A New Home for Thomazina

Taking the boat from Saul Marina to our new home in Gnosall

an adventure in itself

Wolverley and Debdale Locks, Cookley Tunnel

Wednesday 28th October

We only had one goal today, to get to The Anchor Inn at Caunsall. Our friends Sheila and Kev first told us about this lovely pub, famous for its 'well-filled' cob rolls. It's only a hop-skip-and-a-jump from where we were moored at Wolverley — not even a 'jump' as no locks, so an easy journey compared to the day before. 

We went through Cookley Tunnel, taking the obligatory photos of our Little Pink Coffee Pot for our friend Esther who has her own coffee shop in Venice. 

We first met Esther thirteen years ago, on our second trip to Venice, when we identified her slightly Brummy accent and asked where she came from. "You won't have heard of it" was the reply, but as soon as she said "Cookley" we knew it exactly, as its houses perched atop Cookley Tunnel are a very distinct landmark on the Staffs and Worcs Canal. A few years ago we bought a bright pink moka coffee pot from Esther and we started to document its journey with us on the boat. 

New Adventures for the Little Pink Coffee Pot

Previous travels of the LPCP

Cobs and Herons

In less than a couple of hours we were moored at Austcliffe, and a five minute walk through a pretty wood took us to The Anchor. It is a really popular pub, no matter what time you arrive there will always be a crowd there, but they are strictly following the current guidelines. We anti-bac'd hands, tracked and traced, and waited to be seated in their newly covered outside area. They have recently added locally-made pork pies to their choice of ham, beef or cheese cobs, so of course we had to try those, which were delicious. Complemented by a pint and a half of Butty Bach beer, always well-kept at The Anchor. Sadly, Smuggler didn't get his usual plate of meat scraps, but he was a really good boy and when we had finished our lunch he wolfed down the morsels we saved for him, along with the salad we couldn't  manage. He loves cucumber, seems to enjoy raw onion, not so keen on lettuce — but he ate it anyway just to show willing! When we walked back to the boat a heron was waiting for us at the side of the canal. He was completely unworried by Smuggler and flew along and settled behind the boat for a while. After that there wasn't much else to do but have a lazy afternoon.

Thursday 29th October

Whittington & Stewponey Locks,
Dunsley Tunnel, Stourton Junction

Bad weather was originally forecast for today. We hadn't travelled very far on Wednesday, and the threat of another covid-related lockdown is at the back of our minds, so we decided to try and get as far as we could. We were soon into the lock at Whittington, which is near to where Dick Whittington's grandfather lived. Then on to Kinver, famous for the houses built out of the sandstone rock, and once home to a popular light railway that attracted visitors to visit the "Switzerland of the Midlands", seventeen thousand on Whit Monday 1905! The sandstone rock is evident on all the lock and tunnel approaches. In the rural surroundings between Kinver and Hyde, it is hard to believe that for two hundred years there was a huge ironworks with twenty puddling furnaces lining the canal.

We passed Stourton junction, where the Stourbridge Canal heads off, and looking at the signpost brought to mind some of our previous journeys — the Stourbridge Sixteen, Black Delph, Windmill End, Netherton Tunnel and ultimately Brum. On past the remains of a canal company roundhouse at Gothersley, through Rocky, Greensforge and Hinksford Locks.

Smuggler has to 'help' at all the locks. As soon as he hears the engine slow down he is ready and waiting to jump off with John. These locks were all going 'up', so Smuggler stands on the edge of the lock watching the boat, and as soon as the boat is high enough he hops back on.

In the end the weather was mainly dry so we managed to get to a mooring just before Swindon Lock, a journey of 8 miles and 8 locks.

The mooring near Swindon Lock was surprisingly peaceful and we had a good night's sleep, although we had to let the woodburner die out during the evening as the boat was very hot — the weather had turned really warm considering the time of year.

Friday 30th October

Botherham and Bumblehole

A day of mixed greyness and the odd sharp shower, and alliterative lock names — Bumblehole, Botterham and Bratch. Bumblehole is forever imprinted on our minds because it was where we picked up a folding canvas chair around the prop a few years ago. John always refers to it as "the fisherman's chair" although to be truthful we have no idea where it came from. He is probably influenced by the fact that it took us over an hour to cut it away, a good advert for Dunlop in how well made it was! Botherham is a set of two staircase locks — make sure no one is coming down, and that the top chamber is full and the bottom one empty, take the boat into the bottom and let the water from the top down. A rise of over twenty feet. 

Bratch 'hitchhikers',
nuzzling horses, handsome bridge at Awbridge

Bratch Locks are probably the prettiest on the canal, with a flag flying from the octagonal toll office and a Victorian pumping station nearby that looks like a fairytale castle. Brindlay originally built Bratch as a three-lock staircase, but later the locks were separated with short pounds, connected by hidden side pounds and culverts. Bratch is manned in the summer months and we were lucky as we passed through on the last day for this year, so had assistance from two C&RT volunteers. No sign of the regular lock keeper or his assistant that we've come to know over the years, and we wondered if their jobs have been cut. One of the lock keepers asked a favour, would we allow two little girls to travel up through the locks on the boat, as they had never been through a lock. I asked them to stand on the other side of the stern (socially distanced of course!), and impressed on them how important it was to keep their hands inside the boat so that there was no chance of crushed fingers if we banged the side. I have known the force of incoming water in Bratch locks to sweep me forward and into the gates, so I took extra care to keep the boat well back in each lock. Isabel and Lottie did exactly as asked, and really seemed to enjoy their short trip, their mum and dad taking photos from above. I showed them some old photographs of Bratch and they laughed when their dad struggled to shut the lock gates. Later the family walked on up the towpath and waved goodbye to us through the cut out holes of the pretty bridge at Awbridge.

Leaving the Staffs and Worcs for the Shroppie

We passed the moorings near Wightwick Manor, and eventually got to Compton Lock, the first lock that Brindley built on the Staffs and Worcs, in the late 1760s, and the end of our run of 31-locks up from the River Severn in Stourport, a rise of 294 feet. We passed Aldersley Junction, where the 'Wolverhampton Twenty-one' forks off on its journey into the BCN (Birmingham Canal Networks). Then we were at Autherley, the junction with the Shropshire Union Canal, "the Shroppie", which John refers to as 'Telford's Motorway'. There is a 'stop lock' here, only 6 inches deep, which the Staffs and Worcs Canal Company insisted on in 1830, to prevent Telford's newer 'Birmingham and Liverpool Junction Canal Company' stealing their water! It should only take a matter of minutes but a build up of silt is preventing the bottom gate from opening. We helped the boat in front of us, they helped us, but it still took nearly half an hour to get through. Thank goodness that C&RT plan to work on it in a couple of weeks time. Once onto the Shroppie our speed increase. Deeper, clearer water and less fallen autumn leaves meant that the filter on our raw-water-cooled engine didn't block up so easily. We decided to press on for moorings that Sheila and Kev used during lockdown earlier in the summer, just before Bridge 8. If you count the staircase locks individually, today we had covered over 12 miles and 15 locks. As we moored the light was just going, but strangely there was a vivid red sky — no chance of 'shepherd's delight' tomorrow, with the gales forecast.

More travels with a coffee pot