Tuesday 4th August
Just as we were thinking about setting off, another boat came up through Greensforge lock so we didn’t have to turn it to pass through. As we were opening the bottom gates another Northbound boat arrived – excellent.
As we are in wandering mode, we decided to visit Stourbridge today. The Stourbridge Arm is another canal that Jannock has not visited before and so another was coloured in on the map inside the back doors.
We passed up through Stourton top lock we spotted the memorial garden barbeque area used by Simon’s crew a couple of weeks ago. At the turn into the Stourbridge arm there was a broken down boat tied to the lock landing which made turning a 62 foot craft into the arm very difficult and the bow thruster boat pole had to be used to get the bows round. Just as I’d got the bows sorted another crew opened the paddles of the bottom lock and the water flow started pushing the stern towards the moored boat. Thanks folks!
The arm is pretty weedy and several bursts of reverse were needed to clear
the prop but the lily beds are lovely as the flowers have just come out. At the top end of the arm, outside the bonded warehouse, the winding hole was like a wind tunnel with a very strong wind blowing up the canal pushing the boat towards the end. This made the turn interesting. We moored on the visitor moorings and then made a quick re-provisioning visit into the town.
Back down the arm and onto the Stourbridge canal where we stopped for the night out in the countryside. At our chosen spot, nb Florence was aground and having difficulty getting into the bank. We went a little further on and moored against the piling. Brenda then assisted them to get free and moor just in front of us. A lovely quiet spot with the added bonus of me spotting a Terrapin this morning.
Graham
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