Locks - Pretty Ones and Scary Ones!

Tuesday 30th September. 2014 in Wombourne
A very grey, misty start! Yesterday evening's heavy rain and thunder were over by 7:00pm but the raindrops continued a "pitter-patter" on the roof all night from the trees above. This morning, our newly washed roof is covered with debris - that's what you get when you moor under trees!

We were just making breakfast when an old working boat "Aquarius" passed by towing its butty "Ilford" on a very long rope. M raced after them to get a photo and the skipper told her that the two boats have been travelling together for several years.

 Little Hinksford Bridge and adjacent lock were dinky - and in the prettiest setting. The murky start had given way to a lovely sunny day.

Just before we went back past Ashwood Marina, we passed the garden of the house belonging to Ashwood Nurseries. The garden is beautifully maintained and contans all sorts of unusual plants and trees. M insisted that we go past very slowly in order that we could admire it!

A brief stop in the village of Swindon (not the Wiltshire one!) was made to visit once more the little tearoom and bakery. We received an equally warm welcome as we did back in July last year and befriended Sam, the resident cat, who was quite black but with amazingly long white whiskers. He was very affectionate, although he was not supposed to come into the shop!
M was a trifle nervous going up the Botterham Staircase Locks as a friend's boat had an accident there a couple of years ago but, as usual, with a bit of care and forethought we went through without a hitch.

A lock staircase is where there is no gap between two locks - so the top gate of one is the bottom gate of the next; it does take some thinking about!

Shortly after, we moored up in a quiet spot opposite a huge empty field with no cars or people in sight - bliss... Or was it? Watch this space......
Today: 4 miles, 8 locks and 4.1 hours.
Trip: 274 miles, 182 locks and 209.4 hours.

Farewell to Hyde Lock House?

Monday 29th September, 2014 north of Stourton Junction.
Michaelmas Day! There are Michaelmas Daisies everywhere now, making a fine show of blue and yellow. Sadly, the swallows have all now departed for warmer climes but that's normal for this time of year.
It was another lovely morning and we walked into the village to see the Estate Agent; he had found a plan of the property boundaries of the cottage, plus the answers to some of our questions. We were struck by the dense rush hour traffic in the High Street on a Monday morning: -

After a final visit to yet another tea-room and the obligatory purchase of a "few bits" from the Co-op (not forgetting another few rashers of the butcher's excellent "middle-cut" bacon), we finally said goodbye to Kinver and headed up to Hyde Lock on our way north. We photographed the mooring just below the lock that comes with the house.

Of course,we stopped for a while in the lock to take pictures and dream. So nice to see MM next to the house.

In the Agent's particulars there were no pictures of the back of the house - so we remedied that.

We stopped just above the lock to reconnoitre the footpaths leading directly into the village from the house. It would only take about 10 minutes to walk to the centre of the village.
We then did finally leave Kinver behind.  The next lock was Stewponey Lock; it is very picturesque and has nothing to do with the recent horsemeat scare, rather it is a former wharf with its original octagonal toll office.

Yet again we passed Stourton Junction and soon after, we moored up for the day just before Prestwood Bridge to give the washing time to dry before the sun set.
As it got dark, we took the washing in, more or less dry, although the towels were still damp. Good timing, because soon after the heavens opened and we had a massive thunderstorm, the first rain for ages.
Toady: 3 miles, 3 locks and 4.2 hours.
Trip: 270 miles, 174 locks and 205.3 hours.

A Weekend Looking at Kinver.

Saturday 27th and Sunday 28th September, 2014 in Kinver.
We had originally decided to explore Kinver's renowned rock cave dwellings today but yesterday's chance encounter with the "For Sale" sign at Hyde Lock House led us to investigate a rather different kind of house.
Fortified by one of R's "smiley face" big breakfast (with the local butcher's excellent middle-cut bacon!), we went off to the Estate Agency in the High Street. A viewing was arranged for 1:30 this afternoon.
At 1:00pm we set off to walk along the towpath to the cottage; it actually took us about 15 minutes so we had some time to take a closer look at the exterior, front garden and mooring. The house is alongside Hyde Lock and has its own mooring just below the lock.

