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| Sunny Swindon |
Morning m’Hearties
The cabin temperature is 32 degrees and I’ve waited until after 5 to start the jottings, in the hope that it will cool down enough for my brain to work. We’re moored on a floating pontoon on the River Severn, where we can sit under the willow trees, in the shade, and catch the breeze. The sun is beating down relentlessly on our solar panels, creating enough power to run a 3 bar electric fire when what we really need is some ice cool air conditioning. Some boats do have that luxury but for the 10 days a year when its hot enough to need it, I wonder if it’s worth it. In the distance, I can hear loud music from the little funfair by the locks - it gives Stourport a seaside feel and there have been lots of gongoozlers watching the boats go by. There are young lads swimming from the pontoon by the pub, how I envy them as they splash up and down. I would join them but there are too many camera phones around in this modern world – I'd be famous on TikToc for all the wrong reasons!
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| Circular By-Wash on the Staffs and Worcester |
The entertainment this afternoon is provided by a clown on a canoe who is wheezing away on a mouth organ (tunelessly) whistling and calling to the seagulls whilst arguing loudly with the people in the pub across the way. Apparently he thinks masks are the devils creation and Covid is a big con. I keep my eyes averted when he comes by us, in case he wants to chat. Lots of boats are coming in and out of the locks today, we had to queue till the local yacht club had gone off, then we descended the two broad locks onto the river, spun round (oh its lovely to have deep water under the hull) and moored in solitary splendour on the empty pontoon. We put our gangplank across the watery gap to some handy steps and we have been sitting up there, under the trees, all day. Every so often, Carl swills the roof down with river water in an attempt to cool us down but has only succeeded in getting water through the roof vents and creating a nice cool mat for Tricky to lie on. It seemed like a good idea so I created a head band out of a wet tea towel and I’m sitting in the bows like a true water gypsy - I don’t care what it looks like - I’m a few degrees cooler.
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| River Mooring |
The run down the Staffs and Worcester from Autherley Junction has taken us a week. We dawdled a bit at Bratch as the locks were closing for repairs. The lock-keeper was very friendly and offered to get us down if we were quick but we were happy to wait till the morning and Carl took advantage of the fine weather and got the other side of the boat painted. He was hoping for nice weather so he could get it done and now it's gone too far and the barometer is set to ‘Scorchio” for the next week at least. It was a nice evening so we walked down to the old Railway Station, taking photos of the Bratch Pumping Station on the way. How marvellous that they built such a splendid edifice for pumping water - it’s in the Venetian Gothic style according to Historic England. Our photos don’t do it justice as there is a double ring of security fencing around it, but perhaps you can see the magnificent towers if you're reading this on the blog.
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| Bratch Pumping Station |
We’ve set out early most mornings this week and found a nice mooring spot by noon. Swindon will be forever the ‘Fish and chip’ mooring thanks to the famous ‘Mr Smiths’ fish shop and we were glad not to be cooking on such a hot day. We visited Kinver for milk and, by chance, I managed to get an appointment to get my hair cut. At last! I had been threatening to cut it myself with the dog clippers as I was beginning to look like an owl peeping out of a bush! The lovely Lisa fitted me in next morning and we shared family histories while she snipped. Carl and Tricky waited in the cafe next door and had two lattes(Carl not Tricky) before eventually peering in to see what was taking so long. I tried to persuade him into the chair after me but I think Carl prefers the Turkish barbers where men are men and women have to wait outside.
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| Sunnies On! |
It was a very hot day for shopping when we moored outside Sainsbury’s in Kidderminster on Saturday morning. I left Tricky and Carl in the shade and disappeared into the icy depths with my big ‘bag on wheels’ and lingered in the clothing aisles until I was suitably chilled for the walk back. I loaded my trolley with salad and fruit and 20 tins of Tricky's dog food. My wheels could hardly cope with the weight as I towed it, clattering noisily, back to the boat. I had to be revived with a long sit down and a glass of Kiora (remember that) before I could tackle the game of Jengo which I play when I try to stow our provisions in the big ‘pantry cupboard”. Why did I buy so much fruit? The nectarines, which looked so inviting on the display, are hard as bullets with no taste and the bananas turned from green to brown the second I stepped aboard! Sorry to be rambling on about shopping, that’s not really what you tune in for is it!
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| Kidderminster Lock and the Beautiful Church |
Everyone has been very well behaved this week and we have met only nice people on our travels, including Dave and Carol on Poppy, who manage the marina at Audlem. They kept us company while we waited for the locks here in Stourport and we yarned about our boating travels until we parted company at the bottom of the locks. It was good to have another narrow boat for company, we were feeling a little bit intimidated by all the yoghurt pots, nudging past us in a race to be first at the locks.
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| Stourport Basin |
The next part of the trip will take us down the Severn to Tewksbury, and then along the Avon, back towards Stratford. I’ll write more next week and tell you all about it.
Love from
The Floating Chandlers
PS The one time I leave my camera behind, I see something unusual. A grass snake swimming in the lock by Kidderminster church. I ran back to get my camera, thinking he couldn’t get out until I opened the gates but he must have found a gap and wriggled through and was gone. Botheration!
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