Perry Barr top lock

 Last night was both cooler and quieter than previous nights, there was a bit more noise from the unit across the canal and then nothing until about 8am this morning, it was so much cooler that I had to get up in the early hours and close some of the doors.

When we set off at 10am this morning it was quite overcast and about 18°C but the sun was soon through and things heated up, to start with the going on the Daw End Branch was good but slowly deteriorated, the worst being just past Aldridge Wharf where it seemed very silted up. We passed these 4 ducklings, I thinkthey may be Tufted Duck as the mother was very dark with white on her wings when flying. We didn't see her closely as played the injured duck trick flapping off away in front of us to draw the predator  (us) away from her young before flying back to tend them.

We have noticed a lot of gardens are now tended all the way down to the waters edge and often wondered if CRT owned a ransom strip, some have even built jetties out into the canal with seats

and tables on them. Well today the answer quite plain, here is a Canal Company boundary marker about 6 foot back from the waters edge.We stopped at Longwood Boat club to fill with water and also to have lunch before tackling the Rushall flight,  some locks were full and some empty with bottom gates open, one of the pounds was quite low but to our surprise we got straight down the middle.Once clear of the flight it wasn't long until we were down to Rushall Junction where we turned left on to the Tame Valley canal, going was much easier than I expected, probably something to do with the weed clearing equipment moored at the top of Perry Barr locks. It's called the Tame Valley and it sure is a valley with some very high bridges crossing it, one is known as Chimney bridge, the reason is obvious when you look at the support tows. This bridge is undergoing  some structural maintenance with lots of scaffolding.We continued on to the top of the locks where we have moored for the night, tomorrow we will tackle them and the Minworth flight.

Today's Journey 10½ miles, 9 locks in 6¼ hours

Brownhills Daw End Branch

 Today we did the Wyrley and Essington Canal, all of it and it was easier going than expected but the day was somewhat longer than planned. We set off after another hot noisy night at 9-30 am. back to Horseley Field Junction and hard left. The weediest part of the trip was only a few hundred yards onto the W&E by the Urban Community Moorings where it was thick blanket weed, after that things just got better, slower than normal but no major problems and I didn't actually look down the weed hatch until we moored for the night. I then spent a fun half hour clearing the prop from strong polly, electrical flex, netting, rag, all wrapped round bramble stalks which made handling difficult, also a fishing spinner but thankfully no hooks. The canal has water Lilies almost end to end, nearly all are white, a couple of pink and one yellow.

We passed under the shiny (well on one side, the other is green) arch and took a photograph of Harnser's reflection as we passed under it. If the other side was cleaned then you would be  able to see the clouds and sky reflected in it.
I can only assume that this bridge is built like this to give full wheelchair access, I don't know what the approach is like on the offside as I couldn't see that.
The old Short Heath branch looked very inviting, I wonder how deep it is, maybe next time when we have more time I will see if we can not only get down, but also out again.It nice to see what some people do with a bit imagination to the bits of bank at the bottom of their gardens, some just pretend they don't exist.

We passed the end of the Walsall canal at Birchills Junction, it's the first time we have passed without turning in or out. I must admit that after you get to Walsall Basin its not my favourite bit of canal.It wasn't long before we were passing a large building site, it looks as if it will be a large housing development.Then suddenly you are out in open country side, nothing but fields on both sides, this I found quite surprising when you consider how close we are to Walsall and other towns.Soon Pelsall Works bridge looms into view looking very splendid with its white paint and black lettering, after this the canal gets much straighter and wider, I even managed to get over 3mph, but it doesn't last for long.

Our planned mooring for the night was at the visitor moorings outside Tesco at Brownhills, but again we not only found the road noisy but also it was in full sun, so after the compulsory shopping we went about half a mile down the Daw End Branch and moored in the shade. We are right opposite an industrial estate which until now almost 10pm has been silent then suddenly there is a lorry and heavy forklift flying about with bleepers and hooters going.

Today's journey 16 ½ miles, no locks in 6½ hrs

Wolverhampton Broad St moorings

 Well last night was more disturbed than the night before with groups of people making a noise as they passed until it was getting light this morning. No problems but with the doors open due to the heat not a good nights sleep. I don't expect tonight will be much better here in Wolverhampton with the traffic rattling by on the ring road system. We slid back this morning and put a bit of water in the tank while eating breakfast and then we were away up the New Main Line. We did meet a couple of boats and when we got to factory Locks discovered a hire boat just leaving the top lock, it was the first we had seen of them and not seen them again.

It would seem that in Birmingham yellow is the new white and the tops of these mooring bollards have all been painted yellow with a

 "smiley" on the top. Mind  you there is a big plastic giraffe watch it it, so anything could happen.

On one of the bridges, I didn't note which one someone has attached this ceramic tile, I have no idea if its an official thing or someone making a statement, or what, its just there.

