Gailey on our way, and the delight of an owl this evening

Otherton to Moat House Bridge, Staff & Worc Canal, 5 miles 5 locks

We pulled the pins mid morning after a leisurely breakfast followed by a stroll across the countryside.  We didn’t have anywhere in mind to moor this evening, the day was getting better after early cloud and overnight rain.  Locks appeared quickly this morning..

And although the M6 was fairly close it was well screened by trees, so this was a very pretty cruise today, very remote too if you could discount the motorway!

Kiera is 9 years old and well capable now of doing the locks for herself, she managed to shut most of the bottom gates, and wind the paddles.. I was surprised just how strong she was!..

It was nice to see her and Vic chatting away about this and that while waiting for the locks to fill..

Vic is loving teaching the kids all about canals and the odd “In the old days”.. but then they want to know, and have been very interested in the working boats that have passed, starting long discussions about how the children lived and were educated in them as they travelled the country.

Here a classic pic opportunity at Gailey Lock as we reach the summit level of the Staff and Worcs.  This was built in the 1800s and used to be the lock keepers cottage, ‘tis now a gift shop, but it is lunchtime and it shuts for that, so the promised ice creams all round did not materialise ….

There are some pics that are a ‘must have one taken of that’ which are seen in many publications.  It is a challenge to get that classic picture with one’s own narrowboat featured in it!

A very handy stop for water just after this lock with a very generous spread of 4 water taps here, so there is not a lot of waiting, and while Vic and Kiera sorted the water I made some lunch which we had out on the deck before setting off again to find somewhere nice to moor for the evening.

Just as we found a place Kiera spotted an owl sitting on a fence.. she is always spotting various wildlife along the way that I miss, and we moored quickly and quietly and crept back to see if he was still there on the fence post, and sure enough…

There he is.. between us all we guessed he was a tawny owl, but Kiera suggested ‘googling it’, so now we think it is a Little Owl.  Whatever, a very unusual sight, he sure was keeping a good eye on us, although he was on the other side of the canal the camera did a fairly decent job for me.  This seems to be his territory as we have seen him around for most of the evening.. lovely.

With the washing hung out and the bbq lit, Kiera and I went off with Lucy for a walk.  It really is very nice around here, extremely quiet considering we are not far from Wolverhampton.  I have arranged for a Tesco delivery in the morning a couple of miles away.  I haven’t been on this canal for years and years and can’t remember it at all, so I am hoping that the bridge I have chosen has access to the canal!