« Droitwich Canals Map for Memory Map

UKWRS Problems »

What an exciting month this has been for the movements on the UK Waterways Ranking Site

There was a "momentous shift of the blogosphere on its axis" first reported by Sarah in her Chertsey: New top dog blog.

With her self confessed unhealthy obsession with the UK Waterways Ranking Site she was the first to report that Sue's No Problem Blog had overtaken Andrew's Granny Buttons Blog.

The first graph shows their scores and how close they've been recently. The second graph enlarges the critical area.

These have been the top two bloggers on UKWRS for some time and, after coming close on two occassions Sue finally overtook Andrew on 23rd January and, after maintaining top blog position for a few days has dropped back to second place again.

The biggest recorded difference came on Tuesday 25th January with No Problem (5181) leading Granny Buttons (5057) by 124 Hits.

Sarah's own scores for Chertsey have been up and down too.

I had previously reported on Chertsey’s scores in April this year, along with several others.

Now I can help support Sarah's "unhealthy obsession" with the scores by showing her own progress with Chertsey.

During the month I had an email from blogger Neville Wells asking to see the scores for his Waterlily Blog. Well here it is, the ups and downs of Waterlilly.

The large spike on 7 May 2010 seems to have been caused by a mention of David Milliband. It's amazing what a difference a single post can sometimes make although, with a 7-day score it doesn't affect the long term trend.

Just ask if you'd like your own blog shown.

And what about Takey Tezey where Heth seems to have the greatest of story lines, from crew abandoning ship to having her recognition stolen?

The good news is that it doesn;t seem to have affected the hits very much, if at all. The peak before Christmas was cause by the cliff hanger story line, and it was bound to drop a little after that.

Will the blog continue?

And finally, look at the jump in our own socres.

From a previous best of 1961 and several attempts to break the 2000 barrier we suddenly break the 3000 barrier with 3003.

Our own webstats reveal the coming together of three things have caused this sudden peak.
> Blogs about the Droitwich Canals
> Blogs about Maps, expecially the Droitwich Canals
> A mention on Sue's No Problem as she hit the top spot

I hadn't realised there was such an interest in maps and the Droitwich Canals.

I think it's been a freak occurrence and, in the next day or two, I'll be back down below 2000 in the more usual position.


Please note that a technical probelm with UKWRS meant that the scores for everyone weren't being counted correcly during Sunday 30th January so the scores shown for 31st January are rather lower than normal, and will be for 7 days altogether. As it affected everybody the same way the relative positions in the ranking are still relevant. Thanks to Tony Blews for fixing it so quickly after I reported the problem and for running the wonderful site.

« Droitwich Canals Map

What en exciting month »

Thank you to everyone who provided feedback on the pdf version of the Droitwich Canals Map, either by comments on the blog, or directly by email. We've already uploaded a second version of the draft. We'd appreciate more feedback still, so please let us know what you think.

We now have a version of the file for downloading for use with Memory Map. Once again this is free to download. We will not charge you, but your ISP may charge you for the data downloaded.

If you already have Memory Map installed then please download this Droitwich Canals Map for Memory Map and let us know how you get on.

If you haven't heard of Memory Map then give it a try. It works like Adobe's Acrobat Reader in that there is a free version of Memory Map for displaying maps, which you need to download and install once, and a paid for version for compiling the maps and the extra features.

Read more about installing the free Memory Map Reader and download our free Droitwich Canals Map for Memory Map. There are versions for Android and iPhone too.

And don't forget the feedback, please. Just few words would be nice to say how geat it is, or what the problems are. This is a free draft for testing purposes, we'd like your help to make sure it works.

« Droitwich Barge Canal

Droitwich Canals Map for Memory Map »

We are pleased to announce that the first in the Waterway Maps series is now available.

This covers the Droitwich Canals and is still in draft format, largely because the canal isn't finished yet and we can't record things like the depth of locks when the water levels aren't finalised. We've included good estimates though, and I expect to fine tune the information as it becomes available.

The information is much more up to date than any of the printed canal guides - and we can keep it up to date too.

