zimzim

Now flagged as completed and re-opened.

Gentlemen, start your engines....... Latest update indicates that work is starting on this today, with a view to re-opening tomorrow.

Overnight, paddles on the S. Stratford have been raised again, emptying pounds. It seems this closure is not so much about the water shortage right now, so much as simple acts of malice. I'm not sure what they can do about this.....

Remarkable commentary with the S. Stratford closure.... Due to low water levels we are having to close the South Stratford Canal until further notice. Our operations team are working to refill each pound but unfortunately every pound has been emptied either by accident or a malicious act of vandalism. Further information and an update will provide on Monday 07/07/25.

Now open!

My worst experience was arriving at the top to be told that I was number 6 in the queue. We had to wait whilst the 5 boats coming up finished their travails, then watch the 5 boats ahead of us go down, then watch another 5 boats come up, before we were finally allowed down the flight. This was despite my pointing out that 5 felt like a rather arbitrary number! It cost us half a day, but was all handled very pleasantly.

Last time I passed through, the Aston Business Park moorings had become the preferred option.

Associated docs... 25/00521/LBC > Lock 58 Tardebigge Flight Worcester And Birmi

I confess to having considered it...... but apart from the overriding sense of decorum, I didn't fancy having to explain why the boat was all over the place and my feet were wet.

Yes - Birmingham is worthwhile if you have time. If you are doing the ring anti-clock and if you find you have a day available to add to your trip when you get to that point, then you could replace, say, the 1 day jump from Bluebell Cider House > Alvechurch with a 2 day hop such as Bluebell Cider House > Birmingham Centre > Alvechurch This avoids any of those less than desirable overnight moorings. In any event, there are notably zero locks in this part of the journey - an ideal preparation for Tardebigge!

My other half flatly refuses to take the tiller for even a minute, unless (as I have now discovered) we are on a river and I am threatening to pee my pants if I don't get a quick comfort break. First decision if going anti-clock will be whether to do the Droitwich Canal (which is interesting) or head straight down the Worcester and Birmingham. Anti-clock ring means a few hours whizzing downstream on Severn followed by a few days plodding upstream on Avon. Clockwise means a few days downstream on Avon followed by several hours fighting upstream on Severn. If going up the Avon, locks will require a little more care, as already stated.

Completely useless comms from CRT...we turned round and spent a day going north on the Stratford, only to find that they have fixed the Wilmcote problem. We are now stuck at Shirley drawbridge which, contrary to comms originally issued, will now remain closed until tomorrow. .......updated to note that we have passed through Shirley with no sign of the problem.... drawbridge is working fine. CRT notices are not really worth looking at.

According to a man on a bike who just passed is, there's a closure due to a breach at lock 43 on the Wilmcote flight

Worst thing I've ever had to remove was an old rucksack - loads of tightly wrapped nylon webbing and straps, much of it with steel reinforcement wires running through. Sometimes, rather than just cutting, it works better to grab some of the offending material with some grips and then manually rotate the prop to unwind stuff. Ditto previous suggestion of junior hacksaw, but a regular hacksaw blade wrapped with a bit of rag to improvise a handle makes a pretty useful tool.

Strangely quiet at the Cape.... came down Hatton flight this morning expecting usual competition for a mooring spot.... found moorings almost empty.