More Canal Cruising in a COVID World (Part 1)

 It truly is a remarkable time as we embarked on another canal trip just a month after the previous cruise. This time the pubs felt a bit more relaxed (or maybe I'm getting used to them!) and our major delays were not caused by COVID related issues.

Our first stop was The Boat at Stockton, a pub we hadn't visited for many years.

It was 'fully booked' but they managed to find us a table. This was one of those one of those pubs which takes the COVID-19 threat very seriously and have taken some decisions that might not work in the long run. Nevertheless, we had a pleasant lunch.

Further along the Grand Union it was good to see that the Two Boats in Long Itchington was now open and seemingly doing well with plenty of people sitting outside in the late summer sunshine.

Our ultimate destination for the evening was Leamington Spa, also somewhere we hadn't visited for a few years. Leamington has never been a particularly happy hunting ground for pubs...and little has changed. We managed to squeeze into The Old Library, which has gone under different names in the past and I remember it as the Jug & Jester from last time.

This is a large, rambling pub that operates a table service only policy, but they didn't really have enough staff on to cope with the demand. After eating at the Leamington branch of Piccolino's (very good Italian) we ended up in The Pig & Fiddle, a proper back-street boozer!

Social distancing here was easy as we were the only people in the pub! Apparently, they'd been busy (too busy?) earlier with a young crowd and when we arrived the staff were busy pulling down blinds to make it look closed so the hordes didn't return and they could get back home on time!

Next day our cruising got back onto schedule with another lunchtime visit to Hatton Arms (excellent and slightly more relaxed than a month earlier!) and finished off with an evening in the Navigation Inn at Lapworth (also as excellent as ever).

So, we were back on schedule, which lasted for about an hour and then this happened at the lock above us on the Lapworth flight.

Yes, those two boats are tightly wedged with no movement possible backwards or forwards, up or down! From my original vantage point (50 - 60 yards away) it was obvious that both boats should back up and start again. The woman, climbing off her boat, said, "Weve tried that!"...so that was me all out of ideas! Two minutes later an officious, 'know-it-all' type appeared from one of the locks above and made the same suggestion, but he wasn't happy till thay'd actually tried it. Result? No change! (Where do these people come from? You always find at least one in any such crisis situation...and they're almost always useless!)

I retired back to our boat in the expectation that only a crane could resolve the situation...and that would take at least 24 hours! However, someone with experience of similar situations appeared and with the judicious use of a stiff metal pole he managed to lever the two boats apart! I didn't see it, but we were moving again after only an hour's delay!

Now the lock flight was full of boats, so for the next few locks we had to pass the boats coming down and not end up in a similar state. The key is for both boats to keep moving, one goes left, the other right and a delicate pirouette is performed resulting in both boats entering their respective locks gracefully and easily. After passing the big boat that had been stuck, the next one was 'Mr Know-it-all'...only he didn't! (He exited his lock slowly and just as I was about to move into the space he was leaving he put it in reverse! As I'd already moved to the left and wasn't in his way I could compensate, but it took a bit of persuasion to get him moving in the right direction!) 

We successfully negotiated the rest of the locks, but it meant that we didn't get as far as the Blue Bell Cider House, but ended up at the Wharf Tavern in Hockley Heath for the first time in a few years!

We'd phoned ahead for a booking and fortunately it wasn't too busy for a Monday lunchtime with the Eat Out to Help Out being in full swing by then. Here they had the right balance between observing the COVID requirements and running a pub.

As we were an hour behind schedule it was a long afternoon session to get us to Alvechurch for the evening. Luckily the weather was good so it should have been a pleasant afternoon...and it was...until we were pelted with stones from the canalside as we approached Bridge 6. This resulted in a broken window and our steerer, Andrew, narrowly escaping being hit! It is many years since this has happened to us in Birmingham and it was usually on the Grand Union Canal, never the Stratford. Fortunately the window was double glazed and only the outer pane was smashed.

We soldiered on and on the way we passed Calypso at it's home mooring...this being the boat that stole the lock from us on our last holiday!

We made it to Alvechurch just as the light was failing and also got to the Red Lion (a Vintage Inn) in time for food.

All in all, an eventful day, but we reached our destination safely (just!) and lived to fight another day. 

Stay tuned for more adventures on board the narrowboat Peggy Ellen on the Midlands Waterways!