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Date: 12th September 2024
Canal: Worcester and Birmingham Canal, Droitwich Barge Canal
Direction: West
Today we cruised in search of a slightly more rural mooring. Heading north, and back towards Birmingham, we went through 7 locks and found Armco in Tibberton.
It’s very pretty and quiet here, but luckily we are also close to a pub (Sunday lunch has already been booked). This is exactly what we are looking for after our recent town, city and river adventures.
The Bridge has recently been taken over by new landlords and we had a really great lunch there. We’d highly recommended a visit to this traditional canal side pub.
Wild flowers on the towpath
Being moored in Tibberton for a few days has been very restful, but now we need to continue our journey to Droitwich.
We tried to moor before the turning onto the Droitwich Barge Canal, but the water was a little shallow and we just couldn’t get the boat close enough into the side. So, we continued a bit further on the Worcester and Birmingham Canal, turned the boat around in a winding hole and then reversed for a short distance.
After a bit of trial and error we have found a nice place to moor with fields to our right and hedgerows on our left, the M5 is visible in the distance but this isn’t an issue. The water is still a little shallow here but finally we’ve managed to get the boat securely tied up.
The sun setting over our boat
We are visiting family this weekend, so we’ve booked the boat into Droitwich Spa Marina for a few days. The marina will give us a secure place to leave the boat, electric to ensure our boat batteries are rejuvenated and easy access to a train station.
We cruised the short distance back to the Droitwich Barge Canal this morning and then went down 3 locks. I was really happy to see the Lock Keepers waiting for us as we pulled up to the first one, because these locks are slightly different to those we have done before (you have to be careful to fill the side pounds with water, before using the gate paddles as usual). I’m pleased to say that we navigated through without any trouble (and without flooding the pounds), but to be honest the Lock Keepers did most of the work and I just did what I was told – a big thank you to these cheerful and knowledgeable volunteers!
After the locks it was a very short distance to the marina, and we were soon moored up for the weekend.
The weather has quickly turned from summer to autumn, but that’s not a problem because autumn is a wonderful time of year on the canals.
We are John, Lorraine, and Boasley the Boat Dog.
Follow our adventures as we learn to live the life of contiuous cruisers on the British waterways.
