Birmingham Thursday 31 October 2019

Day : Thursday
Date : 31 October 2019
Start : 1000 hrs
Finish : 1330 hrs Cambrian Basin, Birmingham

Last nights moorings were fine, there was no one passing the boat overnight at all, the only downside was the noise from the fans from the unit beside lock 9, but as that was a constant noise it didn't disturb us overnight.

We set off at 10am this morning, just as someone was starting to turn lock 9 behind us but we were going up in lock 10 before they cleared it, had they have been in Lock 9 I would have waited for them to pass. They didn't lose anything by it as we drew the bottom paddle on every lock of the flight, so they were all empty for them. I must say the sky line of Birmingham is constantly evolving.

When I posted yesterday about lock 10 being unique on the flight with a cantilevered foot bridge I was wrong, there is another further up. Likewise one of the Farmers Bridge flight of locks has the bottom gate hung on the off side, I think its again lock 10.

We made our way up the Farmers Bridge flight with all the locks against us. I was surprised that this photograph welcoming us to Birmingham came out as well as it did.

I have taken several shots of the student accommodation to try and capture the art work on it, I think this is probably the best one.

By now a crew member from the boat following was in sight, I wasn't even sure they were coming this way so we started back setting. about half way up we met a Volockie, we told him there was a boat following so when we left the lock he closed up and drew the bottom paddle, unfortunately he didn't do that on any of the other locks and as Diana was setting ahead there wasn't much we could do about it. He did go back and help them up once we reached the top.
CRT have another large bill ahead of them at Saturday Bridge where the bottom of the wall retaining the Parade has given way allowing the pavement to drop and half the road to be closed.

We filled with water at the top of the flight before heading to the Oozells Loop to moor for the night, however as we crossed Deep Cutting Junction we could see all the moorings were taken, so we reversed back across the junction (just as the water bus was coming) and back down the B&F into Cambrian Basin for the night.
Once moored up we walked down to Fleet Street, only a few minutes away to visit The Coffin Works museum for an hour. The do conducted tours on the hour and use to make coffin furniture and shrouds but not coffins.

Today's Journey5 Miles 21 Locks in 3¼ hours.

IMPORTANT NOTICE All of the above is my personal opinion and does not represent those of any official body or notices. All comments made to this blog are checked before being accepted. Comments made anonymously are accepted but if you leave name I could say thanks.

Aston Locks Wednesday 30 October 2019

Day : Wednesday
Date : 30 October 2019
Start : 1030
Finish : 1500hrs Aston Business Village

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Last night in the Cuttle Bridge Inn was good, both quality and value, they offer two for one on main course meals, so you get the cheapest one free. Not the best deal for us as I went expensive and Diana went cheap. The wine deals looked good as well on selected wines.

This morning we were away at 1030am, the plan, was a short day to Star City, but that changed. We passed a very small fishing match just beyond the first bridge and were soon at the Minworth locks. For anyone coming this way the Elsan disposal is out of order at Minworth top lock.
Half of the old Cincinnati works is now housing, one of the houses have done the garden down to the waters edge, I was rather taken by the bus stop.

By the Tyburn House there was a squeaking noise as a bike joined the towpath, maybe the police don't service their bikes or issue their officers with helmets. We would see him again a short way down the canal near this pile of fly tipping, I photographed it to report it but then spotted him standing by the road, so I checked and he was getting it sorted.

I turned slowly into the GU at Salford Junction and by the time I got round there was a hire boat on the aqueduct waiting to come out, the girl steering was doing a good job and she held well back for me to get round. We have seen quite a few hire boats over the past 2 days, far more than private boats. Its not far to Star City, our planned destination, from the junction and we were soon tied up. It was then that I noticed the Ipad had not been logging our journey on Motion X. finger trouble on my part, but it had taken us 2½ hours. As we sat eating lunch we discussed what to do next, it was a lovely day and only 1pm. If we carried on up the flight it would take several hours to find somewhere pleasant to moor for the night, it seemed to early to call it a day, so after lunch we reversed back down to Salford Junction to head up the Aston flight. The yard opposite the junction have now put car tyres all the way along their frontage to try to stop boats damaging the edge as they fail to make the turn.

