1st to 7th September – Upton upon Severn to Droitwich Spa Marina
I hope I didn’t offend anyone by my rather extreme view of the Severn? It’s just for fun! Mostly…..
It was nice to see some commercial shipping on the River on Monday morning. We had seen some workboats (the charmingly named Perch, Elver and Pike) moored on Sunday as we cruised past, and we were happy to see them going up and down from some point above us on the river and then back to base. On the outward journey they are high in the waiter and on the return leg there is very little freeboard, they are so heavily laden. We weren’t sure what they were full of – it looked like mud – but research showed it is probably sand and gravel from the nearby quarry.
And it’s nice to see that they do slow down as they pass moored boats. As they should!
We also had a couple of passes by Hotel Boat “Edward Elgar”, which cruises up and down the Severn and Gloucester & Sharpness Canal – although not at the moment, due to low water levels at Gloucester Lock, I suspect?
We set off at dawn on Tuesday morning – bound for Worcester. It’s a long reach – some 10 miles and one lock. It was pretty nippy when we set off. Almost Autumnal – there – I’ve said it! Sue me! But we both had coats on for the duration of the trip.
Because we knew it was a long way and also up river, we opted to stick the genny on and go for it. If you regard 3 mph as going for it! It was peaceful and the river is wide above Upton and it was lovely, watching the sun bathe the treetops with golden light as it rose. But if you think of the Severn as an attractive ditch, you’ll get the flavour of it, I think?
We spotted herons, cormorants, egrets, wood pigeons and swifts interspersed by the occasional glimpse of a sheep. We did the usual NYT time-passing games of Wordle, The Mini and Connections plus several Quizzes of the Day to ease the monotony. We also spotted the place where the workboats we saw the previous day were getting loaded.
We had time to have breakfast and several cuppas before we reached the first crossing since Upton – the Worcester Southern bypass flyover – by which time I was solo at the helm as Paul had had to start work for the day. The approach to this bridge was marked by Green buoys and we both had to remind ourselves which side you need to pass them, going upstream.You don’t see them very often on canals!
The Diglis river locks – there are two, one large, one small(er) – are in a sorry state. The smaller lock – 10 feet (6m) in width and 98 feet (30m) long – allegedly making it big enough to accommodate 12 double decker buses – is out of action, and has been so since May this year, as far as I can tell.
The larger lock – 33 feet (10m) wide and a whopping 151 feet (46m) long, is working though. It is purported to be the largest and deepest lock on the English waterways – a fact which goes hand in hand with the fact that the Severn is Britain’s longest river – although only navigable from Stourport to Gloucester – 43 miles. I should mention that the Severn Locks are manned. You feel pretty small and insignificant as a lone narrowboat, once in the lock, but it’s a very smooth ride up.
We moored on the CRT Pontoons just opposite Diglis Weir and would stay there that night.
The final leg (for now) on the Severn is up to Hawford – the route we covered on the Electric Boat Trial, way back in May 2021. It’s about 4 miles and I reckon I can probably do that stretch on my own without fear of madness or fever.
We attended the CRT Boater’s Forum on Tuesday evening. I had submitted a couple of questions in advance and was interested in the responses. I’d asked whether CRT would be bringing forward some of the planned winter works, as there were no boats, so as to avoid further closures later in the year. I also asked whether there was any suggestion that damage to old structures might be caused by being left dry and – if so – whether CRT had any plans to go to the Government to request emergency funds, as this drought is (hopefully) an exceptional event.
The answer to my first question was – wherever possible, but probably only odds and ends. I think we often forget the number of hoops they have to jump through to get permissions from landowners, health and safety assessments, listed status issues, getting manpower and plant in place and so on, so I do quite understand.
The second question was similarly negative. There definitely is a risk that stuff could dry out but they will just have to react as and when/if issues present themselves, as it would be too expensive to try and maintain wet conditions. They also felt it was pretty pointless going cap in hand to the Government. When Boris flew in dramatically by chopper to see the damage at Toddbrook Reservoir – another problem caused by a natural and exceptional event – he promised cash to help with the repair – it never materialised. Sadly. The repairs were originally estimated at 12-16 million in 2022. Work now nears completion and a figure of £50 million is being quoted. All of this unexpected cost has had to come out of CRT’s pockets, which seems a tad unfair to me?
The meeting was very informative and helped us to get a better handle on the drought, how they are handling it and what it means for us. Well done CRT!
We decided to go for another early start to get to Hawford, where the Droitwich Canals join the Severn. After looking at the weather, we decided Wednesday morning would be the better bet, so we set our alarms accordingly. Sadly – when we awoke it was drizzling, so my dear husband told me to go back to sleep. And then put the genny on. It’s not loud by any means, but equally it’s not as silent as our electric motor.
I decided I would get up anyway and make him a hot drink and some breakfast to keep him going. It only rained for about half an hour so I joined him on deck. It didn’t seem too long before we arrived at Bevere Lock – somewhat oddly pronounced “bev-er-ay” in these parts. The lock keeper had seen us and was already preparing the lock, so we just slipped straight in, spotting an egret on the way.
