Passing the end of the Stratford Canal

After an overnight stop at Alvechurch we pulled into Hopwood on Thursday with the intention of a quick coffee stop. However when we popped to the nearby garage for milk we saw the Hopwood House Inn did 2 steaks and a bottle of wine on a Thursday for £22. So we decided it was too good to pass by. So Friday saw us through Wast Hill Tunnel mooring at Kings Norton.

Passed this group of fungi this morning

Yesterday we got the bus to Cotteridge to use the launderette we have used before. Unlike Paul I still have to pay bus fare, so when it cost £3 for a day rider we decided to get our money worth. So after a trip back on board for lunch we were back on the bus to Northfield.  As it's further from the canal we had not been there before. More shops than we expected. We managed to buy a few bits!

Busy working

Today with the clocks changing we were awake early so setting off just after 9! Arriving at Bournville and managing to get a mooring on the offside visitor moorings Paul has taken advantage to paint one side of the hull.  Always something to do 😎

Top of Tardebigge

What it is all about!

Had some terrible rain on Thursday so the only place we went that day was to the pub. The Boat and Railway at Stoke Works. We have been gradually working our way up the Worcester and Birmingham Canal towards Tardebigge. On the whole the locks come in convenient groups of about six at a time. This has made nice division for daily trips. However as you can see from the panel left the flight at Tardebigge is 30 locks. 29 having to be worked in one go! We arrived at the bottom of the flight on Saturday and

Tardebigge Wharf

waited until later when our friends Anne and Chris, who live in Redditch to come and pick us up. They had invited us to their house for a meal and to watch Strictly. Then to spend the night. A lovely time was had by all. On Sunday they brought us back to Falcon, then parked at the top of the lock flight and came and helped us with all the locks. So after 3 hours, including a coffee

Tardebigge Tunnel, through there tomorrow.

stop we arrived at the top. Having 3 of us working the locks made it a MUCH easier trip. Thank you both very much.
Yesterday was a very different day. Paul's brother's Blake had been in Birmingham for the weekend, so we got the train from Bromsgrove and were able to meet up with him before he got the coach back to Plymouth. The last couple of visits we have made to Plymouth have been very brief and we haven't seen him, so it was good to catch up. Today we are having a lazy day. Tomorrow we have one more lock before the tunnel. We will then be at the summit and on the level all the way to Birmingham.

Moored by Hanbury

 After a lovely weekend with Lorraine and family we are back on board. Moving on from Tibberton we stopped at Dunhampstead last night. Luckily we seemed to miss storm Ophelia. It was very windy and we saw the red sun.
Today we have traveled a bit further, passing the

junction with the Droitwich Canal.  Lovely quiet mooring. Can just about see the lock ahead. The first of 6 we will be working through tomorrow.

Out of Worcester

Having travelled a few miles away from Worcester, on Saturday we decided we would turn and head back there for the weekend.

Leaving Worcester for the second time

Unfortunately not all went according to plan. When Paul went to start the engine nothing happened. So we called out River Canal Rescue for only the second time in 5+ years. It did take him 2 hours to arrive as the engineer came from near Banbury! He discovered that our starter battery was past its use by date! He did get us going, and after reversing about quarter of a mile back along the canal and backwards down a lock we were able to turn and continue on into Worcester.

Once there we met up with 

Offerton Flight of Locks

friends Anne and Chris. Chris works for a motor factor company and had got us a replacement battery at cost price 😀 Then he helped Paul to fit it. There was a bit of a panic when Paul said the battery had fallen in the canal. Anne and I thought that wasn't the most environmentally friendly way to dispose of it, only to find it was the new one that had gone in! Once again thanks to Chris who laid on the towpath and managed to grab the handles at the top of the battery and lift it out. Amazingly after a wipe off it worked!
Since then we have worked our way northwards and are now moored at Tibberton. Though at the moment we are in Marlow spending the weekend with Lorraine and family.

Into Worcester

Arriving at Gloucester Docks on Wednesday we stayed there a couple of nights before moving on to the River Severn and a longish trip to Upton on Severn on Thursday, a week ago now.  On the way we passed 4 barges which are used to transport gravel along the river. All named after fish. Perch, Chub, Pike and Elver.

Perch following us up the River

After spending just one night at Upton we moved on in the morning. We had seen the barges passing us during the morning. On their return down river we noticed how much lower in the water they were sitting. The water almost seeming to come over the sides. As we moved on Perch came up behind us! Unladen it seemed huge.

We were hoping to see her docking but we were too far ahead.

5 days after coming off the river we passed this

We spent a final night on the river on the rising pontoon just before the locks at Worcester. Spent a couple days looking round, shopping etc. We are now on the Worcester and Birmingham Canal, which as you may guess will eventually take us into Birmingham.