The Sumpners Afloat

6th to 12th Oct – Knowle to Radford Semele

The “You” in the title above being Brinklow Marina of course! It was an absolute gem of a Monday morning with the sun warm on my shoulders as I cruised the short distance down to the Knowle Locks, which lifts you up towards Birmingham. No coat required today. It was lovely and as I cruised I mused on the trees and bushes, all absolutely groaning with fruits. From ruby red rose hips to tart little crab apples. It’s as if nature is having a last hurrah. It’s definitely a mast year. The birds and animals whose pantry they all fill won’t go hungry this year.

We winded and came back to a spot that we’d picked out on the way down. and I quickly put the washing machine on. Long over due! Seems like a good drying day, so fingers crossed.

We stayed at the bottom of Knowle on Tuesday – for some reason, Paul really likes it there? I mean, it’s OK, but I’d have been quite happy to move on. We had beautiful skies on Monday night at sunset and the moon was pretty good too. Sadly on Tuesday night it was too cloudy for the full glory of the Supermoon to reveal itself.

I set off on Wednesday morning, aiming to get back to Kingswood Junction and it was a very pleasant morning for it. The countryside is looking very Autumnal now and there are some lovely colours appearing. I met not one single boat on my cruise down to Kingswood. And I was enjoying myself, listening to podcasts – including Adam Porter’s very engaging canal-based “The Water Road” and the “Dish” podcast, hosted by Angela Hartnett and Nick Grimshaw, which is always entertaining.

As it was pleasant, I thought I might as well carry on further to a spot we’d moored before. It’s on an embankment and there are lovely views both sides – a conifer plantation on one side and some very pleasant hills and a hamlet on the other. I think it must be Mousley End – lovely name! It’s a lovely spot and we were happily pretty much on our own.

I made a tea loaf in the afternoon – with All Bran and Black Treacle. Contact me through this blog if you’d like the recipe. It’s a perennial, malty favourite and is always better if kept wrapped up for a couple of days before use. We have it with butter – but it’s not compulsory! Just nice. I’m also planning on making some Cheese Scones and a Dorset Apple Cake, as we have guests this weekend.

Not long after we had moored, a fuel boat – which shall remain anonymous as I have no wish to embarrass them – came by. They were discussing whether we were electric or not and when they decided we were, started decrying the point of electric boats – the tired “what’s the point of them this time of year – they have to run the flipping generator-Ha ha ha.” The ignorance! Well (A) yes – you’re right! But our generator is a damn sight more efficient than any diesel engine used for propulsion ,and we don’t run it all day – ever. It’s normally just a couple of hours max! And (B) – we are your customers too! – so don’t diss us, thank you very much. Harrumph.

I had one of my “not very much sleep” nights but enjoyed listening to the local owls hooting away. There is no rhyme or reason to why I can’t sleep. Most nights I read for a short while and then my eyelids droop and I’m gone. But some nights I feel as if I could read all night and it’s doubly irritating when your partner is snoring like a train! Luckily they are not too common or I’d be a little less sanguine about it.

As I was untying on Thursday morning I spotted a lad (I think?) fully masked with hood up doing some fishing. What is that all about? It’s very threatening to an old lady like me. But I was having none of it. I bade him a cheery good morning as he passed and actually got a response. Research has shown it may be of the “roadman culture” ? I guess you have to be a young urban male to appreciate it?

I hate to say it but today’s cruise was pretty boring although I did note that we seem to have moved into a new phase of Autumn – leaf loss. There was one particular section that felt as if I had leaf maidens running ahead of my, strewing my course with leaves. It was very pretty.

I had to pass though Shrewley Tunnel before I reached my destination. You can almost hear it before you see it. It’s possibly the drippiest tunnel on the entire system – or do you have another contender? And that’s without large amounts of rain falling! Short and wet would be my description! It does have another bore up and to the right of it, which makes it quite cute, though. For pedestrians and horses. And lots of stalactites.

