Droitwich

We were off soon after nine o'clock - there was a little run until the next lock. The locks on the Droitwich are grouped into eight broad locks near the bottom, beginning at the Severn, and eight near the top, of which only the first - Barge Lock - is broad. In fact, the limit for broad boats is a little earlier at one of the railway bridges on the approach to Droitwich. No doubt this was created when the canal was closed.

Wooden Footbridge 10

Along the way there are some interesting bridges, including a couple of wooden footbridges.

Railway Bridge 15 - Limit for Broad Boats

Netherwich Basin has a few long term moorings but there are (had we known it!) a number of overnight moorings which some of the boats we saw yesterday had used.

Droitwich Swing Bridge

There is a series of swing bridges through the town centre, only some of which are normally closed.

Barge Lock from above

A Waterways recovery Group working party were attempting to move a flat and tug up through the Barge Lock and further up the canal but had stuck on an obstruction so allowed us and another boat through. As we were waiting, Christine and Alice popped across to a Waitrose store close to the canal.

Lock 7 - first narrow lock from bottom

From here to the top the locks are now narrow and the next four were completely new and made from concrete. Three are on a new line of canal as the old line was not longer passable and the M5 motorway has to be negotiated. The tunnel under the M5 is both narrow and low head room - at one point we came to a standstill and water from the next lock forced us backwards!

Lock 6 - new lock

Alice opening Lock 5

The last two of the new locks are formed as a staircase. They are - as new locks and gates - quite easy to operate and Alice was able to open and shut some of the gates unaided. For reasons not clear, the top paddles have limiters to prevent the lock being filled at its normal rate. Strangely, the middle paddles, which are the fiercest, are not limited. The final three locks have a lock keeper who was running up and down trying to maintain contact with all the boats - each lock has a side pond and he was keen that this should be used properly and also the intermediate pounds are shallow at the best of times so it is better if boats do not attempt to pull in to the lock landings but pass straight from one lock to the next.

Hanbury Locks - Side Pond Paddles

At Hanbury Junction we turned south along the Worcester and Birmingham Canal. A little bit later we found a mooring spot for lunch.

Hanbury Junction

The level pound took us through Dunhampstead Tunnel, rather more substantial than the tunnels of the last couple of days, but still rather tame in comparison with the likes of Standedge!

Dunhampstead Tunnel Southern Portal

Shortly after the M5 we arrived at the top of the next flight of locks - we would have liked to stop for tea before tackling them but it was so close to the noisy motorway that we worked down three of the locks before cheekily tying up in a short pound. Actually, no other boats came along so there was no difficulty. Alice read to Mike a second story from Horrid Henry!


Offerton Bottom Lock

We had thought that we might find a good mooring below the flight and before arriving at the outskirts of Worcester - we might even find a tv signal if we moored in the right place. Alas, the right place proved impossible as the bank was far too shallow and the reeds made the channel very narrow. It took some considerable time before we finally managed to locate a space just far enough away from the lock landing.