Wednesday 14th August
We have moved today, but not very far. It took us an hour to get from the Severn to the basin via the 2 sets of 2 staircase locks. There was a boat coming down the top staircase when we set off so we waited for them to come down before starting our ascent. At the top we had to then go through the marina to get to the sanitary station. There is a sign post but we still over shot the turning, which is in the middle of the marina and Ken had to do a tricky turning manouvre to get back to it, good job it wasn’t windy!
When we got to the sanitary station there was a Viking Adrift, sorry I mean Afloat on the water point but there was a space on the overnight moorings nearby, which was just about long enough for us, so we winkled in to it. We can reach the tap from here and do all the other necessary, so we can get it all done before we eventually leave tomorrow.
Shortly after we moored up the Viking Afloat left the water point and was replaced by another boat which had just come down York Street Lock. Then a boat called Black Pearl (aaarrrr!) came through the marina and wanted to get water so they breasted up to us. We had seen the boat before because it used to be berthed near Willington. The new owners Rosie and Jim, I will keep calling him that, Rosie and Phil I mean, bought her in April.
Having helped them tie up to us I went off to the chandlery to get some washing machine and dryer cards. I nearly had a heart attack at the price of them, £6-25 each! If I was to do 2 washes and 2 lots of drying it would cost me £25, I decided to check out the launderette in the town instead!
We had a long chat with Rosie and Phil while they got themselves sorted out and filled with water (some of the time the hose wasn’t actually filling their tank but had fallen out and was filling the basin!) They used to moor here at Stourport but have moved to the new marina at Droitwich. We are going to investigate the Droitwich Canal on our way back down to Gloucester so we will see if they are back at the marina when we get there and go for a drink.
Meanwhile another hire boat had turned up to use the tap and they floated about for ages while Rosie and Phil and this other boat got theirs. Finally the other boat went and the hire one got in the water point. We had to lend them our hose so they didn’t have to turn round again because their one was too short if they went stern on to the tap, which was the way they were facing.
Phil went off to buy a tv aerial and Rosie showed us round their boat which is really nice. The chap they bought it off fitted it out himself and he left all the fixtures and fittings, including bed linen, towels, pictures, plates and a load of spare parts and tools etc on it when he sold it. They got a real bargain.
When we got our hose back we went in to town and I checked out the launderette for later, Dizzy Dolly’s I think it is called. I spotted a hairdressers across the road, went and asked if they could fit me in and and got my hair cut there and then. It’s a bit too short really but it will last longer I suppose.
We made another foray into the Wetherspoons at lunchtime, or rather I went there to find Ken when I came out of the hair dressers! He was sitting outside as it wasn’t raining and it was just as busy inside as it had been yesterday. We were pleased to discover they had Broadside on today and even more pleased to discover it was only £2-15 a pint! There was a family sitting outside with their 3 Staffies, one of which had eaten it’s lead so it was free and kept going into the pub! The two women ordered gammon and chips and one of them sent hers back because it was too small. The lad they had with them sat there eating sausage and chips he had brought with him from a stall on the fair ground!
This afternoon I made a lasagne and then went back to the launderette. I found I could do all my washing and drying for £8 so I was well chuffed. Tomorrow we are off up the Staffs and Worcester to Wolverley, via Sainsbury’s at Kidderminster.
