Soon up Stewponey lock and turning right up Stourton locks. I think it was the third lock up where the tow path changes sides across this little bridge. The railings look as if they were designed to catch the tow line and drop it through the slot in the bridge.
In this picture you can see where the cotton tow line has cut it's way through the cast iron. This explains why some of the cantilever brackets on other bridges have disappeared, the cotton line has cut right through.
As we motored on to the bottom of Stourbridge locks we past a little boat yard and sat on the side was Helen, a Leonard Leigh tug. The shape and depth of hull really caught my eye and would love to have a closer look one day. Sorry rivet counting.
On the way up Stourbridge I'm pleased to see this building still standing. However, not to my surprise it has been on fire and looks ready for demolition. Funny how many buildings go through this phase so developers can build new houses instead of renovating a perfectly good building.
Going up passed Dadfords yard, I like this clever piece of engineering. The locks look like a staircase but there is a pound between them, it's behind the house and tunneled into the gap between the gates
On reaching the Delph, a friend of ours joined us to do a bit of locking. At the top the weather turned a bit damp, rain coats back on for the last bit.
The funny thing about our friend, his boat is called Hector, who wasn't that friendly with Achilles. All we need now is a boat called Paris, then we better watch our heel.
Achilles and Hector laying side by side at Merryhill, we've never stopped here before, nice spot.
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