Last night I took my wife out for dinner, well it was our wedding anniversary so I thought I better treat her. Where is this going you say, well we went to eat at Côte Brassiere and they have a "Living wall" one that is planted green with living plants from top to bottom. It seems this is a BCN thing as today we passed a factory like it and also where we are moored at Wolverhampton

I managed to get all the way to Wolverhampton without a weed hatch visit, I had to slip into reverse a couple of times to throw the weed off but no real problem. I usually pick a load of rubbish up going through these narrows which I think must have been a toll lock. Talking of Toll Locks I hadn't realised how long this toll island is on the New Main Line, there would have been room for 4 boats with two on each side at any one time.Another feature today was aqueducts, you don't often pass under aqueducts where one canal crosses another but we went under two today, this one is taking boats onto the Engine Arm, the other was where the Old Main Line crosses the New Main Line, but the sun was in my eyes for that one, there is one other I can think of.We winded in Broad Street Basin and dropped off some rubbish, we will have to return in the morning to drop off more stuff. The basin is well packed with weed and was probably the most problematic bit we had other than Factory Top Lock, a but of a toss up between the two. We winded in the basin and then moored up on the offside secure moorings. This is where the other bag of rubbish has come from, we cleared up what other boaters had removed from their props and just left laying there, the moorings are only accessible by boat.

Today's Journey 14 miles, 3 locks in 5¼ hours

Birmingham Holiday Wharf

 I didn't sleep too well last night, it was hot and with the rear doors open there was quite a bit of traffic noise, so this morning we were away before 9am heading up the Grand Union towards the Garrison flight of locks. A long stretch  of the towpath is closed for new cables to be laid by the look of it, Its major work with an offside storage yard, several flats, a couple of tugs. The closed towpath has a portable toilet and small hut at each end. At the other end there is also a moored wide beamed flat with a portable mess hut on it. Not surprisingly them look to have a couple of security guys keeping an eye on things. They have laid a thick crushed concrete pad beside the cable bridge. The portable mooring rings are impressive, a bundle of lengths of rail track with a loop attached.They  have had to remove some of the towpath side seats to carry out their works, there was no way these were going to fall over.Just after the works the graffiti on the under side of this bridge is quite striking, so often the people who do this are very talented, unlike some of the scribble you see about the place. In my opinion this is just as worthy as the suspected Banksy that is protected by clear plastic in Gas Street.

I have noticed that several of the old canal side buildings often have these large round stones at their base, I have no idea what they would have originally been for, there is a building down the Aston flight that has even more of them.

I quite like the Garrison Locks, they were built with the boater in mind and drawing the top paddles use to let water enter the lock behind the bottom gates so closing them. it doesn't always make it that far these days probably do to obstructions in the culverts.

A good run up the flight, once at the top its dead straight to Bordesley Junction, the small figures you can see on the towpath are a magnet fishing club, they had a few bikes and other oddments they had pulled out but no treasure. At the junction we turned right and it wasn't long before we met the first boat of the day, we were about to go into Warwick Bar when its bows came round from the other way, he didn't quite get it right and I was wondering if he was hoping to pass under the covered bay rather that the lock. If you don't know it, it looks quite possible as the end wall is just below the surface of the water. It was a motorised butty with a hydraulic motor and prop mounted in the rudder. The whine from the motor was quite noticeable. We expected all the Ashted locks to be with us, some were and some weren't but the ones that were the lock walls were quite dry so didn't look as if they had been turned recently.

We stopped for lunch just passed Aston Junction, while we were eating a hire boat came down from Farmers bridge, a sign it was time for us to set off. Some of the locks were empty but most needed a few inches dropping out. We were to meet yet another hire boat under the buildings, a bust day. 

I have often wondered what this building use to be, now I know, it was Cliveland Street flour mill. Once at the top of the flight we headed into Birmingham to find somewhere to moor, There was room at Cambrian Wharf but that was in full sun and we felt the Oozells Loop would be the same so we plumbed for gas Street, last time we were her it was empty, today it was full so we went just round the corner onto the Worcester and Birmingham and moored just before the services, it was still sunny but there is always a breeze up there and it wasn't long before the sun moved round and we were in the shade.

Today miles s Journey 5¾, 24 locks in 5 hours.

Star City Birmingham

 Boy it was hot last night, we went to bed with the rear doors open and the  mozzie screen up, I expect today will be the same. 
Not a bad run up Curdworth the first couple of locks were with us, we met  a boat at lock 9 and then a clean run to lock 5. By lock 7 I noticed this marked into the concrete by the top offside paddle, not noticed it before.

I think it was the next lock up the wall between the tail of the lock and the bridge is bowed, its the only one like this. Of course its possible that the other walls have been rebuilt straight and this is original.

Lock 3 has this rather smart bag on it, but it actually needs a second as the top offside paddle is not connected to the paddle rod.I  think CRT may need a little more water going over the Minworth by washes to keep feeding this extraction pump, mind you the spuds do look good. Once clear of Curdworth tunnel we put the Bimini up to keep a bit of the sun off me as I was starting to suffer a bit with the heat.

