Mike Stevens' UK Inland Waterways Pages

TRIP REPORTS : THE FELIS CATUS II YEARS

TO STRATFORD & BIRMINGHAM
Summer & Autumn 1992

Part 3 - Wilmcote to Birmingham, Stourbridge & Great Haywood then back home, with a break at Wakefield.

We resume the story at an overnight mooring near Wilmcote

We thought Wendy might have a broken finger so she went to the hospital to have it checked. It turned out not to be a break but a soft tissue injury, which they strapped up. There was no sign of Arlecchino, so we stayed the rest of the day, and I did some jobs on the boat including putting false floors in the seat-lockers to keep the tools dry.

There was still no sign of Arlecchino despite a lot of searching. Some locals said there were foxes in the area close by where we were moored, including a vixen with a late litter of cubs, so we feared the worst. If he wasn't back by next day we'd give up hope.

There was still so sign of Arlecchino, and he hadn't even looked in overnight to boast about his hunting. So we decided that he'd almost certainly succumbed either to a fox or to an adder, and we set off again at 09:24. We found that Anglo-Welsh at Wooten Wawen wasn't open on Sundays that year, so we couldn't get gas & pump-out, but did use the elsan point. 17:28 found us at The Boot, Lapworth, where we tied up and had dinner at the pub.

We made a fairly early start at 06:45, and stopped at Swallow Cruisers, Hockley Heath to take on water and buy gas & diesel, and again at Stephen Goldsborough's moorings for a pump-out and to leave word and our 'phone number in case the towpath telegraph produced any news of Arlecchino. There was some rain, which cleared up later. Then it was through King's Norton Junction and the top section of the Worcs & B'ham Canal to central Brum, where we moored by Ladywood Junction for a major shopping trip to the supermarket at Fiveways. I 'phoned my Trade Union colleague Doreen Jones for a rendezvous for supper. We went on to moor on the New Main line by Smethwick Junction, where Doreen & her house-mate Anne joined us for a barbecue.

Next morning saw an 08:51 start. We left the main line at Dudley Port Junction, unloaded rubbish at Tividale en passant and proceeded through Netherton Tunnel (no less boring than usual, but wetter) to Windmill End and Park Head before stopping past Green's Bridge on the Dudley no.1 Canal for me to do some DIY shopping at Merry Hill : excellent shopping but a lot of walking. Down Delph locks, and our next destination was only a little further, at Delph Marine where we stopped for a drink & chat with Alf & Anthony who had built Felis Catus II for us a couple of years before. Then we continued to Wordsley junction and moored at 18:37 just into the Stourbridge Town Arm. It was another barbecue evening. We decided to go into Stourbridge next day for shopping. Dido was very interested in a young kitten (whose name turned out to be Buster) at the mooring.

At 09:02 we went on to Stourbridge basin and took on water. We decided the launderette was too long-range but did some odds & ends of shopping. Dido had a contretemps with a small dog. The we continued back to Wordsley, turned south to Stourton Junction, then north up the Staffs & Worcs, mooring for the night above Dimmingsdale lock at 18:07 for yet another barbecue. It was a pretty mooring after a good day's run.

We started at 08:14 and passed Aldersley and Autherley junctions. At Park Gate lock we had a pump-out and bought diesel (good price but a long wait) at Teddesley Boats, and some chandlery at Midland Chandlers. That evening we moored at the Moat House, Acton Trussel at 17:48. I went to the bar. The pub had a very up-market restaurant and more realistically-priced bar food, but we ate on board. Wendy 'phoned Di Bird at Stephen Goldsborough's, but there was, unsurprisingly, no news of Arlecchino.

After an 08:15 start we reached Haywood junction, where we failed to find a non-boatyard rubbish point and then turned south-west on the Trent & Mersey Canal. At Rugeley we stopped for shopping & a pub lunch and I had a haircut. We moored at 18:40 past Handsacre, having to use the boarding-plank, so a barbecue wasn't practicable. It was a pretty mooring and Dido was adventurous. She'd already caught a shrew at Rugeley, which she brought back onto the boat alive, and played with it in the cabin. Eventually Ian helped it into the well-deck. We think it got ashore overnight.

We made a later start at 09:02 and at Fradley took on water and disposed of rubbish before turning onto the Coventry Canal. We made a brunch stop at bridge 89, then proceeded past Fazeley Junction. From Glascote, we were "hearse-racing" behind two Concoform boats, so decided to moor at Polesworth (past bridge 54) at 17:50.

Starting at 07:30, we ran into a long delay at Atherstone because of a badly-leaking bottom gate at lock 6, and consequent low pounds above it. By the time he'd got us through (in a long queue), the lock-keeper had decided it was probably caused by damage to the cill. We used the sani station by the top lock en passant. Breakfast was eaten on the move, very late because of the delay. At Nuneaton, bridge 22, Ian left for home and we went on to finish the day with an early stop in the rain just past Hawkesbury junction at 16:02.

We started at 08:26, winded past bridge 7 and came back to bridge 8 at Foleshill, where we knew there was a launderette (slow & expensive, but we couldn't afford be choosy). While that was cooking, I did various jobs on the boat. To our disappointment there wasn't a Bank there. Back to Hawkesbury junction, we turned into the Oxford Canal and stopped at Stretton only to find that Rose Boats didn't do pump-out etc after 17:00. So we went on to Newbold Wharf and moored at 18:50. I tried both pubs before dinner but wasn't very impressed with them as pubs, although the nearer one looked OK for food.

