Christmas Shopping!

We finally headed back on to the main Stourbridge Canal on Tuesday. 16 locks ahead of us. We worked 4 of them arriving here at the cone in time to visit their cafe for lunch.

Redhouse Glass Cone

We also had a look round the museum here and there are also several craft shops, so spent a very pleasant afternoon.
We moved on the following morning and in the picture below we are in the next lock and you can see the top of the cone.
We worked the remaining 12 locks of the Stourbridge Flight on Wednesday morning, but decided to keep the next flight of 8 for the next day. Found a mooring with a fish and chip shop near by so no prizes for guessing what was for dinner on Wednesday.

First lock on Wednesday

Thursday brought another flight of locks, the 8 at Delph Locks. These are known locally as Nine Locks. Originally there were 9 but due to subsidence 7 locks in the centre had to be replaced and only 6 were built.
We completed those and arrived at Merryhill on Thursday and we are still here. We have been busy with Christmas shopping and Paul has watched some rugby. Will be moving on towards Birmingham in a couple of days.

Looking back down the Delph 9 Locks.

Couple of days in Stourbridge

We have been steadily making our way southwards, though since we made it through the last lock set for closure we have been traveling at a more leisurely pace! I know we only go

Entering the Stourbridge Canal

 slowly anyway, but now for less time!
We turned into the Stourbridge Canal on Friday. The start of the canal has 4 locks which we worked before lunch. Making it into Stourbridge

Lock 3 of 4 by Four Lock Bridge

and arriving at The Bonded Warehouse where the Stourbridge Navigation Trust have their headquarters. We were last here in 2013. We got there about 3.30 hoping for a pump out only to find they shut at 2.30 until Monday morning. Thankfully we weren't in desperate need and are happy to stay here until then. Yesterday we had a walk into town and today catching up on a few admin jobs. Need a quiet day today as tomorrow there are 16 locks on our next stretch.

On to the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal

Well we have been making good progress with our journey southwards. Busy cruising days but several 'runs ashore' too. This time last week we were at Market Drayton managing to be there on market day. On Friday our niece Cheryl drove all the way from Stockport to see us. We had to keep moving to beat Monday's stoppages. So after lunch her and I drove to where we expected to moor for the night. Meanwhile Paul was cruising towards us. He got much further than us so Cheryl only had a short cruise before we moored for the night. We all enjoyed the day.

Bottom of the 2 locks. The gate under the bridge is the bottom gate for
 the to lock and the top gate for the bottom lock.

 On Saturday we arrived at Compton where there is a useful launderette. We also found a lovely butcher we'd not found before. 
At the moment we are moored in a place called Swindon, but this one is in Staffordshire. Paul is busy making a new floor for the bathroom. It is a false floor and the shower water flows over the sides before being pumped out. After 20+ years one corner is rotting away. We have gradually been buying replacement parts and this afternoon he is busy putting it all together.

View of the Staircase Locks from the bottom.

The pictures are of Botterham Staircase Locks. We came through them this morning. We moored just below so we could visit a cafe on a near by industrial estate where we both had the Gutbuster breakfast. Not sure if we will eat again today!