Bartimaeus

We moved on to Cookley on Thursday, mooring in a sunny-looking spot just after the tunnel.  We've been through this tunnel a number of times over the years and I've always been intrigued by the sight of houses built directly on top of the tunnel.

We went up to the village in the evening and found it a surprisingly lively little place with some handy shops, several pubs and a cafe.  From the middle of the village it is hard to get even a glimpse of the canal, it would be easy enough to be unaware of its existence at all.

Before moving on on Friday we had our lunch from a canal-side coffee shack - a wooden shed in a small paddock with seats and tables outside.  We arrived at Kinver late in the afternoon to find nearly all the visitor moorings occupied.  Somewhat reluctantly I moored up in the only remaining space - under a tree.  I considered reversing to a sunnier spot, but a host of canoeists made that a tricky proposition.

The boat sat in shade for much of the morning, but started to get charged in the afternoon while we waited for our visitors to arrive.  Once Tracey and Richard had arrived and been suitably fed and watered, we set off for a cruise.  This took us through a section of the canal which had in places been hewn out of the rock.  Occasionally it seemed the wrong bit of rock had gone, so bricks had been put in their place.

Our guests took turns to assist Clare with the locks, leaving me at the helm throughout.

Clare had already started preparing dinner before we got back to the lock at Kinver but switched back to locking with Tracey's assistance.

The visitor moorings were completely full when we returned, another boat had taken the space we vacated.  Fortunately there were good mooring spots a few boat lengths beyond, which though busy had room for us.  Tracey and Richard stayed for dinner and chat before walking back along the towpath to their car.  It was great fun having them aboard - we hope they'll find us again for more trips.

On Sunday morning, the boat in front of us moved on so we pulled Bartimaeus forward to get it in to their even sunnier spot. The battery was down to under 80% - the lowest it has been since we came aboard this year - so I was keen to get some charge. I could see that another very sunny period was forecast though, so we still didn't need to run the generator.

In the sunny, but reasonably cool, morning we walked up to the Holy Austin Rock Houses, less than a mile away from the village.  Built in to the side of the rock are a number of houses which had been occupied for several centuries at least.  They were given to the National Trust over a century ago, having been a tourist attraction before then.  They have been restored in recent decades and opened again.

The houses are caves hollowed out of the sandstone with some outer walls built of brick allowing door and window frames as well as chimneys to be added.  Some sections of the rock and brick were whitewashed, often disguising the transition between the two materials.

One of the houses had a very high brick chimney built in to the rock face.  This face of the rock is away from the prevailing wind, which is beneficial in many ways, but probably requires this high chimney to take the smoke away.

Some of the residents from a century ago had been interviewed and asked about their upbringing in these houses.  A recording of some of this was playing in one of the houses.  I was amused to hear a woman say that her father had brought home a new wardrobe, but it was too big for the room.  He fixed the problem with a chisel - removing a bit of the ceiling to make the room bigger.  We won't try that in the boat, or even our flat.

Today we got confirmation from Rob at Ortomarine that he intends to come to tinker with the heat pump controls tomorrow.  We might have stayed where we were, but our water tank was getting low.  This afternoon we drove down to the winding hole less than a mile along the canal and returned to the lock.  It is only a dozen boat lengths to the water point, so once we had filled up I reversed back.

Going through locks backwards is something we've done a few times now.  Going down is very smooth - and by resting the stern on the lock gates I can be sure that the other end of the boat is safely clear of the cill.

The visitor moorings are very quiet today in contrast to Friday and Saturday, so we were able to pick a spot with lots of sun.  The batteries are above 92% again, and likely to be fully charged in the next day or two - the forecast is full sun all day until Thursday except for a partial eclipse.