Worcester & Birmingham Canal - day 3 - 15 February 2024
Day Three - Wychbold to Worcester
It's barely light as we stand in the damp outside the Crown Inn waiting for our taxi to arrive. Cate's happy though - she's found her baseball cap that she'd left outside the pub the previous day. Let's hope the good fortune continues throughout the day!
Bang on time a minibus pulls into the car park - it's way too big for just the two of us, but the cheery driver beckons us on board. Ten minutes later we're deposited at Hanbury Wharf. It still feels barely light as we climb out of our over-sized chariot; the cheerful taxi driver wishes us good luck with our walk, before heading back to Droitwich. A look at the BBC weather shows that the forecast is significantly better.......little chance of rain until after 3pm, and potentially a bit of sunshine for the first time on this trip! It already feels much warmer than the previous days, so it's shorts underneath my wet trousers, and just a t-shirt under the rain jacket. Fingers crossed it stays that way.
Once again we start the day with the hum of motorway traffic nearby - this time it's the M5, a mile to the west. At some point later on we'll pass under it to get into Worcester. After about half an hour we pass under a bridge and see the remains of a Canals & Rivers Trust's sign, similar to the one yesterday. Clearly the wind has taken its toll on it. There's so little left of it; just a thin blue laminated strip and a couple of cable ties attached to a fence. We can't discern what was on it, but fear the worst. A couple of minutes on, and our fears are realised as there's a temporary steel fence blocking the towpath. FFS! Again, there is no more information, so it's over to the OS App. Luckily there are public footpaths that should bring us back to the canal just before Dunhampstead tunnel. We trudge back to the bridge, up the lane, and then towards a farm.
The footpaths around the fields are absolutely sodden, so we have to step from clump to clump to avoid wet feet and boots. It's a bloody slog, but we get back to the canal. Again there's a fence preventing walkers from getting onto the tow path. Now what do we do? We can vaguely see and hear orange clad workers, and heavy machinery about 150 metres up the canal, near to the entrance of the tunnel. Back to trespassing, we follow the field edge as close to the canal as possible, rising uphill. We can see a barge and a digger below - again there's been a landslip near a tunnel entrance. Hopefully that's the full extent of the issues. All we need to do now is get out of the field and onto the footpaths that go above the tunnel. Of course, it's not that easy. There's no gate or stile, so we're back to delicately climbing over a barbed wire fence. We're really too old for that kind of thing, but needs must. No scratched gussets or torn clothes, we're on our way again; and it's not long before we get back down to the towpath.
It's only a matter of minutes and we're close to the only place we'd identified as a potential coffee and breakfast stop before we hit the edge of Worcester. A minor problem; it's 08.40, and the place, a farm shop doesn't open until 09.00 according to Google Maps. And we all know how accurate their opening time information is! It probably doesn't open until 11, but stuff it, let's see. We're pissed off due to the diversion, and need sustenance. We need it badly! With our bright orange backpacks, we feel very self-conscious sitting on the wall outside. It's not like we're waiting for Spoons to open in the morning; but we feel can't help feeling very conspicuous. Shortly, there are signs of life with the blinds being opened, and the nice woman opens up a bit early especially for us. It's clearly a more up market place, so in an attempt to try and lessen the amount of mud we deposit on their nice clean floor I say that I'll take my (filthy, muddy) trousers off. The lady responds by saying "I hope you've got clean pants on". Oops! I meant my wet trousers madam! Still she got the bonus of seeing my white legs and knobbly knees at 08.55. And let's be honest, there are many who'd pay for that pleasure at any time - morning, noon or night!
We're directed to the nearest table - she's clocked how muddy we are, and clearly doesn't want us muckspreading all over her nice eating area floor. Big doorstep bacon sarnies are consumed with gusto; washed down by cups of tea. We are replete, but as we get up to leave we notice that it's pouring outside. The bloody forecast had said there was virtually no chance of rain - bring me the head of the Met Office on a platter immediately! Mildly tetchy, but undeterred we go outside the farm shop and put on our muddy wet weather gear. Shit or bust!
