Bartimaeus

While in Edinburgh I had been in touch with a group of Edinburgh friends and found one was in Australia and one in Devon that week. They both seemed a long way off. To my surprise, Catherine, in Devon, asked if I would be in the Midlands in a few days. I said we certainly would. She thought she could fit me into a busy travel north, but then concluded with her extra stop offs, there just wouldn't be time. 

We were delighted the next day when she said she had decided to take an extra day to come back and fit us in the day after her other visits and stay overnight with us, and we arranged a meeting point with parking.

On Monday we got a morning train down to Wolverhampton and then headed for the bus, passing some Wolverhampton wolf art en route to the bus stop.

On the way, the bus filled up with secondary school pupils. We were getting off at the terminus, now the road was open again, but some of them were staying on as they were really going the other way but had got on early.

We needed to get water and there was none next to our mooring so we made headway immediately. I found arriving back relaxing and refreshing. A heron stayed out as we passed.

I enjoyed hopping off to do the two locks, even though the first had a clunky gate that was stiff to move. There was a smell of freshly mown grass to appreciate while I waited for the lock to fill.

Someone had crocheted flowers and tied them to the gate handles to brighten things up and make people smile along the way.

The trip boat for community groups, Ernest Thomas II, was in the second lock and one of the group was teaching a new helper along. He was also looking out for me winding with a long handled windlass in case I caught my knuckles on the gate. He offered to do it with his shorter windlass but I had spotted it and taken care. He warned me that the next lock had a very difficult gate. I said I might drive the next one then. He was definitely dedicated to helping out people he met. 

The bridge on the theme looked like it needed a bit of care in its old age. It has seen a few scrapes.

We weren't doing the third lock that day. We were mooring up for provisions at Wightwick and carrying on in the morning. I had a very pleasant chat with the shop assistant. 

We set off in the morning after another trip to the shop to get fresh bread, among other things. The water was round a junction with a stop lock. It was a pretty rickety lock The gate is bashed at one end and didn't open fully at the other and had a repaired gate arm that was shorter than it should be, so it didn't align with the raised bricks to help feet grip while pushing, and a shorter gate is harder to push. But it had a flower decoration.

We achieved the water filling but decided to moor up on the rings at the other side of the junction and leave the pump out till the next day, as the man working there said he would be there the next day. We didn't desperately need it emptied immediately, but thought it would be nicer to be freshened up before a guest arrives, and there aren't that many opportunities on the way so since we had found somewhere on our way, we might as well use it. 

The little lock turned out to be very popular. Lots of people were using the facilities then going back out again, but coming from the main drag, they couldn't see if the lock was occupied or not so there was a lot of toing and froing trying to work out who was queuing for the lock, or using facilities and whether anyone was coming or going. We confused people by reversing through the lock but we did see another boat do the same shortly after. Coming into this section just to use the facilities is pretty common.

The next day was similarly busy and we took a lot longer than expected to get it done, but we met a lot of jaunty characters there, so it was entertaining and we weren't in a hurry. We both helped some other boats through.

The next section was through the Narrows. It is a pretty section with an impressive line of poplars on approach. We had Bryn with us last time and we rembered this heron, a metal one in a garden.

While we were both in shorts, the air was cooler and we could see the early signs of autumn.

Later I spotted a boat called Still Waters. We weren't far from where I had seen two in one day, but this one was different. It was flying a large Scottish flag, and was moored by a field with some Highland cows in it (and some non Highland cows). 

We had met a couple of boats with Welsh names at the junction, going through the lock, and another boat with a Welsh owner, but not a Welsh boat name. We passed them both again getting to The Anchor pub to be in position for Catherine arriving the next day.

I walked into town for provisions, having established Catherine woul be arriving in the afternoon. I felt my shopping trip had failed in getting fresh unsliced bread, but gathered whatever I thought useful as we weren't sure if eating aboard or in the pub. 

Catherine had a vexing bit of driving finding us with road closures that Google didn't know about, but a relaxing beer and safe space for the car, got us off to a good start and we headed off for an attractive spot to overnight that Shane had seen. In minutes a kingfisher was spotted flying past.

Despite her difficult journey Catherine was game for trying driving the boat and accepted all guidance cheerfully. Catherine is much more prepared to tackle new tasks than I am.

It was great to catch up with her and we really enjoyed her company. It seems it was worth the diversion for her to break up the motorway driving. She was enjoying the change of pace.

We arrived at the appointed spot just as it started to spit...perfect timing. We were treated to a nice pink sky in the evening. 

The next day we headed to a winding hole nearby and returned to the pub. We weren't sure why the sheep were huddled together. They seem relaxed, all but one lying down.

After getting Catherine back to the Anchor, she was talking about a possible next visit. She will be keeping an eye on where we are for her next long journey to see if they can meet us somewhere on the way.