Polesworth

We of course we ate in the Dog and Doublet last night with the oriental menu from Peter’s Wok Kitchen. During the early evening this raft arrived and was moored outside the pub, it was still there when we left this morning.

A hire boat came up the flight before we left so locks 9 and 10 were with us, unfortunately the bottom lock was against us.he lock cottage now has a converted horse box in their garden selling coffee and snacks, The gates were closed when we came up so I guess its only open weekend.

Something I have never noticed before is the Ordinance Survey Bench Mark on the top of the lock stone work. Its the first I have seen on a horizontal surface, all the rest have been on vertical ones.

So far we had not met any boats and we didn’t meet any until we got to Grendon although we did see one go past at Fazeley Junction. On our way out we passed a CRT work boat moored at Minworth who were cutting offside vegetation, today it was half way between Curdworth Bottom and Fazeley Junction.

When we arrived at Glascote the top gate of the bottom lock was open and a boat was going up it the top lock, what I couldn't see was a boat waiting to come down and turned the lock. I apologised most profusely to the boater coming down. Once up the locks we started meeting boats. 
Our original plan for today was to stop at Alvecote but as the weather was so nice we carried on to Polesworth.

Todays Journey 9¾ miles with 5 locks in 4½ hours

Dog and Doublet

After the heavy rain yesterday evening it turned into a clear sky with bright stars and aircraft flying over, Birmingham is quite a busy airport.
This morning it started a little misty but it was soon a clear still day, with not a ripple on the water.

This poor old electricity pole is suffering from a bit of tooth ache, its quite surprising how far out of true they can go and still carry on doing what they were designed to do.

We picked up a few free riders as we went through Curdworth tunnel, I find it annoying when they land on my cap and then abseil of the peak in front of my face. Yes spiders.

In the field on the off side just by Baylis Bridge there are lots of shallow trenches, these are normally the sign of a large development about to take place.

Curdworth Top Lock had a short stoppage this week while CRT inserted some new boards in the top gate to close up lots of leaks, the top 6” of the gate was full of holes.

I am not sure what is happening at Fox’s Bridge with all the white weather proof covering, the bridge doesn’t look used unless there is a gas main cross the lock on the side of the bridge.

And then down at Curdworth lock 2. A nice shot of it from just before Willday’s Farm Bridge. I wonder if the nearby farm was owned by a Mr. William Day.

By the lock on the offside the field was full of detectorists, it must have been a club event with all their motors parked down near the CRT building by lock 4. They were so spread out over the field I could only get 4 in a shot, but there was well over a dozen of them and it’s not just a male pastime.

We carried on down the flight with all but two locks against us to moor outside the Dog and Doublet for the night. Since we have been moored up, the sun has come out, two boats have come up the flight and one down. They are the first boats we have seen moving since 10 am yesterday morning when the three of us left Star City at the same time.

Today’s Journey

 

3 miles with 8 locks in 2½ hours.

Wiggins Hill Bridge

There were three boats on the Star City pontoons in the end last night and we all left within minutes of each other around 10 o’clock. The first went up Garrison, the second, a Wilderness turned round and went back to Salford Junction and I don’t know which way he went after that.  Before we left I photographed these Fungi, even looking at books I have trouble identifying them so don’t pick them.

We headed off down to Salford Junction and as I thought the moored flat and push tug are right where your bows want to go. I don’t know who the belong to, they don’t look like CRT or Rothen, maybe its the bridge inspections?

We had just cleared the building over the canal at Troutpool Bridge and someone has dumped about a quarter of a ton of Cannabis compost on the towpath along with a pile of growing bags. When this happened in our village we were told it was hazardous waste .

The top and bottom locks of the Minworth Flight were both with us but the middle one was empty. We stopped at the services below the top lock and the Elsan disposal point is disgusting, it makes you wonder what’s wrong with some people.