Hawford Junction follows shortly after this and always feels like a homecoming. There are two locks, which were both in our favour, so we whistled through and were soon tied up for the day. I had feared that there would be no room, but we had it to ourselves. So farewell to the Avon and the Severn and hello again canals!
Someone had the temerity to join us on our mooring at lunchtime, but it was only a lunch stop and off they popped, leaving us alone again, naturally (with apologies to Gilbert O’Sullivan). And thus we remained. It was a very changeable day – at one moment hurling rain out of the sky and the next scorching us with hot sunshine. Much opening and closing of hatches all day!
As Paul was working, it was not practical to go any further until Friday, as there are 9 locks between us and our destination this week. Wide ones, with reaaallly heeeeaavvvy gates. So we’d stay another night, which is no hardship because we love it here.
I used the time to do some research for a forthcoming holiday in Italy next year, to celebrate a BIG birthday for Paul (which is in November). We are off to Northern Italy, focusing on the Lakes and the Dolomites. We are suckers for mountain views. Can’t wait.
We made a pre 8pm start on Friday as it looked like the best of the weather would be before midday. And what a beautiful morning it was! Warm and sunny. Perfect conditions for this lovely canal.
We could not get over how much the banks have been allowed to encroach on the navigation. It’s mainly bamboo – an alien species – and in places has all but taken over, apart from a boat’s width. It’s pretty dire. But we absolutely loved cruising its length up to Netherwich Basin in Droitwich town centre, It brought back some happy memories.
We wondered whether the lady who lived at Porter’s MIll Lock was still around. Paul said the odds were against it and then she came out to tell him off – not for the first time. She once accused us of dropping litter over the fence – something we would never, ever do. I was absolutely livid that she’d wrongly accused us and at the thought that she might tell others that we’d been littering. Hell hath no fury like a me, wrongly accused!
We had stopped at Netherwich because Paul had to catch the train to Rugby to get our car the next day (Saturday) and it’s just a short walk to the station from there and would save a taxi fare. It also meant that we could nip into Waitrose and pick up some of the wonderful Alex Gooch bread that we loved so much when we lived round here. We’d been looking forward to it!
Paul stowed the anchor, as we don’t need to be able to quickly deploy it on canals, and then popped over to Waitrose for a few supplies, while I cleared the debris that had accumulated around the anchor and cleaned the bow-deck.
After lunch and a bit of Electrika work – yes, still bits to do – mainly finalising the accounts for scrutiny, we had a beepy before a little more cleaning and sprucing.
We were heating some Indian accoutrements for our dinner when there was a knock on the boat. None other than David “Cruising the Cut” Johns and his Mum, They’d been taking a walk through Vines Park and David had spotted a familiar canine face, so popped over to say hello – mainy to the dogs! A lovely surprise though!
Paul caught the train to Rugby on Saturday morning, to pick up the car. He was back, had dropped the car off at the marina and walked back to the Basin by about 1:30. Not too shabby! So we were all set – after he’d had a sit and cuppa – to do that last leg back to the Marina.
Four locks to do – including the staircase pair, which we’d last done back at Easter 2022, when we left there for pastures new. It was a very familiar cruise, done in warm sunshine and we thoroughly enjoyed it. We wondered what the boys would make of it , as this had very much been their old stomping ground. They seemed to enjoy it, but they are pretty easy to please so it’s hard to tell if it had any particular resonance for them.
We popped ourselves on the allotted berth – not ideal for our loading/unloading requirements! – but it would have to do, as the Marina is currently pretty full. Our work starts a week on Monday, so we have a lot to do – most of it next weekend, Deep joy! But it’s nice to be here and I have a meet up with an old friend scheduled too! And hopefully a family get-together as well.
We had a rather lovely lie-in on Sunday morning – it had been quite a while since we have had a good one, and we both really needed it, I think. We had a late breakfast – a joy It’s been quite a while since I really enjoyed bread! It was very rainy at times, with thunder rumbling around. Too hot with doors and hatches all closed but too wet to have them open. Very irritating.
As it had been a couple of months since we’d had a car we went out for a drive in the afternoon, once the rain had stopped. it was rather nice to be out and about. When we arrived back, we made a start on the decanting process,most of which will happen next weekend.
Looking ahead, we shall be getting ready for the internal refurb, with a view to completing work by Sunday lunchtime. We have to empty from the galley to the bathroom and get it free of dog hair, as paint is involved. Eek! After which, we shall decamp ourselves and pop home for a week while Old Nick is pulled out for blacking and the other internal work. What we shall do when we get back is still under discussion, but we will probably start the journey back to Brinklow and get as far as we can. That’s the current thinking anyway!
| Period | Miles | Locks |
| 1st to 7th Sep | 21 | 15 |
| Cumulative 2025 | 419 | 253 |