Beat the Weather

Sunday 23^rd September

I took Phoenix a walk around Droitwich which is a lovely old town based on the Salt industry from the early 17^th Century.

* High Street

* A Courtyard

* The Last Industrial Salt Pump

* The Salt way leading from the Church

* Vines Park with the original Salt Drying Pans in the distance

William, Jackie, Brian, Anita, Mike and Sue all arrived at 10 am and as the weather forecast for the afternoon was rain we changed our lunch arrangements and set off on the trip to Hanbury Wharf having left a car there to get us back to Droitwich.

As we set off another boat went in front of us and we negotiated the 2 swing bridges and the final one in the middle of the last lock on the Barge Canal together. We were able to open both sets of gates on the lock as the water level was the same on the river as the canal.

* Last Lock on the Barge Canal

* River Salwarpe

The river has been canalised in order to negotiate the road crossing as the original canal route has been closed off and the remains of its route can be seen as you proceed up the river section to the first lock.

* Old Canal route hidden behind sign

With a crew of 8, all be it they were complete novices, it was easy following the other boat and Brian was keen to help them through the locks. However I was never really sure who was in charge!

* Who is in Charge of Operations

* Negotiating the Staircase

Bill had a go at steering the boat out of the locks and up the narrow canal to the last set of locks and seemed to enjoy the experience. Just as we started the locks the weather made a turn for the worse and it began to rain. Luckily we were able to negotiate the Junction and moor up opposite Hanbury Wharf as no other boats were about.

* Hanbury Junction

* Hanbury Wharf mooring.

We had pre luncheon drinks aboard Autumn Myst and then fetched the cars so that we could all return to the Gardeners Arms in Droitwich for lunch.

* William and the Girls

* Brian and Mike

At the pub we were entertained by Deborah Rose and a young guitarist whilst waiting for our table and enjoyed some lovely music and songs. Deborah persuaded Brian to get up and dance the Charleston to one of her songs and this was a real hit with the rest of the pub.

We had a great lunch which we finished about 5pm and headed back to the boat for coffee and cake but everyone was too full to partake in the cake. The portions are enormous and the sausages are gigantic.

 * Gardeners Arms

The * Sausages

The friends left about 7pm and I begged a lift off William to go home to collect the post and bring the car back so that we can get back home easily for a Pat’s party.

I arrived back at the boat just in time to watch Downton Abbey.