I have never managed to get a clear photo of this canal side garden, this is my best shot so far, and that was best of three. It really stands out against the other bland bits of grass. I just love it.

We carried on, not meeting any boat to moor for the night just before Wiggins Hill bridge, we prefer this to the visitor moorings in front of the Cuttle Bridge Inn as there is a lot less road noise.

Today’s Journey

5 miles with 3 locks in 2½ hours .

Star City again

Last night we ate at Ciaro a small Italian restaurant right on the towpath at Gas Street Basin, its set in a couple of ground floor rooms and basement of a house.
Before we set off this morning I spotted the back end of the wide beam boat that is normally moored round the Icknield Loop beside the new development. It was originally used to take people to the show house when the development first opened and has been moored there ever since. I was under the impression it was now a static feature. Boating wise this morning didn’t start well, we set off at or normal time only to find a red and white tape across the canal between the top paddles of Farmers Bridge Flight. A chap came out of the office

to tell me they were repairing a paddle lower down the flight and would be about an hour. so we tied up on the lock moorings and waited. In the end we only had to wait just over half an hour and as the chap who did the repairs on lock 5 walked back he opened top gates, in addition to this we had the services of three Volockies for the first 10 locks and only one for the last two , so quite an easy and fast ride setting everything ahead. We met a boat coming up  at lock 10 and then another just after we cleared the bottom lock.
The Volockie told me that when he checked the flight this morning down at the bottom there were police, the fire brigade and ambulances. I turned out some poor chap had attempted suicide by leaping into the canal, but was rescued.
When we got to Aston Junction I was please to find the top lock of the Aston flight full and by the time we got to the third lock it was bright sunshine and

looking good. After another couple of locks we met a boat coming up, no help to us, but it put the rest of the flight in favour for them going up.
Looking back up the flight this view use to be dominated by the BT tower, now its been dwarfed out by all the high rise development.

We had planned to moor here for the night on the off side below lock 8 but as the weather was so nice we decided to push on. It turned out the last two locks were against us, but we had had a good run so can’t complain. Down at Salford Junction I reversed back up the GU to Star City for the night, this manoeuvre would have been much easier if someone hadn’t moored this pair of boats almost

opposite the junction, if by chance a full length boat comes down Garrison they will be hard pushed to swing into the B&F, I might find it interesting in the morning, I wont do it in one.  

Today’s Journey

3¾ miles with 24 locks in 4 hours

Oozells Street Loop again

First job this morning was a visit to the Bumble Hole Visitor Centre to deposit some paper back books and of course to buy a few more. Then it was off down the Dudley No 2 canal to Hawne Basin and the Coombeswood Trust to fill with diesel at 83p/lt.
For  a long time the road was closed where in passes under the railway because an old bridge on the towpath over a disused arm had collapsed, Its finally been repaired and the road reopened. (see earlier blogs of this journey for photos)

 

To get to the basin you have to pass through the Gosty Hill Tunnel some 900Mts long. CRT give the average time to traverse a tunnel, I normally do it in about half, but not this one, CRT says 10 minutes and it takes me 10 minutes to do it.

I do wonder if there are any more of these left on the system, It is where they dragged Narrowboats out sideways to work on them and then slide them back in. Maybe they are something that need preserving.

Once filled with diesel we were on our way again back through the tunnel. The roof height of this tunnel changes many time and at its lowest my hat scrapes the roof if standing up straight.

There are two pictures in the tunnel, not many people photograph this one as you are almost out of the tunnel when you see it.

Most people photograph this one as you are going it, I took it looking back as we were coming out, all three photos show how the roof height changes.

