On to the Droitwich Ring.

Thursday 29th June 2017 in Droitwich.
Quite a shame to leave such nice peaceful moorings but rain was forecast for later, so we decided to try to get to Droitwich before it started. It was a lot cooler today, hence the layers of warm clothing.

R disappeared with MM into the short Dunhampstead tunnel while M walked over the top.

Thankfully, they both emerged unscathed at the other end just as M arrived.

The sedges are just as high here as they were yesterday. Sometimes it feels like we are looking for the "African Queen".

The junction of the Worcs & Birmingham canal with the start of the Droitwich Ring arrives with very little warning just after a bridge and requires a very sharp turn to the left before slipping through another bridge with a narrow gap. Luckily, forewarned, R and MM managed it without too much difficulty.

The first three locks on the Droitwich Ring come almost immediately.

These locks are unusual in that they use fully functional side ponds to save water. When emptying a lock, the first half of the water is diverted into the side pond. The second half is let out to the pound below in the normal way. When filling the lock, the first half is filled from the side pond and the second half comes from the pound above in the normal way. So each lock movement only uses half a lock-full of water instead of a full lock-full. This is the empty side pond.

These side ponds used to be very common - and we have seen many derelict ones that are no longer in use - but here they are fully operational to save water.
There was also a friendly and cheerful C&RT volunteer on the lock to help boats through.
These locks have been recently restored and we admired the block paving and their general condition.

Locks 4 and 5 are a staircase pair. These are brand new locks and again they are in excellent condition. It's all very pleasing!

Next to the staircase was a wild flower meadow. M counted 23 different species of flowers in this sward alone!

When the Droitwich Ring was being restored, the canal had to go under the M5. Luckily, there was a culvert built under the motorway to take the small river Salwarpe, that runs through the middle of Droitwich. The culvert is JUST big enough to take a narrowboat. We made it with just two inches to spare! Good job MM isn't any higher.

The last lock before Droitwich itself is a wide "barge" lock, which is really a flood lock so, as the river is low, we could have opened the gates at both ends and gone straight through - if it weren't for the swing bridge in the middle. Took M a while to work it out, not helped by a very large number of school children being shepherded across the bridge by their teachers; they were on a WW2 day and many of them were in 1940s clothing.

There are two more swing bridges in Vine Park in the centre of Droitwich. They are locked and there was a good deal of bad language from M as the padlocks were jammed in the mechanism and it took both of us and a lot of heaving and straining to get the padlocks out and then back in again.

Finally we moored up in the excellent visitors' moorings in the town, which are in a secure compound close to the centre.

A walk around the town revealed some surprises, not least St. Andrew's Church, which has no spire because it was removed when subsidence due to salt extraction made it unsafe. It does look rather odd without its spire! Throughout the town there are many buildings at really extreme angles because the ground has subsided and taken the buildings with it.
In the shopping centre was a statue to Edward Winslow. The date, 1620, and his attire, gave us the clue that he was one of the Pilgrim Fathers. Given our recent trip to Plimoth Plantation in Massachussetts, we looked him up and found that he was a local Droitwich man who had survived the initial harsh winter in 1620/21 and had become Governor of the Colony for three years, eventually dying in the Caribbean in 1655 aged 60 years old.

R was delighted to find a branch of "Muffin Break", which also has a branch in the Belfry in Redhill. We have been to the Redhill branch on a number of occasions and have been very impressed. Unfortunately the Droitwich branch left a lot to be desired as they produced a "Cappuccino" that was a white coffe with a few bubbles on the top. Very disappointing!

Supper was a new recipe that M had found in the Waitrose magazine (M was delighted to find that there is a Waitrose in Droitwich). The supper was delicious!
Today: 5 miles, 8 locks and 3.5 Hours.
Trip: 80 miles, 71 locks and 63.6 hours.