The Agent's representative arrived and we took a look around inside and round the back garden. If you would like to take a look at the particulars, follow this link:
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-46125082.html
The house is quite small with two bedrooms and a bathroom upstairs and a living room, conservatory, kitchen and third bedroom/dining room downstairs. But there is a single storey extension on the right that could be made into a third bedroom ensuite so the smaller bedroom upstairs could be used as an office. There is also a 9ft square store in the garden and the old piggery. The garden is a delight and M was in raptures over it. And, of course, the location is brilliant. It is at the end of an unadopted road, so there is virtually no traffic. M says we could have as many cats as we wanted!
And all at a price that we could easily afford.
We walked back to the village with a head full of thoughts. Canalside properties with their own moorings and as charming as this one rarely come on the market and, when they do, they are generally way outside our price range. It is beautiful but it is also quite small and 2.5 hours' drive from London. Does reality match the dream? So... watch this space!
Sunday morning dawned bright and clear, a very gentle day with soft sunshine and no breeze.

Today was given over to exploring the village, which suddenly had taken on a whole new perspective with the possibility that we might become "locals". We were surprised and delighted by the friendliness that we encountered everywhere. People talked to each other and by the end of the day we had been greeted a number of times by locals who remembered us from yesterday.
We set off in search of the renowned "Holy Austin Rock Houses". These are dwellings carved out of the sandstone high up on the ridge overlooking the town. They were occupied for hundreds of years until they were deemed as unfit for habitation in the 1930s. They then fell into decay but in the 1990s the National Trust started restoring them. There were originally three "levels". The lower level has been restored to its original state and very comfortable they looked, too!

Inside, the wood burning stove would have been working all year round so that the rock became like a storage heater and kept the house at a constant temperature winter and summer.

The middle level is still out of bounds as the caves are unsafe - although the first cave mouth has been fitted with a "Hobbit" door; we felt right at home!

The upper level originally had stone-built fronts added on to the cave room behind. The original fronts were demolished as unsafe in the 1960s, but have been recreated in exactly the same style and are now used as a tea-room.

In the 1930s, the inhabitants also used to provide a proper afternoon tea for the many visitors that they received. The cost was an old half-crown and you got sixpence back if you returned the tea things before you left!
After a brief stop at the tea room, we wandered up through the woods to the top of Kinver Edge, where there was an old iron-age fort and fabulous views.

There are many footpaths round here and the walking is excellent. Another box that Kinver ticks.

The route back to town took us past St Peter's Church, which sits high on the ridge above the village. They were setting up an area inside the church for the Harvest Supper that evening and, again, we were made to feel very welcome. M was tempted to ask if we could join them!

M discovered that there is a church choir with good altos (but light on tenors) and there is also a choir in the village that does two concerts a year of mixed music. 
We finally arrived back at MM, after a break for tea in the village at yet another tea shop, tired but happy after a very enjoyable day.
Today: We just turned MM around. Just 6.4 hours battery charging over two days.

Back to Kinver and a Canaside Property for Sale.

Thursday 25th and Friday 26th September, 2014 back to Kinver.
It feels like we have been away for ever! Actually it is just four weeks, but that was more than we planned (and more than enough!).
The good news is that the civil court case collapsed after just two days, so R was able to come home after less than a week in Bristol. However, M, expecting to be home for three weeks, had made all sorts of arrangements so we couldn't come back to MM any earlier and then a few other things cropped up and we ended up being away for four weeks instead of just three.
Still, we finally arrived back at MM on Thursday 25th. To M's relief, her geraniums had survived remarkably well considering there had been very little rain for the four weeks we had been away.
It was quite late, so we decided to stay in the marina overnight and leave the next morning.
So, on Friday morning, we backed gently out of the marina. It was very narrow, threading our way between boats on both sides. M stayed in the front of MM to fend off any bumps but it felt remarkably like playing dodgem cars!

The entrance to the marina is at a steep angle to the canal, so having backed out, we had to go north as there was insufficient width to turn round.

To get to Kinver, we had to sail for a mile north and go through Greensforge Lock before we could turn and then sail back south one mile and back through Greensforge lock to get where we started, but facing to the south. The perils of sailing a 60ft narrowboat on a canal only 30ft wide!
Then we had a further five miles and five locks to get to Kinver.
The last lock but one was Hyde Lock, with its lovely lock cottage - and there was a "For Sale" sign outside that wasn't there a month ago.

Canalside properties are highly sought after and it is something that we have always dreamed of - but most of them are way outside our price range. However, when we moored up in Kinver and looked it up on the internet we discovered that not only could we afford it, but it had its own mooring next to the house and the agent was in Kinver High Street. So, we decided to ask for a viewing tomorrow.
"Mother Hubbard's Cupboard" was a tad bare, so we made a brief sortie into Kinver for a "few bits" from the Co-Op.
We shall see what tomorrow brings!
Today: 7 miles, 7 locks and 4.6 hours.
Trip: 267 miles, 171 locks and 194.7 hours.