As we made our way back to Windmill End Junction a spotted the back end of a butty going past, so we would be following them through the tunnel. It turned out to be Leo and Scorpion two ex working boat which I believe are owned by CRT so not the fastest trip through, probably the slowest as not only was I following them, but we also met to flats being pushed by pusher tugs, the flats had no lights on them  but both had LED work lights pointing straight ahead mounted on the pusher cabin tops. We then met a private boat once we were almost through, thankfully they had a standard filament light.
At the Tividale Aqueduct the pair took the right hand  channel slowly, waving me through the left hand one. The manoeuvre could have been completed much more quickly if there hadn’t been 8 fishermen, four each side of the aqueduct on my side. I did wonder if we were going to get a jumper as we passed through.

Down to the New Main Line and turn right towards Birmingham. A short way down here on our right a lot of water is being pumped from somewhere, it was running like this when we passed the other day as well.

Directly ahead of us lie the new Heat and Power incinerator that is under construction beside the old main line, but I don’t expect they will feed it with waste transported by water.

The Engine Arm Aqueduct looked very fine in the afternoon sunshine, its quite interesting the way the waterways criss cross around here with the Birmingham level being 20 foot or 3 locks lower than the Wolverhampton level.

At the entrance to the Icknield Port Look I spotted these two seats the other day, but was too slow to get a photo, they have some kind of plaque on them, but they look like kiddies seats.

Last time we were this way this block of flats was just a steal skeleton, now it has a show house open, mind you the far end is not finished.

We turned into the Oozells Loop at Ladywood Junction meeting the trip boat in one of the wider parts, passing under Sheepcote Street bridge there is a hole in the bridge, it looks almost like a flue or chimney but I don’t have a clue what it was for.

We are moored in exactly the same spot as two nights ago, in front of the same boat, but we are facing the other way.  We have been here on three separate nights now, its a 4 day mooring, I wonder if I will get an email from CRT for overstaying .

Today’s Journey

15 miles with no locks in 5¾hours

Bumblehole - Windmill End

Last night we ate at Bistrot Pierre and had a window table overlooking the canal. They were filming Peaky Blinders on the canal  between us and Broad Street Tunnel. They had extended the length of the tunnel with scaffolding towards Old Turn and then shut the canal off with a blackout sheet. We couldn’t see the filming and action but we could see the steerer of the day boat they were using getting a bit irate every time the film crew’s boat hit the elm.
BBC Birmingham has put some video on their Facebook page
We didn’t lose anything off the boat last night and set off about 10 this morning, this time carrying on round the Oozells St. Loop and out onto the main line at Ladywood Junction to head north.

At Icknield Square Junction we turned left to go round the loop. The old buildings just inside the loop on the left are still standing and a contrast to the new development on the square. It looks almost a subterranean world.

The development on the island is still ongoing and all the open space has now been consumed.

Where ever we go around the Birmingham area we come across these canoe things. Kings Norton Junction, Soho Loop, Oozells Loop, B&F.

Construction work has taken off on the north side of the island, I wonder if anyone has ever moored on the mooring rings they installed along here .

I also noticed these old buildings at the back of the square, I have no idea if they are still used or are listed.

A good blast on the horn and straight across to the Soho loop. Its hard to believe how close you are to the City going round these loops, lets hope Birmingham keeps its green spaces.
Back on the main line and past the first of the toll islands, this was the most overgrown one we passed.

By now those few spots of rain had gone and we were in bright sunshine and that continued for the rest of the day. With the good light I even managed a photo inside Galton Tunnel with its concrete lining.

At Dudley Port Junction it was hard left again and down under Tividale Aqueduct, for once I didn’t get a blade full, into Netherton tunnel and 800 Meters from the far end a boat entered coming the other way, the only boat we have seen moving since we set off this morning.
Once clear of the tunnel we winded at the junction and reversed back to moor against the park with the geese, we like to moor the other side between the visitor centre and the junction but there was a boat already there . Just at the end of the moorings between them and the tunnel is this notice, so it looks like boats on the moorings are outside the area.

By the time we had finished our lunch the boat moored on the other side had departed, so we moved across and moored in the spot they vacated near Windmill End Junction.

Todays journey.

10 miles with no locks in 3¼ hours