Ready to go out on the big river!

Over the last few days we've come down the rest of the Staffs and Worcs Canal to Stourport.  It has been a delightful canal to travel and we cannot recommend it more highly.  The countryside is superb, there is interesting canal architecture and places to visit nearby so we've taken our time and enjoyed ourselves.

On Wednesday we came down the Bratch Locks.  This set of three locks was originally built as a staircase but was later changed to introduce side ponds and a very small gap of about 6 to 8 feet between the locks with this little gap connected to the side ponds.  This was apparently done to save water.

We had to wait at the top for three boats coming up (you cannot pass in mid flight) so we had ample time to study this unusual canal feature.  The octagonal building at the top was a toll house but is now used to sell useful canal gear and postcards.  The view is taken showing the bottom lock in the foreground with the top one above the bridge by the toll house.

Here is a boat in the middle lock coming up.

And here is Leo in the same middle lock later going down.  The lock flight is beautifully kept by a lock keeper who has been there for years and loves his job.










An interesting feature of the southern part of the S&W is the extent to which it is cut down through solid red sandstone.

There are a number of places where the canal is bordered by a sheer wall of red sandstone.

This door in the sandstone cliff apparently gives access to a narrowboat house cut into the rock.  It is difficult to see but is just North of the Aqueduct over the River Stour which the canal then follows all the way to Stourport where the river flows into the Severn.

It was a really still day on Wednesday and there were some lovely reflections.

This is the best picture we've taken so far this year of a grey heron.  He had a fine perch here on a broken tree trunk high above the canal.











On Thursday we passed Stourton junction with the Stourbridge Canal which links with the Dudley canal system and can lead up into Birmingham.

This picture is looking left away from the Staffs and Worcs Canal to the first lock on the Stourbridge Canal.  The fisherman was a cheery fellow who waved good day.  They are not always so good natured.

Here is the signpost at Stourton Junction.  We were coming from Wolverhampton and heading to Stourport.

Soon after the junction comes Stewponey Lock with this toll house beside it.

There are a couple of very short tunnels on this canal.  This one is Dunsley Tunnel, all of 25 yards but clearly cut through the solid rock.











On Thursday afternoon we moored below Kinver Lock and walked up onto Kinver Edge, about 550 feet above sea level with wonderful views.

Here we are looking West from Kinver Edge into South Shropshire.  We think one of the prominent hills is the Clee Hills but we didn't take a compass with us, so it is difficult to be sure.

This picture is looking South from Kinver Edge and is definitely of the Malvern Hills.  We could also see the Northern outliers of the Cotswolds.

Kinver is also famous for its rock houses of which the best examples are now owned by the National Trust.  Carved out of the rock these were relatively spacious and fairly dry houses in the 18th century.  There are three levels of houses in the cliffs.

This is taken inside the bedroom of one of the rock houses.  Lime washing the walls not only made them more light inside but also bound the sand that would otherwise fall on the floor and have to be swept up.  Large windows meant these houses are not at all dark.

The rock is apparent everywhere in Kinver.  This was the path to the Church, again cut through the solid rock.

Not only the canal but also the roads are cut through the rock.














Today we've come down from Wolverley, another nice village, through Kidderminster which was great for shopping with both a Sainsbury's and a Tesco right beside the canal.

Here we are with both boats waiting above Kidderminster Lock, a deep one at nearly 12 feet.  While I was taking the photo and Helen and David were posing, Victoria was busy filling the lock for the first boat.  The Church at Kidderminster is on a rocky bluff behind us.

Further on towards Stourport at Pratt's Wharf a branch of the canal went down a lock into the River Stour which used to be navigable for a mile or so from here.  This bridge to the side of the canal is all that remains of that branch.








It is only about four miles and a couple of locks from Kidderminster to Stourport where the Staffs and Worcs Canal enters the River Severn.  Stourport has a series of canal basins at two levels with both wide and narrow locks connecting them.  The town owes its existence to the building of the canal but on a hot and sunny Saturday was more like a seaside resort with crowds enjoying a fun fair and ice cream beside the Severn.

Here is our very pleasant mooring above York Road lock which drops down into the basins.

This is one of the two middle level basins.  The bridge in the distance just to the left of the lamp standard leads to York Road lock and the canal.

The narrow locks to the Severn form two double staircases.  This is the first one up from the river to the lower canal basins.  Under the curved roof is a dry dock where two boats were having their bottoms blacked.

















Tomorrow we plan to have a day off boating though we may move down to a pontoon mooring on the River.  We want to visit Bewdley which is a small town on the Severn a few miles upstream of Stourport so we will be walking or cycling tomorrow for a change.  After that we will be setting off down the Severn to Worcester, Tewkesbury and Gloucester.