Heading up the Aston flight we passed the only lock with a bridge across its tail, there is a gap under the towpath end for the towrope to pass, not only that but the bottom gate is hung on the offside, also unique on this flight, however you can see that when the lock was built it was intended to hang it on the towpath side like all the rest.

We moored after doing three locks outside the Aston Business Village, we have never used these moorings before but there are nice rings, wrong spacing for us, all away along this frontage. There are also a pair of locks that we will never pass through. The best bit is the "Deep water" notice, its about a foot deep, the other side of the towpath is the canal which, thankfully is a bit deeper.

I made sure that Motion X recorded the second half of our travels so the part map is below.

Today's Journey6¾ Miles 6 Locks in 3¾ hours.

Note:
All of the above is my personal opinion and does not represent those of any official body or notices.

Wiggin Hill Bridge Tuesday 29 October 2019

Day : Tuesday
Date : 29 October 2019
Start : 1115
Finish : 1545 Cuttle Bridge inn

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Looked out of the side hatch this morning and the grass was white but the sun soon got shot of that. One job to take care of before we set off was to change the LEDs in one of the galley lights, I converted them all to LED last trip but didn't have enough cool white LEDs so fitted a couple of warm white ones and they didn't look right with the others.

We set off at 1115hrs heading straight up the Curdworth locks, you can see how blue the sky was from this shot across the lakes.

Things didn't go quite right at the second lock. We have a system for doing flights, Diana set the lock and I bring the boat in, she shuts up and we both draw the top paddles, she then wanders off to set the next lock ready, while I finish this one, bring the boat out and close up. The last bit was the problem, I shopped the boat in the mouth of the lock, closed the lock but the boat just drifted out of reach, all I could do was stand and look. As you can see from this photo before I left the lock there wasn't a breath of wind. At one point it was very slowly heading for the towpath but then started to go the other way. The only thing I could do was draw the paddles on the lock, luckily the flow made the stern swing towards the towpath and I was just able to leap back aboard. When I got to the next lock Diana wanted to know what had taken me so long. It was here that we met a boat coming down, this helped but even so the locks still needed draining when we arrived. We met another boat at lock 4, Diana saw him coming so raised a paddle for him and waved that we were coming up, he still closed up lock 3 when he left. We stopped at the top of the flight for lunch when several more boats came by heading down the flight. The bump on the offside wall at the exit to Curdworth Tunnel is getting smaller, slowly being carved away by the handrails of boats. We stopped just clear of the tunnel so that Diana could go to the post office store, as we had just about run out of tea bags. Once back onboard we headed to the Cuttle Bridge Inn, I am not sure why they decided to rename it that. Looking out of the bow doors the sun as going down behind Wiggins Hill Bridge, I wonder if they will rename it Cuttle Bridge in years to come.

Today's Journey4¼ Miles 11 Locks in 3 hours.

Note:
All of the above is my personal opinion and does not represent those of any official body or notices.

Curdworth Bottom, Monday 28 October 2019

Day : Monday
Date : 28 October 2019
Start : 1130
Finish : 1515 Curdworth bottom lock

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We woke to thick fog and the temperature had been down to around freezing so I was very glad I didn't have to drive to work this morning. It wasn't long before the sun was burning it off, this was the view from the back doors at about 9 am.

First job today was to fit the door knobs and drawer fronts, needless to say the pre drilled drawer fronts didn't line up with our drawer fixing points so had to be marked out and re-drilled, but it all worked out OK.

1130 Am saw us backing out of our berth and up the marina to wind, before heading along the canal towards Fazeley Junction, there was no wind and it felt very pleasant. At Amington I spotted this chap, could be a lady laying in the grass on the offside bank, so stopped and reversed up to take this photo.

A little further on was the ex hotel boat, Snipe with a rather interesting chimney cover, I do hope they don't forget to remove it before lighting the fire. Shortly after that was the tyre boat with all his decorations made from tyres, well not all, as he also has a fine collection of animal skeletons strewn about as well as a full size skeleton pirate on the rear deck.

We stopped for a bit of lunch just before Glascote top lock, while we were there 2 boats came up the flight and three passed us heading down, one stopped for water and helped everyone else down the flight while his tank was filling. It may have been easier if there weren't two boats moored on the lock bollards.

