There was a slight delay before we could lunch, as we had to lock through the couple of locks which join the Worcester & Birmingham Canal to the River Severn. The wait was worth it though, and, as the locks on the Severn are automated, we could relax and enjoy lunch in the sunshine without interruptions.
Talking about River Severn locks, they are absolutely huge - mind you everything about the Severn is big when, like us, you're used to narrow, winding canals. Looking at the size of the lock gates, we were mightily glad there was a lock-keeper with electronic equipment to open them as we didn't think that, even with all our combined effort, we would have budged the gates even an inch. This is what we mean when we say they were big ...
... and bear in mind you're looking at only part of one gate.
Our trip along the Severn was to take us down to Tewkesbury where we would join the River Avon. As we were travelling downstream we were whizzed along by the current and were moving at twice the speed we would on the canals. New boating recruit, Polar, from the Midlands branch, found the speed of Severn travelling quite a surprise, as he was just getting used to our average 3 m.p.h speed on the canals. He was about to doze off at the front of the boat when he heard the sound of foaming water. He looked over the edge of the boat, and saw quite an unusual sight for a canal boat - white water.
At this speed, our 16 miles down to Tewkesbury took us no time at all.
Lots of love Eddie and the crew of Muscovy xxx
No comments:
Post a Comment