Afon Hafren - The Return!

It was time to leave the safety of the Gloucester and Sharpness canal and head back onto the River Severn. We descended Gloucester Lock with another narrowboat and a widebeam and set off, with some trepidation, along the narrow channel. Our first challenge was avoiding a workboat removing a fallen tree; the second was narrowly avoiding getting grounded where the channel joins the main river. Otherwise it was just generally

quite hard-going against the flow of the river. After about an hour we came across a lone boat and realised it was Gerry who'd left several hours before us on nb Wilde, his little old engine chugging doggedly against the current. We had a chat as we passed, checked he had all he needed and said we'd see him at Haw Bridge. I'm pleased to say he arrived safely a couple of hours after us and he joined us for a cuppa on deck.

The following day we continued our journey, overtaking Gerry yet again. We had a chat to the friendly lockie as we ascended Upper Lode Lock, passed Tewkesbury, went under the M50 and eventually reached Upton-upon-Severn, with great views of the

Malverns. Gerry joined us a bit later and we all agreed we'd stay put the next day while Storm Agnes blew herself out. Luckily there was time to explore the town and go for a wander around the ancient water meadows known as The Ham. We also enjoyed watching the aggregate boats Pike and Chub, weighed down with sand and gravel as they went downstream and then returning empty and high out of the water.

Then it was onwards, up Diglis lock and onto the floating pontoon south of Worcester. Gerry arrived and we went for a pint at the Plough to celebrate the end of his

river journey as he was heading up onto the Worcester & Birmingham canal. We moved to the paid moorings by the racecourse (paid for with a car parking ticket!), and explored the town and Worcester Cathedral.

Our next stop was outside the Lenchford Inn before the rain set in. That evening we noticed we were listing slightly. The levels had risen causing our ropes to tighten so slackened them off but the rain kept coming. It wasn't a floating pontoon but there were some rings on poles so we tied to them and hoped for the best... The next morning we had risen about a foot and the moorings opposite had disappeared underwater... Rather worryingly, the CRT website showed the Severn on an 'amber rising' alert but the lock-keeper at Lincomb Lock confirmed it was fine to carry on.

We fought our way upstream, dodging debris amongst the foam from the weir over 3 miles away. We had a brief respite as we went up the lock but then, about a mile from

Stourport, an engine warning light came on... We were worried we'd overheat but there was nothing to do but keep going with our fingers crossed. We finally reached the pontoon below Stourport, went to turn the ignition off - and it

wouldn't turn off! So we ended up going up the wide locks into Stourport basin and, after Rob had checked the control panel and been unable to resolve the problem, we moved across to the chandlery where the lovely Ken had a quick look and found a broken alternator fuse. With this replaced, and guidance on the location of our fuel stop lever should this happen again, we carried on. Phew - what a morning!

We spent a couple of days enjoying finally being off the river and on the peaceful Staffs & Worcs canal before retracing our steps and mooring outside the dry dock (next to the fairgrounds!) ready for a week's hard graft blacking Jasmine's hull. Early on the Friday morning Dave the owner arrived and guided us, and our dry dock buddies on nb Sundance, into the dock. The 'plug' was pulled and the water drained out, leaving us on chocks - a very strange feeling. He then pressure-washed both boats and told us the hulls and

anodes were looking fine (phew!). He then said we'd now need to prep with an angle grinder. This was a problem as we'd both planned to just scrape the hull manually, but he kindly lent us one with a metal cup brush, and once Michelle and Colin had finished using it on their boat we set to work. This was back-breaking work and Rob and I took 15-minute turns, slowly inching our way all around Jasmine's hull. Despite wearing overalls, gloves, goggles, masks and ear defenders we still finished the day covered in fine black dust and with incredibly aching shoulders. Too tired to eat we made use of the nearby chippy!

Luckily it got easier after that, although the hardest bit was getting the lid off the 20ltr can of bitumen! Slapping on the thick, black paint was actually quite relaxing and Jasmine looked much improved after just one coat. Over the next four days we applied three coats, with an extra bit around the waterline, and did the gunwales as well. The weather was warm and sunny and after a day's work I would sit and read in the sunshine on the grassy area nearby

or explore the delights of Stourport (limited!). We finished the week with the tradition of painting our boat name on the dry dock wall and went for a curry with Michelle and Colin and their daughter. Then it was time to get re-watered (an equally strange sensation) and, with some guidance from Dave, both Colin and I managed to reverse our boats out of the dock, turn in the small basin above it and manoeuvre into the narrow lock - without removing all our hard work!

Then it was a stop at the handy canal-side Lidl and a trip to the Coop for Rob's Covid and flu jabs before finding a rural mooring for a couple of nights where we celebrated our two-year Jasminaversary (two years continuously cruising). It was mid-October and suddenly seemed very autumnal, with even some ice on the roof one day... We had a gloriously misty but sunny cruise to

Kidderminster where Rob retrieved the car from his cousin's in Coventry and then moored up in the quaint village of Wolverley for a few days, where lovely cottages are built into a sandstone cliff. Continuing on, the canal twists and turns through an other-worldly rural idyll, with caves cut out of the sandstone ridge that runs beside it. So it was quite a surprise to see David Johns (aka Cruising The Cut, for those that follow him on YouTube) approach us in a yellow GRP which he told us he was struggling to steer!

We crossed over the border from Worcestershire into Staffordshire and moored in Whittington and then in Kinver, walking back to get the car each time. I'd managed to get hold of a free National Trust autumn pass, so we headed over to Kinver Edge to see the amazing rock houses at Holy Austin. It was a wet, miserable day which meant we had the staff and volunteers to ourselves to tell us all about these amazing homes, spread over three tiers, which were lived in, despite having no amenities, for over 200 years, finally being abandoned in the 1960's. After a delicious hot chocolate in one of the houses, now a tearoom, we walked up to the hill fort, with an impressive view of mist rolling along the valley.

Then it was off to Aldeburgh in Suffolk for a week's holiday, visiting my cousin en-route (thanks Janie for the lovely soup and brownies!). We also had Rob's youngest son come and stay for a night as well as my oldest (longest!) friend and her chap come over for lunch one day. We chilled out, went to the lovely old cinema, did lots of walking, saw curlews, avocets, egrets amongst other birds, and saw how the Sutton Hoo Ship's Company are getting on with their reconstruction of the famous Anglo-Saxon king's burial ship. After returning to Jasmine for a couple of days, just enough time to carve a pumpkin for halloween, discover a nearby apple tree with the most amazing apples, and meet up with a fellow Boatwoman, we were off again, this time up to Cheshire to visit Rob's mum and also go to the Storyhouse in Chester to see Traces Through Time, a collaboration between two recovery arts companies, New Note Orchestra, the charity I've been working for, and Fallen Angels Dance Theatre. The performance was absolutely stunning and it was lovely to chat to some of the performers.

Back on Jasmine it was time to crank up the stove and enjoy some foraged chestnuts, roasted on the stovetop and light a few sparklers on bonfire night. It's full on autumn now, the leaves are falling but the colours are stunning.

Autumn on the Staffs & Worcs canal