Down to Kinver to see old friends.

 Although you can go through the Bratch Staircase Locks out of hours so without the guiding experience of the lock keepers, we chose not to and waited for 8am and as the only boat in sight for the last 15 hours, were given preferential treatment and down we went.
I brought a mooring pin as a spare from the wee tollhouse office here.  We haven't ever dropped on in in about the five years we've been using them, but now I have a spare I fully expect that to happen this week.

I'm very fond of old stairs.

Down he goes.

Into the last chamber.  Its hard to capture it all in a single photo 

Bratch locks are on the edge of a more built up area and new houses have gone up around, but after another lock you feel as if you are simply miles from anywhere again.

I'm sorry to say that my fantastic photos of the countryside refuse to upload on my rather ancient (I think its nine years old) laptop.  I need a new one thats for sure. 
But its is the most lush canal with trees bends and just beauty at every turn.
I was pleased that I had the windows closed  here...

So taking the best part of 6 hours we arrived in Kinver to be met by friends Chris and Sarah.  Sarah came aboard and Chris fetched the car and we moored about half a mile down the canal where the hills had opened out, a nice stretch of armco and only one other boat.  This left us with a nice country walk to their new home, a darling cottage in Kinver.  Chris later dropped David at Co-Op to fetch milk and we were invited to supper at theirs.  
Thank you very much both for a lovely evening.  I should have taken a photo.