At Fazeley junction it was sharp left up the Birmingham and Fazeley canal, we saw a couple of Kingfishers up here skimming along ahead of us, before going high in the air to return back the way they came. We moored for the night between the winding hole and Curdworth bottom lock, since we have been here a hire boat has gone up and left the top paddle up, so I walked up and dropped it, in the morning we will find out if they have done that all the way up.

Today's Journey7¼ Miles 2 Locks in 3 hours.

Note:
All of the above is my personal opinion and does not represent those of any official body or notices.

Alvecote Sunday 27 October 2019

Day : Sunday
Date : 27 October 2019
Start : 1040
Finish : 1540 back in the marina

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Well last night we spent just over £25 for a Chinese Takeaway for 2, mistake, It did dinner last night, dinner tonight and a light lunch as well, enough to feed 5 people and all very nice.

The clocks changing was a real bonus and we made good use of the extra hour this morning, it was even better with the spring like day. We didn't go far, less than an hour and moored opposite the Samuel Barlow pub as I had some work to do. we had a few electrical faults to sort out. Unfortunately access to the back of the electrical panel is not as easy as it was 20 years ago so it involved a bit of pulling about which is why I have put it off until now.

You may remember about May time the Stirling Battery monitor lost its grey smoke, well that still needed a couple of signal wires removing before it could be binned, it had a hole big enough to put your little finger in burnt in the top, the reason looks to have been a nut and bolt on a heat sink coming undone and falling in the works. Then back in July the "Ignition" switch had the barrel fall out, I have been switching on and off with a screwdriver since then and flashing a wire to energise the starter, so that was replaced. Years ago I had a remote fault buzzer fed from the engine panel, that popped the diode where the oil pressure switch feeds the buzzed, so new diode fitted.

Then the fun began, The oil pressure warning light fused about 6 months ago, I put a new bulb in but it still didn't work, with my head and meter at the back of the panel I unscrewed the bulb, except I unscrewed the alternator warning light, put it back and that didn't work. The fittings are crap, a thin centre stem to touch the end of the bulb and a coil spring to give the return, just touching a contact right in the back, except it wasn't, spent a long time poking around with a small screwdriver and eventually the alternator lamp worked again, without it the alternator didn't energise. With that success it was on to the oil pressure lamp, that now works as well. I don't know if the temperature one works or not???

So that was the electrical tasks out of the way, put the engine room back together and chugged back into out berth to fill with water and unload new galley cupboard doors from the car. Fitted 7 of them and then found the two for the overhead cupboards are the wrong size, it looks as if they are pad drawer fronts and of course B&Q don't have any. I still have two cutlery drawer fronts to fit and all the knobs but that is a daylight job.

Today's Journey2¼ Miles 0 Locks in 52 minutes.

Note:
All of the above is my personal opinion and does not represent those of any official body or notices.

Saturday 26 October 2019 Polesworth

Day : Saturday
Date : 26 October 2019
Start : 1500
Finish : 1715 Polesworth

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Not a bad run to the boat, The A14 was solid by the M11 junction but Tomtom took us via Papworth to avoid the hold-ups. We set off in nice weather but as we travelled North west it got cooler and wetter.

At the marina the water was very high, the chap next door said he had loosened the ropes on some boats. Needless to say we parked in someone else's spot to unload but he just had to wait. Once the boat was loaded with clothes and food we decided to go for a cruise to warm things up even though it was still raining.

Leaving the marina we headed south knowing that there was a winding hole just before the Atherstone lock flight about an hour and a half away.

Just south of Polesworth there is a spill weir on the towpath side, this is paved to form a walkway for the horses and is normally dry, today it was under a couple of inches of water.

We carried on south and just before the winding hole the off side field was well flooded wit the railway in the distance. This field is a bit higher than the canal and the water is running off into the canal at the point of the winding hole quite fast. First attempt I under estimated the flow and it caught my bow and just swung me straight back out so I went round tighter, 90° was no problem but the last bit took some effort, not helped by the boat moored alongside the no mooring sign so I couldn't run back too far. Once round we headed back to Polesworth for the night, this turned out to be the best part of the day, a bit cooler but with a clear bright sky, no rain and no wind.

