Just after Louis's cowslips we came across a simple staircase lock. I called Louis over for his next lock lesson - in the space of a couple of hours he had advanced to advanced lock handling and he was taking it all in his stride. I explained how the bottom gate of one lock was he top gate of the next. It was important to check that both pounds were empty before starting off; thankfully the canal was quiet so this was no problem.
Louis wanted a photo for his boating log book and this one shows the arrangement of the staircase lock rather well.
He also found a plaque confirming that the Droitwich canal had only re-opened last year. We were all astounded at the amount of work that must have been involved in the restoration and full of admiration for all those who had worked so hard on the project. It was a great privilege to be one of the first boats to travel this way since the re-opening.
The thrills continued as we approached the M5 motorway. What an obstacle to have to pass. I don't suppose for a moment that any of the drivers rushing along imagined for one moment that they were so close to the waterway underneath them. As we approached we got a warning of how low we would have to go to make it throughout the tunnel.
We cleared the height guides, but not by much; it was a good job the water level wasn't any higher, otherwise we'd have been doing a long reverse. Even so, as the tunnel proper came upon us, we all took a sharp intake of breath, hoping there would be no screeches of torn metal and even worse cracked heads.
We were o.k. though provided we kept our heads down and knelt to steer. It was quite an experience and actually quite quiet - we were completely protected from all the traffic thundering over our heads.
After the motorway tunnel came 2 swing bridges, I just could't get over how exciting this canal was and how many interesting features were packed in. But it was enough for 1 day, so just after the swing bridges we tied up for the night and were soon relaxing over a home cooked meal and a glass of wine. It was simply great to be aboard and none of us wanted to go anywhere else.
Lots of love, Eddie, Louis and crew xxx
1 comment:
Is that sunshine we can see? Suffolk Branch have almost forgotten what that was! They are disappointed that the 2nd day of the Suffolk Show was cancelled today because of force 9 winds (and more rain).
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