We carried on along the B&F  to Salford Junction where its a very hard left turn up the Grand Union canal to moor at Star City for the night, these are 24 hr offside moorings against a pontoon so you don't get the towpath traffic passing, at the moment we are the only boat here but there is now a small community of live aboard boaters on the towpath side opposite, a few years back that was considered an unsafe place to moor.

Today's Journey 9 miles, 13 locks in 5 hours.

Water Park

 We left home at 9am this morning and decided to go Diss Bury St Edmunds way to the A14 to avoid roadworks on the A47. Bad move and followed two slow lorries nearly  all the way to Bury St Edmunds. Things improved on the A14 but I am not sure that road will ever be clear of road works. It was about 12-30 when we reached the moorings and after unpacking had a bit to eat before setting off. A slow run to  Glascote locks where we were third in the queue. Once clear of the locks it was down to Fazeley Junction, at bridge 76 Diana jumped ship to buy BBQ food for tonight, we would meet again just onto the Birmingham and Fazeley canal. I  just cleared bridge77, Watling St. bridge, slipped into reverse to moor and immediately picked up a car tyre on the prop, luckily as soon as I put it forward thankfully it flicked off, that is when I identified it, but it sunk before I could remove it. Diana was soon back and we were off again. We passed this boat with an interesting tiller arrangement, I have seen it before but this is the first time I have got a photo of it.

We met a couple of boats on our way to Curdworth Bottom Lock and when we arrived the lock was almost empty, just a bit of draining to do. This was the last lock we were doing today as we planned to moor on the bollards by the entrance to the water park, here we met another boat coming down the flight. These moorings are ideal for a BBQ with bollards, room for two boats and a flat concrete surface to stand the barby on.

Today's Journey 7 miles, 3 locks in 3½ hours.

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Home Moorings

 The pub was quite busy and noisy until about 9pm last night, after that there were just a few people sitting out enjoying a drink. I don't think I would want to be near a pub tonight.

This morning we pulled the boat back to the water point to fill up while we had breakfast and then at about twenty to ten  when the tank was full we fired up and moved off, Diana walking the bows round as we winded in the junction of the Birmingham and Fazeley canal. A steady uneventful run back to the marina but quite busy with boats coming and going up the Glascote locks continuously, once at the marina and I reversed in wonderfully, so the place must have been deserted with no one watching. Our biggest problem was leaving the marina, I couldn't open the sliding electric gate to get out. Its not the first I have had this problem, this time a very pregnant young lady rescued my opening the gate for me with her app.

Today's Journey 3.8 miles, 2 locks in 1¾ hours 

This was our total trip for the weekend.

Fazeley Junction

 We have never moored to the north of Polesworth before, we have always moored the other side. On of the reasons for coming here other than testing the engine was to get an Indian Takeaway from Ratna  which was its normal quality and finished for lunch today. 
I quiet mooring but very warm, we had the back doors open all night, we couldn't have the slide back as it kept drizzling. This morning the weather was looking very good and we set off at 10-30am. meeting several boats as we slowly chugged towards Fazeley. At Pooley I spotted through the hedge behind the towpath a group out on their Segways, not going down the tow path, they then crossed the bridge to Pooley Park. Would they be a gaggle or a heard of Segways.

We carried on to the top of Glascote Locks where a single hander had just emptied the top lock and was walking back to fetch his boat, so as he was by himself we worked him up, there was already a second boat coming up the bottom lock. As we dropped down the top lock another boat turned the bottom lock to come up, which meant we had to wait while they locked up before we could go down, they didn't gain anything as they had to wait in the middle pound as the boat ahead was not the fastest and weren't even half way up when we entered the bottom lock. We went just passed the junction and moored opposite the pub, which is heaving with people there all afternoon sitting outside drinking.

Todays Journey 5½ miles, 2 locks in 2¾ hours.

Polesworth

 We came back to the boat today so that I could fit cooling water pump to the engine, last trip I noticed that the pulley wobbled and on closer examination you could see where water had been leaking from it. or the amount of play I expected a bigger leak. I set to refitting it straight after lunch, thankfully I left sufficient room between the front of the engine and the bulkhead to be able to remove and refit it, just.
It was  all back together by 3pm. filled with coolant and the engine run to check for leaks, it all looked good so out for a test run. Until now we had been enjoying warm sun shine but as soon as we left the marina it clouded over and was soon raining. We went as far as the winding hole Bradley Green, where it was really raining and needed the waterproofs on and then returned to Polesworth to moor for the night. Its the busiest we have seen the moorings here since pre lockdown one. 
As we brought minimum food with us as if I had have had problems with the pump then the engine would have been unavailable for battery recharging, so no fridge. The result of this was we had to suffer another tasty takeaway from Ratna.

 Today's Journey 7½ miles, no locks in 2½ hours