Summer Cruise - Tibberton to Alvechurch

Sunday 3rd August 2008

Tibberton to Alvechurch
Today was the day of locks - forty two including the famous 30 lock Tardebigge flight. We set of through the first six, then I jumped off at Stoke Prior with the notorious folding bicycle with only one brake to get supplies. The note in the Nicholsons guide book about getting supplies near the bridge turned out to be a little inaccurate, and I had to cycle a mile or so before I found a small store.
Alan and David were already one or two locks up the six of the Stoke flight, and there was a single hander working ahead of us. This is always likely to slow you down a bit as the lock is full and you need it empty to go up, so I 'lockwheeled' ahead and 'turned' the lock for us as soon as he had left it. Alan was coping well coming out of the locks single handed, so I used some time to cycle ahead of the singlehander to 'turn' a couple of the full locks ahead of him, to speed him on. He responded by starting to open the bottom paddle of his full locks as soon as he had left them, so that they would be ready for us. Working together like this, with me setting locks for him and him emptying them behind him saved us both a considerable amount of time.

The rusty old folding bicycle from the tip. The first time I rode it on this trip it was found to be missing a brake block, than never got replaced through the trip, although it was deemed that it would be better having working front brakes than back brakes.

At the bottom of the 36 locks from Stoke Prior up to the top of Tardebigge I couldn't understand where the hill was - I knew that the locks were there, but the expected flight of locks up a steep hillside just wasn't there. It isn't until you get to the top that you can see how far you have climbed.

The top gate paddles on the Tardebigge flight are extremely difficult to move, they are incredibly stiff. I am not weak and I tend to use a normal windlass most of the time, but there were times that the only way I could get the paddle starting to move was by using a 'long throw' windlass for greater leverage, and then using my foot to get the first quarter turn. The British Waterways lock-keeper we spoke to said the problem was that the plastic paddles that had been installed were beginning to distort.

At the top of the flight we were tired but feeling incredibly good. We weren't ready to moor up yet so headed on through the Tardebigge Tunnel (580 yards) and the Shortwood Tunnel (613 yeards) and moored up at Alvechurch, near to the pub. A quick pint, and it was time to go back, cook, eat and get off to bed.
Daily Total: 15.30 miles, 42 locks, 3 tunnels.

Running Total: 174.3 miles, 221 locks, 12 tunnels