Not moving

Today we decided to stay in Brewood and give the inside of the boat a clean, which we did , then did a bit of shopping in the village, then went back to the boat to make the most of the sun, as tomorrow rain is predicted :(

Just our luck , the waste tank is full , so crossed legs for us tonight.

Up the Shroppie

Woke up  to a beautiful day on the canal, started talking to our neighbours who had moored up by us last night, when I realised  that I knew the woman as she was a barmaid from the  Cardiff Blues club who was up here. For a weeks holiday, so  we had a good natter before we both went our separate way on our own journeys.

We carried on up river with the sound of Banjos plucking in the air dee,dee,dee,deeeee  it looked like Deliverance country 😃

Only joking , we caried on to Adersley junction the entrance to Birmingham Canal, and then onto Autherley junction which was our turn off point for the Shropshire Union Canal, we went through lock one and stopped to take on water and get rid of some rubbish, we set off and noticed this heron sitting inboard this narrowboat

We carried on up the Shroppie on our way to Brewood which will be our mooring point for tonight, the locals call it "Brood", the canal now is much wider than the Staffordshire and Worcesteshire, and seems more airy and open with views across the fields. We went under this very ornamental bridge which was built because the local landowner from Chillington Hall would only permit the trade route to cross his land if it was suitably disguised.

We moored up at Brewood  which is a pretty village , we had a wander around and of course a quick shandy before going back to the boat for a sit it he sun and a read.

About 5. 30 Mike,Kim and their son Nathan turned up , it was great to see them all as its been a long time since we saw all of  them together. we showed them around the boat and then went to the Bridge pub to have something to eat, which if you are ever up this way I would recommend. 

We had a few hours chatting and they had to go home as it was a school night, hopefully we will see them on Friday or Saturday again.

See ya

The Bratch

Hi, we left our mooring this morning and went through one lock  which Denise shows off below

It's actually called Bumblehole lock, we then went onwards to the Bratch which is a flight of locks which on looking at them look curiously illogical with an impossibly short pound between the bottom and top gate, but its secret is the hidden side ponds behind the hedges and the culverts which connect to the locks.

We then carried on the canal twisting and turning through steep  wooded sides, and then open fields and on to little villages with well kept gardens .

 We then passed Whightwick pronounced Wittick   and on to Compton where we met up with Mike an old friend who we met on a Mexico holiday years ago, he stayed for coffee and a chat and we hope to see him tomorrow with his wife and boy. 

 We were going to move on but we noticed a chippie on the road near to where we moored so we stayed the night, and had fish N chips we ate  to many chips again......

 

One of those days

Today we left our mooring, and had a small little cruise up to a village which has now become a suburb  called Wombourne and moored up outside of a pub called the Round Oak , though we didn't use it although tempted.

We moored early because our washing machine isn't working, firstly the water was just pouring from the soap dispenser draw, so after dragging out the washing machine from it home in a cupboard, I checked the sump to make sure no coins or the likes were jammed in it, which their wasn't , but found the culprit which was the washing powder had formed solid in the inlet pipe, sorted this ,but it looks like the PCB had got wet and is now not working , hopefully it will dry up, and start working finger crossed.

So tomorrow we hope to travel a little bit further, we were contacted by one of our old friends Mike and Kim who live up this way so hopefully will meet up for a coffee in the next few days.

 

Through Kinver and on to Greenforge

Today we broke our mooring at Whittington and headed towards Kinver which is a pretty village surrounded by tall hills,

 the canal is still twisting and turning and then we pass Stewponey Wharf which has a restored toll house and onwards to  Stourton Junction with the entrance to Stourbridge canal , we carry on and head for "Devils Den". A curious narrowboat house, and pass Gothersey round house

Which was built in 1805 as part of the ironworks

We then moored up at Greenforge which has a nice pub by the canal side, "the navigation inn" where we had  a shandy and spoke to a couple, the lady was from Swansea and recently retired from the NHS where she worked as a psychiatric nurse in the same field as Denise had retired from, and also knew one of Denise's old work mates , it's a small world.

Speak to you tomorrow 

Denise doing what she does best.........nosing :-)

A small trip

This morning because its Saturday we had a bacon sarnie for breakfast and we decided not to travel far today we only went through two locks and stopped outside the village of Whittington, we visited the local hostelry the Whittington inn which was built in 1312 and was home to Dick Whittington grandfather and lady Jane Grey whose ghost is suppose to haunt the premises. 

At one of the locks you could see where they carved an opening and a stable into the sandstone rock so that they could  stable the horses that pulled the barges overnight, also on the bridge you can see where the ropes have eroded the stones over time.

See you tomorrow.

Leaving Stourport

This morning we had an early visit for Chris from Harrishoods company who is in the process of making a cratch cover and board for the boat, this is a cover for the front of the boat which should give us an extra room, he called because he had to re measure the bow area, after he had done this we broke our mooring and left Stourport.  

The canal  here is narrow with back gardens reaching the water, pretty little pubs sit tightly on the canal bank with their tables almost in the water, leaving the town the canal twists and turns with the wooded banks rising steeply. As we carried on towards Kidderminster we could here a whistle of a steam train and I quickly grabbed my camera and just caught a photo of it as it crossed the canal on its high train bridge.

The train is in the distance, 

We carried on and  reached the outskirts of Kidderminster and stopped at Tescos to do some shopping which was right next to the canal which was handy, we put away the shopping and carried on for a bit, pass the statue of Richard Baxter the 17th-c thinker who advocated unity and comprehension in religion.

And the over the aqueduct 

 

We then moored up again by a superstore complex, to pay a visit to Maplins, because one of our fellow boater at Upton recommended a type of tv ariel for the boat called a moonraker which he swore was the dog b#ll#cks, so we purchased one as we been having problems getting an reception when we are out and about. 

We then had some lunch and set off again .

This area is very unusual as there is lot of sandstone , which if you think about it is very far from the sea, some villages houses back rooms are cut into the rock, which hopefully I will be able to get a photo of, we then moored up for the night at a place called  Woverley the church here stands on a sandstone rock so steep that the building has to be approached by a zigzag path cut through the constantly eroding stone.

We then tried out our new ariel.................................it didn't work , no bloody signal what a waste of money , we live an learn not to believe what some one says :-)

Off to bed early as no telly , but I did manage to play my XBox which is a bonus. See you tomorrow ..