I will admit to having an extra 30 minutes lay in this morning but my head was clear, a credit to the purity of Batham's beer I'm sure. I went into Kinver for the Sunday paper before setting off about 1030.
A boat had just gone up Kinver Lock, but by the time we were penning up there was one waiting to go down. There was somebody on the water point to we continued onwards. At Hyde Lock Helen got talking, as she does, to a father and son cyclist. It is a nice house above the lock but they don't seem to be very hospitable.
By the lock keepers cottage next to the lock was this little window and the boundary marker.
We didn't stop at Stewponey services either but turned up the Stourbridge Canal at Stourton Junction. The first two locks of the flight of four have a great outlock over the junction with the sign post at the bottom.
The pound before the last lock was quite low but the gardens were well kept and had a nice outlook too.
The canal is narrower and shallower than we have been used to for a while. This old wooden barge hasn't moved for a while, and wont be floating anywhere again. I wonder how long it will be before it is removed.
The Stourbridge is a surprisingly rural canal and has plenty of reeds along the banks. The tow paths are well used by walkers and cyclists but we only met two other boats.
The weather has obviously taken it toll and the news is full of wild fires around the world. They have obviously had their own experience here in the old grounds of Prestwood Hall. The Hall dates from the 16th Century but was greatly remodeled in the 19th. It was owned by the Foley Family, iron masters of the Stour Valley, from around the 1650's. It was sold off in 1920 and became a sanatorium, than later maybe a TB clinic as there were outside wards with verandas. It is now a residential home for the disabled elderly or sufferers of dementia.
As the canal contours around the Stour valley in a surprisingly steep valley it retains it's rural air with views across the sward of New Wood Hill.
The river rises up to meet the canal as we move further east and then just before Wordsley Junction it passes under the canal. From the aqueduct we can see that there is still a good amount of water in the river so it must have a good catchment area.
There were lots of fishermen at the junction who were somewhat reluctant to move their tackle but we didn't entangle anybody and we were soon round and heading up the Stourbridge Town Arm. The channel had a clear lane down the middle but was otherwise covered in lilies and arrow head. There is a glimpse from the canal of the Dial Glass works. A glass cone has been here since at least the early 1700's when the made bottles. From 1922 it was the home of the Stourbridge Glass Company who were the owners of the Tudor Glass brand. The site is now owneed by Plowden and Thompson and they use borosilicate and soda lime glass to make blown and pressed items, largely tubing with capilary tubing down to tiny bores that are used in the nuclear, radiation, aviation, auto and rail industries and many more.
The winding hole is right at the very end of the arm through the permanent moorings of the Stourbridge Navigation Trust. You feel as though you are intruding but the trip is worth it. We winded and then landed alongside to dump the rubbish and then take water. The cast iron columns hold up the Bonded Warehouse
The canal was opened in 1779 and the original bonded warehouse was opened in that year as a two story building with the rounded end. In 1849 it was raised to adde another floor and extended out over the wharf supported on iron columns. The rounded end was continued up too. It held high value goods that were held until the excise was paid on them so that the small windows are heavily barred and the walls are up to 13" thick. They also rebuilt the crane that can be seen. The Stourbridge Navigation Trust had fully restored the building by 1986. The Stourbridge Town Arm is a remainder waterway so is not really maintained by the C&RT I believe so the Trust do a great job in keeping it navigable etc.
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