Barge Holiday 2000

Barge Holiday

I went on a barge holiday with a bunch of friends for a week in June 2000.

Dave	Yvonne	Craig (on the left)
Gill	Meet The Gang	Kate
Karen	Me	Andy (on the right)

Action Shots

In roughly chronological order.

	Dave Steering Probably leaning that way because there's a tall bloke with a camera blocking his view the other way. Oops.
	Wolverhampton Locks A flight of 21 locks gets us started. Andy decides he has to balance on the lock gate. Well, someone had to. Didn't they?
	Yvonne And Kate Child minding is going to be an important part of this trip. Here Yvonne manages both children at once - outstanding!
	Craig and Andy Lean two blokes against a lock gate and it becomes a macho thing. Both of them trying to get the first movement from that gate. Its rather futile - wait long enough and the gate opens easily. That doesn't stop people pushing though.
	Karen A rare 'that locks not ready yet' moment mean the barge has to be held for a few minutes.
	Tunnel A short tunel gets us started. Later we go through 2 tunnels almost 2 miles long. We saw one bat, which was nice. And lots of water pouring through the roof of the tunnel, which wasn't.
	Tunnel Exit Two hundred year old brickwork and some amazing reflections.
	Beans Foundry The guide book told us to expect plenty of metal bashing industry. And it was right.
	Craig and Andy Steering Not all of the canal was this straight.
	Geese Ducks, swans, geese, coots and moorhens all seemed to have babies. Gill showed an amazing aptitude for ornithology from the front of the boat; she'd have loved these.
	Metal Bashing We decided to follow part of the Birmingham Old Main line. This meant we had three locks up and three locks down that we would otherwise not have to do. But it meant we got picturesque sights like this one.
	Under M5 The Old Main Line passes under the M5.
	Pump House The pump house was open because the engine was being painted. Apparently the other half of the engine is in Birmingham museum.
	Karen And Yvonne
	Andy Entering Lock That rope ball on the front is there for a reason, you know. The only reason they're not down the sides as well is that there simply isn't room!
	Karen Reading Karen and Andy are fellow second hand bookshop lovers. Just as well judging by the amount they read between them.
	The Boys Dave, Craig and Andy in a lock.
	Dave and Kate in Brindley Place Just behind the sea life centre. We got a few groceries from a shop near here. Kate played near the fountains while Gill fell down steps.
	Leaving Gas Street Basin Stopped for a night near here to visit the sea life centre.
	Kate in Life Jacket It was kind of a battle: Kate didn't like the life jacket but everyone else felt better when she had it on. Occasionally we won.
	Approaching Tunnel This is the first of the two mile tunnels. In here we met a couple of boats coming the other way. One tried to reverse out to avoid us but met another coming the other way. There is room to pass. Just.
	Craig Waiting The thing about barges is that they move slowly enough that you can walk ahead of them. And they have to slow down for narrow bridges so you can jump on there. Handy when you want a cigarette.
	Craig and Kate I reckon Craig will have his gate open first.
	Yvonne Driving The is on the 58 lock Tardebigge flight. With 58 locks to avoid those ducklings are going to have to learn fast.
	Craig at Severn We've finished the Tardebigge flight and we're having an afternoon in Worcester. We'll scout to see whether the river is open, send postcards, find a curry house, check out the motorcycle shop and buy more wine. All the essentials. And Karen will go clothes shopping.
	The Commandery Our boat is moored down the canal a bit. We stopped here for a take away curry and a look round Worcester. We also had to find out if the River Severn was passable. Apparently it will be tomorrow.
	Leaving Worcester Craig winds the lock, then we're heading for a fill up of water then the Severn.
	Andy Filling Water Tank You fill the boat's water tank using the hose. Which has a dodgy connector so it has to be held on. Which is what Andy's doing. Obviously. Couldn't possibly be mistaken for doing anything else. No way.
	Worcester Cathedral This was taken from the river Severn as we headed for Stourport. A huge number of swans were on the river here. There were also some suicidal schoolgirls in a boat.
	Kate In Sunglasses This is in the lounge area near the front deck. Doubled as my and Craigs bedroom except for the one night where it was a late night playroom.
	Icecreams! This is Stourport where we leave the river Severn. Gills first proper icecream. Kate attempts 'icecream art' by smearing it everywhere.
	Dave With Ice Cream Dave shows how it should be done. Look no mess!
	Gill with Ice Cream Gill still hasn't quite got to grips with it though...
	Kate With Ice Cream ...and Kate certainly hasn't.
	Kate With Camera That classic me taking a picture of you taking a picture of me moment. But mines loaded.
	Kate On Slide I had ribs at this pub and they were fantastoc. This was also the most attractive bit of canal we went on.
	Gill On Slide but she was helped to the top.
	Delph Locks near Merry Hill Dramatic flight of locks this. Its just before "Nine locks bridge". Which is odd since there are only 8 locks. More catchy than "Eight-locks-but-there-used-to-be-more bridge" I suppose.
	Yvonne and Gill
	Yvonne and Kate
	Inside the Boat
	Bridge 59 Restaurant Enter: weary travellers, ready for beer. They see no bar, just tables, like in a restaurant. WT: Where's the pub bit? Waitress: This isn't a pub, it's a restaurant WT: So where's the pub? Waitress: Over the road. Exit: weary travellers, ready for beer.
	Last Bridge, Last Lock Then we're back in the boatyard. Back in the cars and away up a motorway that seems to be far too fast.
	Andy Pulling the Boat In a former life he was a cart horse you know. Its 50:50 whether its cheaper to pay for diesel to run the engine, or beer to run Andy.