Bartimaeus

Tracey used to live in Edinburgh and work in Fife, at the same base as I did. Since then she and Richard have lived for few years in England, where we visited them on a holiday and now their time is divided between NE Scotland and Wales. We had been in touch over Christmas and they intended coming south to Edinburgh and seeing us in early January, but got snowed in at their house for quite some time and plans changed.

In stead they are diverting on a Wales - Redditch  journey to see us and we are pleased to see them and introduce Bartimaeus to Richard. In stead of Yule log it's you'll lock!

They were arriving in the afternoon so we had time for a bit of shopping in Kinver to get supplies in. I hadn't decided what, or even if, I was cooking yet. They might end up in the pub carpark and want to eat out, or they may need to leave early enough to not be driving in the dark. I was getting stocks in that kept options open. We ended up going to several shops, the bakery, the deli, the greengrocery and the co-op. I liked the shop in the High Street with no plastic wrapping on their vegetables. Tracey quite likes a wicker basket too.

By the time we got back we were hungry and lunched on our bakery products immediately. The visitors were arriving later and had their own lunches - sensible salads for a sunny day while we had had a pie and a pasty. Once they were fed and we were all watered, we set off on a cruise. The day before, Shane had been surprised that the forecast for their visit was rain all afternoon, but it turned out he was checking Edinburgh's weather by mistake. Thank goodness their visiting plans would not be spoilt by excess precipitation once more. In fact, the cruise began with the offer of sun creams, which was accepted.

There were three locks between our mooring and a suitable turning point. Tracey has visited us in Bristol before, where there were no locks involved in the cruise. Participating in the windlass wrangling or sitting back and enjoying the ride is entirely the choice of the visitor. I did the first myself, later I shared the winding and pushing experience with each of them in turn. 

Shane was happy to drive, but occasionally wielded a windlass so he could help when there was more attention needed on the other side. His help handing out and picking up windlasses was useful for getting on and off the boat unencumbered.

Slightly different gates, paddle arrays and ratchets were at each lock so there was quite a bit of variation and one set of instructions didn't necessarily apply to the next place, and it is all slightly different in the other direction too.

We were all surprised when after turning at the junction, the lock was not in our favour. We had only just come through and Shane had joked we could really have just left the gate open, but no it needed to be entirely filled again. I managed to fit in plenty of tea, coffee or cool elderflower. and biscuits between locks too. Lockers need sustenance.

As well as keeping a steady flow of soft drinks during the day, I realised we had drifted past Pimm's o'clock without noticing. Still I hadn't started cooking yet, so a quick discussion on return time requirements, and who was the after dark driver, established that Pimm's for three could be served and Tracey would have another elderflower drink. She was offered chopped fruit in her glass but was happy to clink glasses and enjoy the summer experience without pretending she had a cocktail. She regaled us with a tale of a particularly stiff Hugo Spritzer she once had where the bar staff forgot the soda and gave lashings of extra prosecco. I didn't make the Pimm's too strong as there was still locking to do and just as well I had the sober guest helping at Kinver Lock. Even so I prefer, with guests, that I do the crossing of lock gates or narrow bridges to reduce the chance of oil on clothes or taking scarey steps if they aren't used to jumping or balancing on a narrow ledge.

Kinver has an easy looking bridge when the gates are shut but when they are open, crossing to drop paddles, is made harder by the side of the road bridge and the L shaped lock arms (harder to push and pull - but to stop it bumping into the road bridge) partially blocking access. This is the cause of my especially hunched gait.

Our trip included a tunnel so there was quite a varied canal experience in a shortish trip, including a short visit to the services point. Funnily enough, neither felt the urgent need to participate in the emptying of the recycling bins (I didn't need any help, it's fine) but the tunnel was enjoyed by all.

The meal concensus was domoda and apart from a broken ring pull on one can, that went smoothly and Richard took advantage of his non-night-driver status to try one of the stronger Worcestershire ales on board (Worcestershire Sway rather than Way). By the time they were leaving it was definitely darkening and a bat had been spotted. 

We escorted them safely off the boat. Possibilities of being in our area again were mooted. They are welcome back wherever, whenever and whatever the weather!