Tuesday's start was at 07:37 and at Clifton wharf we had to wait until they opened at 09:00 to give us a pump-out. They only offered Shell gas which wasn't any good to us. Diesel was a reasonable price, but we were nearly full (most recently at an even better price). We stopped again just before Hillmorton locks for Wendy to go to Rugby for a bank etc. She was not impressed with the shopping centre. I polished the brass & spliced a rope for a hire-boat. Further back there was a large Tesco with moorings, a picnic site and (we were told) cash points.

Our next stop was before Braunston bottom lock at Midland Chandlers (this was before they moved to their present premises by the Turn) to get another soft rope so that we'd now got long soft ropes, one each led fore and aft from the centre swivel. Then we locked up the flight with Florence (nice people and certainly no slower than when they were mob-handed once before) and tied up on the visitor moorings before Buckby top lock at 17:13. We enjoyed a good dinner in the New Inn.

We watered before the start, then set off at 08:17, again locking with Florence. The weather was grey, and at times rainy. Does that make it grainy? It was certainly windy, which made a hearse-race particularly difficult. The hearse was offended when we passed it. We made a brief stop at the sani station at Gayton then went on, with a bit of difficulty with the wind as we turned back into the main line, to moor at Blisworth Village at 14:05. We did a slow clean-up then went home.

For the next few days I was up at Wakefield, taking part in one of the muddiest National Waterways Festivals I can remember. I was staying on Dave Dent & Ann Tilman's new boat Albatross 2, which wasn't yet fully fitted, while I worked with Dave & Ann in the public address commentary team. Meanwhile Wendy went back to Wilmcote by train to see if she could hear any news of Arlecchino, but there was none.

A LONG WEEKEND

We came up from home by train & taxi for a last few days' boating before the start of term. Dido wasn't with us as she refused the carrying box and the trip was sufficiently short that we could leave out all the food she needed. .We arrived to find that FC2 had pulled her moorings and been re-moored (with all four ropes) to the piling, which had chafed all the ropes. I started having thoughts about how to overcome this in future.

We set off at 12:29 through Blisworth tunnel (not too smokey this time) and soon reached Stoke Bruerne where I went to The Boat for a bar lunch. We only had a short wait for a partner for the locks, and what came was Wyvern's Supreme, mob-handed with people who knew what they were doing, which helped us a lot, so we got down the locks in 52 minutes. At Yardley Gobion wharf we bought gas & coal, then went on to moor for the night at Cosgrove at 17:58. I went to the Barley Mow before dinner and chatted with the chap off the boat moored to the pub garden.

We made a start at 07:46 and had good morning's run. There was a lot of wind & threatening weather all day, but very little actual rain. We had no partners at any of the locks. We stopped at the foot of Soulbury locks next to John & Joan Branch (friends from Canalway Cavalcade) on Hale Lady and had a chat with them. I went to the Three Locks for lunch : then we lazed around for a while before setting of for Leighton Buzzard, where we tied up at 17:40. We'd stopped on somebody's home mooring, quite a way up from the bridge, for shopping. I had a chat with Geoff, the mooring warden, who told us that the moorer won't be back for a fortnight, so we decided to stay the night.

The weather was threatening again, so we delayed our start to 09:36. En route I spliced some rope strops for mooring to piling without harming our mooring lines. We tied up at the Ship Stores, Marsworth, and both went to the Red Lion, then had lunch on board. Before Startopsend lock we stopped to buy a bow fender from Derek Pearson and met Brian Dice (BW Chief Executive) coming down the lock on a BW hire-boat. We went up the flight with another 2-hander (only one of the crew experienced). It was very slow, in part because a boat coming down sat on a lock-cill. We stopped for the night at the Grand Junction Arms, Bulbourne at 18:27 and had a barbecue, wondering if it would be our last of the season. I went to the pub, which had a new landlord again and very few people

It took some gymnastics to hang the new fender before we started at 10:48. It was raining most of the way and we weren't sharing any of the locks, but did meet some traffic coming the other way and making life a little easier. We decided that when we need a good fire, house coal is not as good as Coalite as it tends to kipper the steerer. At Gas Two, at Berkhamsted, we met Reuben Foster starting some hirers on their trip, and he lock-wheeled for us to the boatyard, where we tied up at 14:36, left the boat with them and asked for a pump-out, an oil change and an investigation of a seeming exhaust leak.

A NORMAL WEEKEND

We travelled from London separately. Wendy arrived first and shopped. I came a bit later with the keys (Roger had locked the other set in the boat). We had dinner on board, Mike & Lindy (separately) dropping in for a chat. Roger had done an oil change and traced the exhaust problem to a broken securing-stud on the manifold.

Wendy went to a paper-shop early, then we were off, after some delay, at 07:49. The weather was dry & not cold enough to need the stove. Around Bourne End we saw a group of three swans. One of them was black, but seemed quite at home with the others. We shared a couple of locks with Jemima before Winkwell bridge, where they stopped. We stopped below Winkwell locks for breakfast. After this we were running single but crossing some boats usefully. At Cassiobridge lock we waited for the Hillingdon community boats Pisces and Gemini 1 to take on water while in the lock. Gemini 2, we learnt, was now leased out somewhere up-country. The fellow on Pisces was apologetic about keeping us waiting and gave us four cans of lager! A chap (we later got to know him as Richard Packer) from Misbourne II greeted Wendy with "I saw you" (he meant the boat) "on the front of Excalibur". We moored at 18:21 below Common Moor lock, just past some bushes with a quite intoxicating smell of honey.

We started at 07:34 with me suspicious of the engine's thirst for oil. We stopped for breakfast below Springwell lock, and for a beer at The Shovel at Cowley, mooring below the lock. The we had lunch on board before a gentle run back to our home mooring at Cowley Peachey.