short break on the staffs and worces

[purplehaze]

Well what a fantastic short break we have just had, we hired Centorious from Napton Narrowboats, 10 berth and a really lovely boat. We started at Autherly Junction and went down to Stourport and back. Crew consisted of me and the OH, my mum, my stepfather and his cousin, my little bro, his wife and their 3 daughters, aged 18, 16 and 12. Quite a boatful but we all get on really well so thats fine.

 

Day 1, Monday 31st May, good news we can pick the boat up early, bad news when we got there at 1pm the boat had only just returned! The reason being that the previous hirer had a bit of a bad collision and their dog had fallen off the back and had to be taken to the vets, the dog was ok but it does flag up the problem of how to stop this happening. Anyway the boatyard staff were super had 3 cleaners on board and one sorting out the water etc and we were away by 2.30. The weather was good and we made excellent time, had a bit of suprise after we completed the Bratch, a call from big bro, he had been to Somerset for the weekend and had found out that his route back home on the Monday would take him very close to us and so was waiting for us at the Round Oak at Wombourne, lovely, we ate at the pub, food very good and also the beer.

 

Day 2, Tuesday 1st June. Early start as the plan is to get to Stourport so that the next two days are easy to do. We need to get to Stourport as the boat is 70ft long and we need to be able to turn in the basin. We cast off at 7.45 and it was raining, didn't put off any of the crew and my nieces were all ready to do the locks. This is a really lovely canal, very few boats about and we make good time, we eat breakfast and lunch on the move and reach Stourport at 5.15pm. We go into the basin and turn and then moored for the night, a curry and a walk down by the river and a few beers finishes a good day. The facilities at Stourport are good, the playgrounds and fair look very well looked after, a pity the fair was closed!

 

Day 3, Wednesday 2nd June. The sun is shining, lovely, we have a slow start this morning, a quick trip to Tesco for bread and milk then bacon butties for breakfast. We are heading for Kinver today and hope to moor near to the Vine for dinner. Cast off and then realised that there are no water points until Kinver, should have taken advantage of the water point at Stourport. With 10 of us on board we use a lot of water and we have no idea how much the tank holds, suprise suprise by 3.00pm we have run out of water, to be honest in 20 years of boating thats the first time its happened to us. We are suprised that there are no waterpoints at Kidderminster. It wasnt a problem as we soon filled up at Kinver. The weather was brilliant. We moored at 5, had a suberb meal at the Ivy and a good few drinks.

 

Day 4, Thursday 3rd June. The sun is still shining!! Another casual start as we set of for Compton, it is really warm and very hot. The canal is still very quiet, not that many boats about, until you get to a lock of course. We have seen so many heron this time out, only 1 kingfisher, several squirrels, one doing a death defying leap across the canal, a grass snake and lots of buzzards. We moored at Compton and had a good meal at Oddfellows.

 

Day 5, Friday 4th June. Last day on board, we cast off at 8pm as we need to be back at the boatyard for 9pm, again its a lovely day and we wish we were going to be out for longer, this canal is really beautiful with lots to see, the scenery is fantastic, we will be back!!

 

Julie

[Janet S]

I am so envious!

 

Janet

[saltyseadog]

Well what a fantastic short break we have just had, we hired Centorious from Napton Narrowboats, 10 berth and a really lovely boat. We started at Autherly Junction and went down to Stourport and back. Crew consisted of me and the OH, my mum, my stepfather and his cousin, my little bro, his wife and their 3 daughters, aged 18, 16 and 12. Quite a boatful but we all get on really well so thats fine.

 

Day 1, Monday 31st May, good news we can pick the boat up early, bad news when we got there at 1pm the boat had only just returned! The reason being that the previous hirer had a bit of a bad collision and their dog had fallen off the back and had to be taken to the vets, the dog was ok but it does flag up the problem of how to stop this happening. Anyway the boatyard staff were super had 3 cleaners on board and one sorting out the water etc and we were away by 2.30. The weather was good and we made excellent time, had a bit of suprise after we completed the Bratch, a call from big bro, he had been to Somerset for the weekend and had found out that his route back home on the Monday would take him very close to us and so was waiting for us at the Round Oak at Wombourne, lovely, we ate at the pub, food very good and also the beer.

 

Day 2, Tuesday 1st June. Early start as the plan is to get to Stourport so that the next two days are easy to do. We need to get to Stourport as the boat is 70ft long and we need to be able to turn in the basin. We cast off at 7.45 and it was raining, didn't put off any of the crew and my nieces were all ready to do the locks. This is a really lovely canal, very few boats about and we make good time, we eat breakfast and lunch on the move and reach Stourport at 5.15pm. We go into the basin and turn and then moored for the night, a curry and a walk down by the river and a few beers finishes a good day. The facilities at Stourport are good, the playgrounds and fair look very well looked after, a pity the fair was closed!

 

Day 3, Wednesday 2nd June. The sun is shining, lovely, we have a slow start this morning, a quick trip to Tesco for bread and milk then bacon butties for breakfast. We are heading for Kinver today and hope to moor near to the Vine for dinner. Cast off and then realised that there are no water points until Kinver, should have taken advantage of the water point at Stourport. With 10 of us on board we use a lot of water and we have no idea how much the tank holds, suprise suprise by 3.00pm we have run out of water, to be honest in 20 years of boating thats the first time its happened to us. We are suprised that there are no waterpoints at Kidderminster. It wasnt a problem as we soon filled up at Kinver. The weather was brilliant. We moored at 5, had a suberb meal at the Ivy and a good few drinks.

 

Day 4, Thursday 3rd June. The sun is still shining!! Another casual start as we set of for Compton, it is really warm and very hot. The canal is still very quiet, not that many boats about, until you get to a lock of course. We have seen so many heron this time out, only 1 kingfisher, several squirrels, one doing a death defying leap across the canal, a grass snake and lots of buzzards. We moored at Compton and had a good meal at Oddfellows.

 

Day 5, Friday 4th June. Last day on board, we cast off at 8pm as we need to be back at the boatyard for 9pm, again its a lovely day and we wish we were going to be out for longer, this canal is really beautiful with lots to see, the scenery is fantastic, we will be back!!

 

Julie

:lol: Glad to hear you enjoyed yourself, will be doing the Stourport Ring in early August. You mentioned some good stopping places & pubs. Thanks for that, I''ll keep them in mind.

 

Peter (Taff)