4th – 13th March 2026
After three long wet months at home we finally made it back onboard Jenny Wren. She had fared well over the winter and it didn’t take us long to get her shipshape and ready to cruise. We decided to spend a couple of days in the marina and on Friday we explored the Droitwich Spa area and took the dogs for a wonderful walk at Hartlebury Common. The sandy terain was a welcome relief to the mud. It is a very popular dog walking spot and Bracken and Teasel loved it (so did we!) They enjoyed running and exploring although we were all somewhat shocked when we can upon a herd of longhorn cows grazing at one point.
We finally set off on Saturday 7th March. The Hanbury locks are always the first challenge and because we are still out of season there were none of the lovely volunteers to help. The lock paddles were very hard to open having not had a great deal of use over the winter. Having reached the top of the three locks we were treated to a glorious sight; a bank of primroses at Hanbury Junction. It is a long time since I have seen so many primroses in one place – a lovely sign of spring.
We had decided not to go too far and after two more locks at Astwood we turned at the infamous winding hole where John got the hire boat wedged a few years ago. This time the turn was made like a professional, although still a little tight. We moored between locks 18 and 17. After lunch we went for a walk up to Hanbury Hall and explored the grounds and park with the dogs. We treated ourselves to tea and cake at the cafe before returning back to the boat.
On Sunday we decided to go to church using the bikes as it was over a mile to walk. This was the first bike excursion for both of us, as John had not yet taken his out. As we set out, John found that his bike had no battery power and the church was at the top of a very steep hill, in fact it was up hill all the way. The church was built on the site of a Roman hill fort. It was easy for me with the electric bike but poor John nearly killed himself having to push a very heavy bike uphill. There is an ending to this story of John and his bike – but it is not mine to tell – best ask him.
The church was very pretty and welcoming and had great biscuits afterwards – certainly a cut above the usual custard creams and rich tea. The service was nice and we enjoyed looking around the church and the beautiful organ that is about to have £100K refurbishment. This church was at the centre of a bit of a fuss back in the day when it was used to record the wedding of Phil and Grace Archer in 1955 and is known as ‘The Archers’ Church’. The view from the churchyard was amazing and the grounds themselves were just a beautiful sea of daffodils. The cycle back was considerably easier and took much less time.
On Monday we headed back to the marina as we needed to return home to collect dog food and attend a choir practice ahead of a competition on 21st March. We had a very early start on Tuesday and headed back to the boat in time for John to start work. We were both very tired and apart from walking the dogs not very much happened for the rest of the day except napping.
On Wednesday we headed back out again, up the Hanbury locks and this time turning right at Hanbury Junction towards Worcester. We cruised for a couple of hours mooring in a quiet spot opposite Oddingly Church and very close to the railway line.) The weather forecast was not great so, while John was working, I took the dogs for a walk in search of a postbox. We passed some beautiful barn conversions and lots of trees laden with mistletoe full of berries (shame it isn’t Christmas!). It was very windy but we managed to avoid the rain that set in. By the evening the wind was howling and it was lashing down with rain against the side of the boat. We hunkered down and caught up on some of the Vloggers we follow on Youtube.
I fear we may have fallen into a trap carefully set by Bracken and Teasel. They don’t like the wind and are generally unsettled. After not settling and barking and shutting themselves in the bathroom, (they have worked out how to open it) we relented and let them sleep with us. I think they have worked out how to get us to feel sorry for them. We will see tonight what happens!
It was a beautiful spring day today with the sun shining and birds singing as we cruised back to the marina at the end of this short cruise. We were even generating solar energy for the first time this year. All was going so well until we reached the bottom Hanbury lock when we were hit by a hail storm. Not nice at all. Fortunately, once through the lock we were back into the marina where we were able to thaw out inside with soup.
We will be back out on the cut in the middle of April for a couple of weeks before we can start our 2026 cruising in earnest and we relocate Jenny Wren to Brinklow Marina.
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