The cutting leading to the tunnel is an SSSI – because of the rock it is cut from. Apparently there is a layer of “Arden Sandstone” – green in colour – sandwiched between two layers of red mudstone, all laid down over 230 million years ago in the Triassic Period. Makes you feel very transient, that, eh?

My destination was at the top of Hatton Locks – always a bit gloomy and no solar. Also Starlink would struggle, but heigh ho – it would have to do.

Once we moored, we quickly had lunch and then I made the Dorset Apple Cake, which rose like a dream – as you can see.

Friday was mainly devoted to cleaning, cooking (Cheese Scones & Pea and Ham soup) and a pm snooze. But we won’t starve and were ready for our forthcoming guests.

Our guests arrived bang on time on Saturday morning. It was going to be a bit of a baptism of fire for them as it was their first time on a boat doing locks. And there were 21 to do, so they’d be expert by the time we got to the foot of the locks!

Austin took to the locks like a duck to water – he immediately understood what he had to do and did a sterling job. All the locks were against us, so Paul walked on ahead to the next lock, while Austin dealt with the current lock. It was a very useful system and we were soon pulling over for lunch, by which time we were over half way down the flight.

Angela (one of my three remaining female cousins) and I also did sterling work, catching up on family stuff, plans for the future and generally setting the world to rights. It was so lovely to see her and somewhat poignant as she and Austin are shortly emigrating to Australia to join one of their daughters. They are just waiting for the house sale to be finalised and they are off. How exciting!

We had a berth booked in the delightful Saltisford Arm and had a warm welcome back, which was lovely. Just time to have a last cuppa and some cake and they were off. It felt a bit emotional saying goodbye – knowing we may never see her again. It’ll be down to us to finally make the long trip to Australia to see them, I guess?

We left Saltisford on Sunday morning – a very Autumnal morning with a misty start – and set off for the Cape Locks – the last we would do this week. A nice pair, right by a pub called “The Cape of Good Hope“. It always seems like a long slog through Warwick and then Leamington – one long urban sprawl, these days, with no discernible separation.

We always think of top quality graffiti – real works of art – when we think of Leamington – not the puerile tags that you see daubed elsewhere – although, to be fair, there is also some of that. And one recurring bit, which caught my eye and piqued my curiosity was ” birds are not real!”. And on another bridge – All birds were killed in 1986. This was news to me!

Apparently there is a movement in the US that believes that all birds in the United States were exterminated by the federal government between 1959 and 1971 and replaced by look-alike drones – used by the government to spy on people! Hilarious! And it has clearly spread across the pond. The funny thing is, it was started in 2017 by a bored young man (Pete McIndoe) – on a whim! He has admitted that he made it all up. But it really caught on – believers claim that birds “sit on power lines to recharge themselves” and that birds “defecate on cars as a tracking method”. You couldn’t make it up! – oh – wait! You can read more about it here. Fascinating – and you can even get t-shirts with related slogans.

Anyway – it was getting steadily colder and we were glad when we arrived at our final mooring this week – Bridge 37 – Sydenham Drive Bridge.

It’s an odd mooring for us as we much prefer rural moorings, but we had a mission. The spot has bollards and is opposite a pub called The Fusiliers – it’s a modern pub and more of a sports bar really – no food on offer – not that we wanted any! No – we wanted drugs from the pharmacy nearby – the very helpful Birk & Nagra. Our regular 2-monthly pick-up. We thank our lucky stars for the NHS App, otherwise this itinerant lifestyle we have chosen would be so much more complex.

Looking ahead to next week, Paul has taken Thursday off work so that we can get a good run at the 27 miles and 26 locks – now open for a short window of time – that stand between us and The Marina of Dreams. Will we make it by Sunday? We’re starting to hear on the Towpath Telegraph that there are fears that the window may have to close earlier than planned because water levels are already low again, so wish us luck!

Period	Miles	Locks
6 – 12th Oct	15	23
Cumulative 2025	465	339