the canal theme going. 

At the remarkable Nobody Inn. In this pub all the doors for the toilets are four feet high and are actually  false doors. To access the Gents you need to go through a bookcase and for the Ladies through a mirror. But none of the regulars tell you!

Grantham is also the birthplace of one of the greatest minds ever known ( I don't mean Margaret Hilda Thatcher), so the blog wouldn't be complete without this last picture. 

First tram of the year.

Saturday was my first duty of the year at the tram museum.
I was down to crew with Heidi, which was lovely because I really enjoy working with her.
What I didn't realise was that it was going to be the launch of the first world war recruitment tram.

It was therefore even more surprising when I got there, to be told that was my tram for the day.

It was a beautiful sunny day, so when the dignitaries did the speech and cut the ribbon, everything looked lovely.
I had trainee conductor Luke with me, so he got on all the photos, which pleased me too as I was left in peace. 

Chesterfield seven looked lovely done up as the recruitment tram, and it will operate every Tuesday Thursday and Saturday for the rest of the season.

Oh the adornments were made as accurately as possible and taken from old photographs. Even the spelling mistake in the next photograph is copied directly from an original on a Rochdale tram.

There were lots of visitors and Luke managed to sell over 80 certificate. A great effort by him. Next time I come I will be driving, so I made the most of being the conductor today. 

Home again.

The fish and chips last night was totally amazing and did live up to the billing. We also had some mushroom skewers fried in batter, and they were incredible too. Needless to say we ate too much.

After another trip to the Hollybush Pub, this time to try Red Back, their 7.2% beer, we headed home for an early night. Unfortunately the water pump kept kicking in during the night, a fault we have yet to locate, but a very disrupted sleep pattern ensued.

The weather this morning was absolutely awful, lashing down with rain.
As we have nearly used all the available storage space in the toilet area, we decided to walk to the basin to use the canal and river trust facilities. On our way back we went to Tesco, and realised their toilets are a lot closer to the visitor moorings. It'll be Tesco loos next time we are here. After breakfast, the rain clouds disappeared the sun came out and it was like it was a different day. Typical luck for us to get drenched first thing.

Today we have travelled back to the marina, and eventually back home.
We had agreed to meet up with friends Julian, Sarah and Charlie. It was lovely to see them, and our timing schedule worked perfectly.

It was hard work getting through the two staircase locks at Stourport basin. For some reason they are totally mis-aligned, and my steering is not up to teleporting Magpie II from one position instantaneously to another.

But with a bit of scraping and a lot of luck, we managed to get through the locks.

It was also blowing out howling gale which meant everything was much more difficult, but it's all part of life's great experiences.

Here is a picture of the only bridge we go under as we come down the River Severn.

As we arrived at the entrance to the Droitwich Barge Canal, Julian, Sarah and Charlie were waiting for us.
We pulled in, picked them up, and then gave Julian lessons on how to be a lock keeper. Here are a couple of photos of him in action.

We had a great time travelling 3 or 4 miles with them, but all too soon it was time to say goodbye. We hope they enjoyed it as much as we did, and Charlie is the best six-year-old Captain and helmsman we have ever had on board.

Further on our journey we came to Salwarpe Church, but the unusual feature this time, were two people at the top of the tower, we wondered if they were fitting the Saint George's flag given that it is April. Can you spot them in the picture?

Eventually we made it back to the marina, and said farewell to Magpie II, who deserves a nice rest. We are looking forward to our next voyage.

Back to Stourport

Today we cruised leisurely back to Stourport. We moored at about 15:30 and are currently witnessing every kind of life in Stourport Wetherspoons. 

For once the heron stayed to be photographed today. 

As we have been this way before (was it really only yesterday?) we could have the camera ready for some of the more interesting sights. 

This railway signal is, for some reason unknown to us, in the middle of a holiday cabin establishment. Still I liked it!

The Cookley tunnel is quite striking, especially with all the houses above it. 

The tunnel seems to have been cut through solid rock and is a crouch to steer through. 

Still no trains visible on the Severn Valley line so a picture of their viaduct is all I could get. 

I hope tonight's fish and chips lives up to the description. If there is such a thing as a horse fish I think I could eat one!

Kinver

Last night we visited the local hostelry, as shown in the picture. 

We found a very interesting entry on the breakfast menu, shown in the picture below. We are not sure if the bacon causes a rash, or even if this is a correct use of English, but we doubt it.
It made us giggle, and we decided not to risk their breakfast this morning.

The round circular brick construction in the foreground of the picture of the pub, is one of the weirs for the locks on this canal. Very unusual and very picturesque.

The bridge by the lock has its own towpath tunnel, this again we considered unusual, as most of the time that towpath just goes over the road.
Why was it made like this? The horse could not tow the barge whilst in the tunnel.

It is yet another beautiful morning, 

and I decided to walk up to the canal and river trust public conveniences at the permanent moorings, but when I got there, there was a sign pinned on the door saying out of order, apologies for the inconvenience of the closed convenience.

Never mind, and early morning constitutional must be of benefit. Here is a picture of the view that greeted me on my return.

Stourport to Kinver

Day 2 of our mini cruise and we have made it to Kinver. 

We set off from Stourport at around 9:30. Too much whisky last night but we are on holiday. We did find a good beer guide pub called the Hollybush. Great beer and lots of helpful information about where to eat and for tomorrow night the best fish and chips in Stourport, a locals place not a tourist plaice (sic). 

It was really nice exploring a new canal, though one we have seen as landlubbers before. 

We cruised through Kidderminster and much to my disappointment did not see a steam train, but a wonderful view of the church. 

The locks on the Staffordshire and Worcestershire canal have a centre paddle on the upper gate. It's quite spectacular. 

Tha canal is cut through lots of rocks and very narrow in places but this creates wonderful scenery and here we found a dwelling. 

We arrived in Kinver on schedule and turned in an unofficial winding hole at the top of a lock that Dave (boating acquaintance in Kinver) recommended. We thanked him for it later. 

We moored in a great spot with a lovely neighbour for the night. The boating lifestyle means everybody is your friend and that is great. 

As we moored, Alison found the sun cream. Two days of burning, my arms are pinker than Magpie II but tomorrow I don't need to fry!

Now to follow the good beer guide in Kinver. 

Droitwich Spa Marina to Stourport

The Easter family visits are over and it's finally time to set sail on our own. We have decided to brave the river and head for Stourport. 

Yesterday we travelled back from Hutton Rudby on a new Virgin East Ciast train, can you spot the quick addition to the livery?

Today we got up early and set off at 10:30 for Stourport. 

Luckily we found some nice hirers to share locks with down the Barge Canal having met some obnoxious ones on the junction canal who didn't understand etiquette and how locks work and thought it ok to keep a boat waiting whilst emptying a full lock without a boat in it but keeping one waiting. We put them right!

These are pictures of the nice hirers and the Droitwich Barge Canal. 

Finally we reached the last lock before the Severn. 

 

And then it was time for the river. 

Alison was confident to have a steer on a wide waterway 

And the views were lovely. 

Stourport is unusual, a tourist seaside trap without the sea. But with a permanent fun fair. We negotiated the offset staircase locks with interest and finally found a mooring above lock 5. 

Now it's time for food and beer and a little bit of after sun. 

Hopefully on to Kinver tomorrow.