Day 19 Kinver to Wolverley

Wednesday 17 July and we walked in to Kinver for some shopping before heading for our next stop, Wolverley.

 Morning in Kinver

 Market clock on the High Street

 Shopping arcade

 Back on the canal, this bankside house with terraced garden and tiny boat caught our eye

 Oops! (gouge in brickwork not caused by Jan's noggin)

 Extended cottage at Whittington lock

 

 Dick Whittington reputedly came from near here.  Hmm...

 

 Bella figura

 

 Beautiful impression of light and shade

 

 Cookley tunnel under terraced houses

 

 Leaving Debdale lock, one of the deeper on this canal

 

 Rounding one of the hairpin bends on this section

 

 We'd heard from a passing boater of a landslide further on - our first glimpse.  A few seconds later, having not seen a boat for a while, one appeared.  We have no picture, we had to reverse pdq and Denis jumped off to pull the boat to the bank to let them pass.

 

 The way now clear, we edged forward gingerly...

 

 we didn't have to be told!

 

 It looked like the edge of the road, safety barriers included, had slid down the bank and into the canal

 

 Worried? Us?

Tranquility restored and on to Wolverley

 

Day 18 Ashwood to Kinver

Tuesday 16 July

Early morning and we descended Gothersey lock in convoy with Lisa and Judith, the plan being to have four people if needed to shift the recalcitrant top gate.  We got through with only moderate effort and Denis stayed behind to help the second boat through. 

 The most flower bedecked boat we've ever seen - Lisa exiting Gothersley lock

 

 Tiny froglet hitching a ride

 Lush trees and bushes north of Kinver

 Sweet chestnuts in flower

 The canal now follows the river Stour and crosses it here

 Impressionist bridge and lake

 Turn off east to Birmingham on the Stourbridge Canal - we're continuing south to Stourport

 Mooring for the water point at Stewponey

The name refers to the 'stewpons' mediaeval monks used to keep carp.

A gothic novel, 'Bladys of the Stewponey' by the Rev Sabine Baring-Gould was written in 1897 about the area.

 

 A well-upholstered goose

 Splendid lock cottage at Stewponey

 Leaving Stewponey lock

 Two out of our three 'tools of the trade', the long reach and ratchet windlasses... 

 ...and the long handled ratchet windlass which gives extra leverage for use on really tough paddles.

 Just north of Kinver, the petite 25 yard Dunsley Tunnel through the red sandstone

 Catnap entering the tunnel, towpath alongside

 Emerging

 Towards Kinver, with red sandstone cliffs and luxuriant greenery

 Jan preparing paddles and gate at Hyde lock

Welcome to Kinver

The village of Kinver was, until the 1960s home to the last troglodytes in England.  One of the rock houses, Holy Austin, was a hermitage until the Reformation.

 Families lived in rock houses carved out of the sandstone cliffs.

Kinver was also known for the making of 'sturdy cloth' and nails; it was also an important stop on the great Irish road between Bristol and the then embarkation point of Chester.  

We arrived in Kinver mid-afternoon and stopped for the night at the visitor moorings just outside town.