Day 1 - Saturday
Soon after arriving at Stoke Prior I
managed to get out of moving all our gear onto the boats by settling down on my
bed in the ‘Lesley’, our home for the week for a much-needed nap. Phil and
Clarissa arrived and it was wonderful to finally meet their lovely sons, Louis
and Ben. Our party all wandered down the canal to the Queen’s Head for a long,
late lunch before the boys started up our 3 boats, Lesley, Helene and Kelly
with 7 children in tow while Mum, Son and I did some shopping.
Our long lunch resulted in only 5 locks
being done so a big day was ahead of us.
Day 2- Sunday
The day began before I was up due to the
huge number of locks to pass through today. Having all children fresh as well
as the addition of Louis was a great help as we headed up the Tardebigge Flight.
The kids had a lovely time although a couple of our windlasses mysteriously
disappeared and one hit Seren between the eyes.
Followed by a 2726 yard tunnel it was a
very long day resulting in a much later than planned arrival into Birmingham
and the Gas Street Basin where we sadly handed Louis back over to Phil and Had
a lovely dinner with Becky and Chris.
Day 3 - Monday
Feeling quite a lot better I managed to
rise before we set off through the canals of Birmingham, having really enjoyed
the picturesque centre of town the outer areas were not as well kept and the
water quality not nearly as good either.
The dirty was of concern when Tieve
(despite the new instructions to not climb on the roof or walk along the sides)
was standing outside the Galley window one second and disappeared in the water the
next. I quickly rushed to the back where Glen was and we directed her safely
away from the boat to the side of the canal where a passing man kindly helped
our sopping daughter of the water. It a very good job she is such a confident
and competent swimmer allowing her to not panic and follow directions. Her sore
knee then had a really good clean out, Germoline applied and we instructed her
to ensure she finishes her course of antibiotics.
The day was fairly light on for locks
which was a nice bit of respite after the previous day. We enjoyed a lovely “Michael’s
Chili” dinner all together before being greeted by a local family of swans. The
boys then headed off for a pint and the girls and kids turned in.
Day 4 -Tuesday
Another big day on the locks and by this
point the kids were all getting quite tired and seemed to have decided that sitting
below decks watching movies together and eating all Sonia’s snacks was more
appealing. It was therefor an even bigger day for the adults who often had to
man the locks with only one crew member. It was a huge relief when we finally
saw lock number 21 and settled down for a hard earned lunch. The afternoon was
much quieter before settling in for the night near a Sainsburys allowing us to
replenish Sonia’s pantry! Mum and Dad were on dinner duty serving up Dad’s well-known
Kedgeree.
Day 5 – Wednesday
We awoke surrounded by anglers setting up
their giant rods for a competition. They had a beautiful day ahead of them so I
hope they had brought their sunblock. We passed through more beautiful scenery,
while Aimee and Daelin amused themselves filling page after page with drawings.
Dinner was our turn so tonight our makeshift table was willed with Taco
fillings.
Day 6 - Thursday
Today was our biggest day in terms of distance
travelled from our overnight moorings north of Kidderminster, through Stourport
down the Severn and into Worcester. Stourport was a lovely looking town and it
was a shame that the previous couple of days we had come up a little short so
we hadn’t made it to our planned overnight stop in the Stourport Basins. It was
a particularly interesting part of the canals to travel through as we headed down
two double locks with room for only one boat between the two and then down and
on to the Severn River.
Motoring along the Severn had a very
different feeling to it, with such wide banks it didn’t have the same cosy feel
that most of the canals have. At the intersection of the river and canal there
was a carnival going on with hundreds of primary age children having a regatta
in double canoes which had been designed by a very successful British Canoeist and
was running the carnival. We then had a little excitement when my 6th
Melbourne Scout Group hat flew off my head with a gust of wind and was then
fished out by Mum as they followed behind us in their boat.
The journey was quite peaceful as we had
been abandoned by all the children again so it was just Glen and myself on the Lesley.
It was very nice to have a break from the locks on the Severn as all 3 of them
were manned double locks so after Dad and Glen tethered themselves together
within the lock all the work was done by the lock keeper and his button.
After being passed by several rowers as we
headed back into Worcester there were a further two double locks which we did ourselves
expertly manoeuvred by this point by our captains. A few more locks down the
canal we found a quite place for dinner and then settled down for our penultimate
night on the boats.
Day 7 – Friday
Having covered the first 5 locks of the
ring they day before, we had 17 to travel today which were mostly covered in
the first half of the day and a little spread out. Due to the Stourport Ring
being a much harder slog than we expected we had a treat and went out for a well-deserved
pub lunch. Tieve managed to add to her long list of injuries for the week with
a twisted ankle so she did quite a bit more driving than manning of locks. One
of the highlights of the day for me was passing through a lock that was so beautifully
manicured by the residents of the lock cottage. Definitely the prettiest lock
of the week.
We ended the day just a couple of locks
away from Stoke Prior, took some obligatory group photos and had a drink in the
local pub.
Day 8 – Saturday
Everyone was early to rise ready to complete
our last two locks, pack and unload the boats. It had a been a brilliant week. Narrow
boating is certainly a holiday that never gets old.
Stourport Ring – 118 locks, 84 miles.