The god's are smiling on us, as the rain stops very quickly, and within half an hour we seeing glimpses of brightness from a strange yellow thing up in the sky! Once the sun really gets out, the temperature leaps, and we're forced to remove wet trousers and surplus layers. Boy, is that great! The world really is becoming a better place despite the constant hum from the M5. That hum gets louder, and eventually we pass underneath it to the edge of Worcester.
Under the M5 - nice and quiet!
Only about 5 miles to get to the Severn. It would be a darn sight less if the canal was built in a straight line, but it wasn't. Now we head almost directly west before turning sharply south to run parallel with the river. Oh well, the sun is shining, and it's a beautiful spring-like day. Over to our left is Sixways Stadium. A rather fine 12,000 seat arena that was home to Worcester Warriors rugby team until they went bust a few years ago. Now it's home to Worcester Raiders who play in the ninth tier of English football against such giants as Wantage Town, and the City's main club; Worcester City. Crowds of around 200 bounce around in there! Rather sad, but at least the place is being used still.
Not long after, we pass under a bridge and are joined by a very forlorn looking straggly dog (a King Charles Spaniel, I think) who is blind in one eye. He's clearly a stray and just wants company. Despite our best efforts to shake him off he stays with us for 20 minutes, before hooking up with an unsuspecting walker who passes us in the opposite direction. He really was a sad sight. I hope that someone with more time than us can get him rescued.
Within an hour we started to enter the more urban and industrial heart of the City. It wasn't particularly pretty, but tell me somewhere industrial that is! It's a timely reminder that the canals were, of course, built to serve industry. We pass under a rather fine brick bridge carrying the railway between Worcester's Foregate Street and Shrub Hill stations. We'll be going over it ourselves in a couple of hours. It's not long before get our first glimpse of the magnificent Cathedral. We're very nearly done.
First sighting of the Cathedral
Next we pass the old Royal Worcester porcelain factory. Production there ceased ages ago, but the brand lives on, with manufacturing in Stoke-on-Trent; where else? Nowadays the old factory is given over to what the Estate Agents would call Executive Apartments, or some other baloney!
Finally, we reach Diglis Basin and Lock No.1. The end of the canal. To our left is the River Severn flowing high and fast down towards Gloucester and the sea. It was a distinctly anti-climatic end to the canal. However, 500 metres away in front of us is Worcester Cathedral; a far more fitting end our little adventure. As we walk there, it's easy to see how high and damaging the recent floods were - coming to about a foot above the doorsteps of houses up to our right. A mucky layer of dirt over the house walls, garden plants and furniture being the tell-tale signs. How people continue to live there, I'll never know. The water must have risen about 6 feet from it's current high level; which was still lapping the top of the bank.
The Cathedral sits a lot higher above the river and was fortunately unscathed. We go in to mooch around and seek a well-earned cup of tea. It's a terrific building. Given our Spanish Pilgrimages, it feels like the right place to call journey's end. It's not Santiago, but it might as well be. A place of calm, peace; and the café is a great place to reflect on the last few days.
Home we go
This walk has been nothing of the scale of our Camino's, but similarities abound. There is something more rewarding about walking from A to B, and B to C etc, rather than circular walks. Despite only being 35 miles, and two and a half days, this has been a timely reminder that these walks involve a lot more slog and hard graft than you tend to remember. Travelling light, wearing dirty smelly clothes day after day to walk in, and one set of clothes for the evenings. Getting soaked, spending hours drying everything out as best you can; it's all part of it. Put like that, it doesn't sound very attractive; but there's a sense of achievement. You soon forget the tough parts, and it's all rose-tinted glasses. And that is why I've written these accounts for this trip - a reminder of what it's really like - hard, tiring, sweaty, smelly, damp, achy etc etc. But above all there is that sense of achievement, and great memories.
There have been no significant hills to climb, so no need to reference the "Billy Goat's" special ascending qualities on this walk. However, her knee has held up well, so maybe there will be an outing later this year - Camino Portuguese coastal route next????
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