8th-9th August - Homeward Bound

Today: 13 locks
Grand total: 273 locks

To go: 6 locks

First thing in the morning my Dad joined me again and we completed the final stretch of the Birmingham and Worcester Canal.  We stopped by the marina at Lowesmoor Basin to take on fuel for peace of mind, I would't want to run out of fuel heading down the river!

Today: 6 locks
Grand total: 276 locks

To go: 0 locks!

 The final stretch took us down on to the river.  Cruising the river itself is not particularly interesting but it does demand respect as there is more danger involved.

 We passed a aggregate barge named "Perch" which is part of probably one of the last commercial operations on the river.

The locks on the river are huge and the boat feel dwarfed by the tall lock sides.  Passing Tewkesbury we were joined by another narrow boat that by coincidence had made an identical journey but chose the River Avon rather than the Birmingham and Worcester.

The tides had worked in our favour and turned shortly before we got to the lock.  The retrieving tide swept us down the river adding a whole mile an hour extra to our speed which is about a 25% increase!

Approaching Gloucester the river splits in two and we take the easterly channel phoning ahead to Gloucester lock.  The tide had left lots of rubbish in the parting and we picked our way between tree branches towards the lock, the narrowing channel accelerating us towards the lock.

Reaching the lock it was not prepared so we tried to hang back on the chains, we were told to "hold on to the chains", it turns out that the easiest way to do this was to whack a rope through the chain.  When the lock was ready we entered and hooked ourselves on to the wall and the gates closed behind us and the water level rose unveiling that we were in fact in the middle of a city, a fact that until that point isn't obvious.

And my destination was now reached, a journey that takes an hour or two by car or train had take two and a half weeks by boat!  And now for a rest! :)