I would appreciate lots of feedback on the general style and layout of the maps - so the rest of the series can be made better still.

The map is in pdf format and is sized for A4 printing. You can also print two pages to a sheet and fold in half for A5 booklet format. Let us know how you get on with the smaller print sizes this produces.

There is no charge for downloading the Droitwich Canals map from us (although your ISP may charge you for the data downloaded).

Download Droitwich Canals Maps.

You can also take a virtual cruise from Hawford Junction by following the arrows on the right hand side.

« Droitwich Junction Canal

Droitwich Canals Map »

Having cycled along the Droitwich Junction Canal in the last blog it was time for a longer expedition along the Droitwich Barge Canal to Hawford Junction with the River Severn. Once again I took the bike but this time the mud was so bad that, overall, it slowed me down and I would have completed the journey faster without it. The mud along the towpath between Bridge 2 and Lock 2 just ate my boots and bike wheels - it took over 10 minutes to reach the lock after taking this photo.

From the Barge Lock in Droitwich, which allows access from the River Salwarpe and the Droitwich Junction Canal there are a total of four swing bridges, including the one across the Barge Lock before reaching the moorings in Netherwich Basin where pontoons have been installed for visiting boats. This is also the only winding point between Hanbury Junction and Hawford Junction.

On leaving Droitwich, the addition of a towpath through the railway bridge which didn't have one, limits passage to narrowboats on what is otherwise a broad canal.

The canal skirts the edge of Droitwich before reaching open countryside and the village of Salwarpe, although it rather too small to even count as a village. Five broad locks in a flight at Ladywood start the descent, then a single lock at Mildenham Mill. There are wonderful views along the canal, even in the middle of January.

A new bridge, almost long enough to be considered a tunnel, takes the canal under the A449 dual carriageway before two more locks lower us to join the River Severn at Hawford Junction. Pontoons provide the landing area for boat crews to leave/join their boats below the lock.

The depth of the bottom lock will vary depending on the conditions on the River Severn. When the Severn is in flood it will come over the top of lock 1 and there are signs at lock 2 warning boaters to wait above that lock if necessary.

You can take a virtual cruise along the Droitwich Canals, just follow the arrows on the right.

We'll be watching to see when it's open so we can return there to film the open canal. We already have a Droitwich Canals Restoration DVD Which is available now. Why not buy a copy to see the work in progress.

« UKWRS Monthly Report for December 2010

Droitwich Barge Canal »

With the folding bike from our boat I travelled on the train to Droitwich yesterday. I wanted to see how work on the Droitwich Junction Canal and the link through the River Salwarpe to the Droitwich Barge canal was progressing.

I had been a little concerned that the towpath might be so muddy the bike would be a handicap but I was pleasantly surprised. There were a few muddy patches but, overall, the bike was a definite advantage.

The Junction canal runs from Hanbury Junction with the Worcester & Birmingham Canal down through seven locks until it meets the River Salwarpe. Boats will then cruise a short distance along the river until the Barge Lock lets them onto the Barge Canal.

To avoid mixing too much canal water into the River Salwarpe the water flowing down the Junction Canal will be piped under the towpath of the river and into the Barge Canal. Excavations are taking place now along the line of the navigable section of the river to dredge the channel and install the connecting pipe.

Hopefully, sometime this year boats will be able to cruise from Hanbury Junction, along the Droitwich Junction Canal, the River Salwarpe and the Droitwich Barge Canal to reach the River Severn at Hawford Junction.

The Barge Canal is largely finished and a few boats have been allowed to cruise to Netherwich Basin in Droitwich but, without the pipeline bringing water from the Junction Canal there isn't the water supply to allow boat access to the Droitwich Canal on a regular basis.

There's lots more work going on along the Junction Canal too - mostly minor items like installing bollards.

We'll be watching to see when it's open so we can return there to film the open canal. We already have a Droitwich Canals Restoration DVD Which is available now. Why not buy a copy to see the work in progress.

You can also take a virtual cruise along the Droitwich Junction Canal, just follow the arrows on the right.