.. and what a beauty she is with the lovely canal side setting of Kidderminster church to show off her fine lines. Those in the know, will deduce from Maria's maroon and navy paintwork, that she's a Black Prince hire boat, and we were lucky to have one of the latest additions to their fleet. She'd only just had her maiden voyage, so was spick and span and very smart. I enjoyed being aboard Maria so much that I spent the least time ashore of all of us bears.
I mentioned last time, that our trip had started with the excitement of travelling the newly restored Droitwich canal. The welcome sign on the lock gate that we saw previously, was only seen once you were actually on the canal. The signing at the canal junction, where we turned right to join the Droitwich, was far less significant. We were looking out for the turn using our boating guides and it was just as well we were, as the only indication we got was the small white sign on the wall, just above Maria's bow fender ...
Turns are always quite tricky when your boat is so long and the canal so narrow, but we made the turn successfully and almost immediately we were enjoying the sights of this delightful canal. Our canal guide was published before the Droitwich was restored,
so it only showed us where it used to run. There was no detail, such as where the locks would come, and also the unusual swing bridges.
We didn't have long to wait before our first lock ...
We all love working the locks, so for us, they are a pleasing sight - not everyone on the waterways would agree with us though!
Lots of love, Eddie and the crew of Maria xxx
1 comment:
Suffolk Branch wee chief rope coilers - looks very shipshape doesn't it!
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