Spring is in the air!

A wonderful sight at the marina this morning - let’s hope that the rest of winter stays as mild as it has thus far - we can but live in hope!

Around the marina

When I first saw this impressive building from the top locks of the Droitwich Canal I thought it must be Hanbury Hall but on further investigation realise that it’s actually Hadzor Hall. 

It’s a private house built by English architect Mathew Habershon in 1827 for a Mr Howard Galton and the address of the newer houses you can see is Habershon Court, Galton Way, Hadzor! 

The empty side pond at lock 2.  C&RT have been monitoring the flow of water from the locks into the river Salwarpe during the heavy rains we’ve had recently.

There’s Rock ’n’ Roll down there in Droitwich Spa Marina

Looking up toward Droitwich Top Lock ...

... and its rather grand new ‘shed'

Looking down the 3 locks towards the town of Droitwich about a mile away

Droitwich Spa Marina - our mooring is at the far end on the right.

A murmuration of starlings above the marina.

A change in the weather

It started off as a lovely day this morning and I managed to wash down the front cratch canopy with a mild solution of Milton steriliser to remove the green algae; it seems to have worked well.  I left it a couple of hours to dry in the warm sunshine before spraying it with waterproofer and hoped that it would dry quickly as the sky was starting to cloud over.  

It was about 15 minutes later that it started to rain, just a bit to start with and then heavens opened ... just as I’m writing this post!  The lights are on inside and the wind, hail and rain is making a hell of a din on the roof and now its thunder and lightening!  The weather tomorrow is rain, rain, rain ... I’m so glad that we’ve nowhere to go!

In the meantime ....

...  away from Still Rockin’ ... life continues back on board Rock ’n’ Roll ...

... the cassette toilet is in and varnished.  The fit has not allowed for a door so Stuart has made a sliding hatch that works perfectly.

 Mark and Becky on the next pontoon had spoken to us about ‘George’ who visits for bread, and for the past few days these two have been visiting us so we’ve named them George and Mildred.  If we’re not in the galley they’ll walk up and down the pontoon looking for us in each window and giving us a knock - cheeky beggars!

As in lots of areas throughout the UK it was beautiful here in Droitwich on Sunday and whilst George was busy I took Molly for a walk along the canal towards the town.

This is lock 7 and to the right of the picture is the weir which flows into the River Salwarpe and at the bottom of this lock the canal joins the river which was unnavigable as the level was well into  the red board.  You may just be able to see the bridge beyond the lock under which it was flooded to about 12” - time to turn back me thinks.

That same old chestnut ...

... toilets!
When we had Rock ’n’ Roll built we chose a pump-out system but changed it about 18-months ago to a composting loo and today ...

 ... the composter has been removed and the pipes and electrics exposed ...

 ... Steve is checking out both the water and electrical connections ...

 ... prior to fitting a Thetford cassette toilet for Rock ’n’ Roll’s new owners

Stuart (Barn Owl Boats) will be back tomorrow to fit the wooden panel over the ‘back’ of the loo for the removal of the cassette and to make good the wall behind it.

Me thinks ...

 It’s going to be ...

... very cold tonight here at Droitwich Marina.

We’ve got off lightly ...

These four pictures are of areas on the Welsh coast just a few miles from where we used to live before taking to the canals! 

Aberdovey

Barmouth

 The railway line at Tywyn ...

... and the damage the storm left!

Our thoughts go out to all those who’ve been caught up in the storms over the last week or so.

 I took these two photos through the car window on our way to see Margaret and Geoff at Grindley Brook a few days ago after travelling through some pretty rotten weather on the way.

Here in Droitwich it’s certainly been much calmer, lots of wind and rain but nothing compared to the coastal areas.

... and these two I took this morning at the marina - daffodils pushing up!

I wonder what winter weather we’ll get next?

A day off ...

... from packing boxes on Friday ...

... and went to Grindley Brook to visit Margaret and Geoff.
The weather wasn’t as bad as forecast and we had a lovely time catching up with each other’s news and enjoying good company and food as usual. Sorry I forgot my camera but I’m sure Geoff won’t mind me pinching his picture taken just as we were leaving to travel back to Droitwich!