Monday 14 September 2015

Jason arrived at 9.45am and had another look at the engine - he adjusted the tick over and said we could either turn round and go back to Worcester and he would book us in for next week to have a look at the gearbox or we could carry on, he didn't think it would cause any damage to keep going. 

I forgot to mention that on Sunday when opening one of the locks on the Droitwich canal the windlass got jammed on the paddle so I gave it a push and it flew off the spindle into the air and down into the lock - never to be seen again... (it wasn't the one you lent us Phil and Claire - phew!)  Luckily there was a chandlers in Stourport-on-Severn so we were able to replace it.

So we set off on our way up the River Severn in the rain!!  They always say the Midlands are wetter than London and we can vouch for that!  Through two big manned locks then we reached the entrance to the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal.  This was an interesting entrance we had to go through two sets of two staircase locks which were singles.  You empty the bottom lock then once inside you empty the top lock into the bottom one.  Once through these we were in Stourport-on-Severn and although it had stopped raining we needed to stop to use the emptying facilities and no sooner had we stopped than the heavens opened again so we decided to call it a day and have a wander around the town which we did when it stopped raining but got soaked again once we started walking!

We stayed here the night and went for a curry.

Entering Holt Lock.

There are lots of campsites on the side of the river - still feels a bit like the Thames!

I just watched this little chap catch his breakfast!

Cottage in the Country.

The army are in town.

Hope nobody was on board when this went down.

Waiting for Lincomb Lock to empty - the last lock on the River Severn.

The banks are pretty high. 

In the last lock - another River completed!

Affinity weir - where you can see the ripples it is a lower level - I didn't really capture what we could see.

Big boats - haven't seen any of them for a while.

Red Sand Rock.

In the Midlands!

Entering the first staircase lock on the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal.

We are in the bottom lock of the second staircase and Rob is in the top lock of the first staircase.

Moored up in Stourport-on-Severn.