Today's Journey7 Miles 0 Locks in 2¼ hours

Note:
All of the above is my personal opinion and does not represent those of any official body or notices.

Alvecote Wednesday 9 October 2019

Day : Wednesday
Date : 9 October 2019
Start : 1020
Finish : 1530 Alvecote

IMPORTANT NOTICE All comments made to this blog are checked before being accepted. Comments made anonymously are accepted but if you leave even just your first name I could say thanks.

The trains weren't too bad overnight but there was no way we were going to sleep late this morning. The morning started quite good with some sun shine, but it didn't last. Long before we reached Hopwas Wood we could hear gun fire from the Army training ground. As we passed through the wooded area we came across a bunch of canoeists taking a break on the edge of the canal, there were 6 canoes in all.

Almost opposite The Tame Otter one of the gardens has a small tree with loads of wind chimes hanging in the branches.

At Fazeley junction we made a short detour to Fazeley Mill Marina as last time we were this way their diesel was only 76p and I am pleased to say it still is. Our timing was not the best as they had just closed for lunch so we had to wait an hour to be served. While we were there another boat arrived with a South African girl at the helm showing how well she could handle her boat which was quite new to her. There was a boat ahead at the only two locks we did today, Glascote, so they were both against us. Later we passed a boat I had photographed last time we were in this area but now it has a rather elegant parrot made from an old tyre hanging from its tiller.

From here it was not far to our new mooring at Alvecote, unfortunately we didn't know which berth we were in so we hd to wait for the manager to return, there was also the small matter of paying for it. Any way we are now all tucked up and this evening it was just a very short walk to The Samuel Barlow for dinner.

This trip we have done 145 miles, 87 locks in 67 hours

Today's Journey 12 Miles 2 Locks in 4½ hours

Note:
All of the above is my personal opinion and does not represent those of any official body or notices.

Huddlesford Junction Tuesday 8 October 2019

Day : Tuesday
Date : 8 October 2018
Start : 1000
Finish : 1350 Huddlesford Junction

IMPORTANT NOTICE All comments made to this blog are checked before being accepted. Comments made anonymously are accepted but if you leave even just your first name I could say thanks.

We both had very good meals last night in The Plum Pudding but it should be noted that their specials board is only available Wednesday to Sunday, Monday and Tuesday is the standard menu.

This morning when we got up the sun was shining and we were off at about 10am.

Almost opposite the Plum Pudding there use to be another pub called Spode Cottage, in 2017 it received planning consent to convert it to a 6 bedroom private dwelling, it looks as this work has been carried out because as you can see, it all looks very smart.

It looks as this year has been a good year for fungi from what I

have seen along the canal side, I just wish I could find some sloes.

It wasn't long before we met our first boat, thankfully it was just before bridge 60, as this bridge is just round a 90° bend and before a les sharp one the other side.

At Woods End Lock we caught up with another boat and so were behind him at each of the three locks, so Diana gave him a hand at the first two. Once we were round to Shadehouse Lock there was a steady stream of boats in each direction so one up and one down. It was here that I learnt a new trick on Swan hearding, there were 4 in lock and Geoff a fellow Blogger from nb.Seyella, had the answer is to get behind them and the splash the canal water over them, if you try to just shoo them, they think you are going to feed them.
I think this raft must belong to the boat yard at Fradley Junction, it looks a better job than the small boat they use to use to cross the cut with. The Swan pub was looking rather splendid in the mid day sun shine.

It was here that we turned down the Coventry canal passing through the swing bridge, the boat ahead had stopped for water and kindly closed the bridge for us. CRT never did get round to putting a lock on it. When we got the A38 road bridge CRT had two boats breasted up, I think they were probably volunteers doing vegetation management, anyway the chap by the tiller waved us by as he was able to see in both directions.

On Sunday I posted a photo of Salt Bridge and the fendering that CRT have erected to protect the edge, in my opinion they should have done the same as they have done at Brookhay Bridge with solid fendering right under the bridge.

We carried on to moor for the night at Huddlesford Junction where we found a nice spot with mooring rings

Today's Journey10 Miles 3 Locks in 3¾ hours

Armitage Monday 7 October 2019

Day : Monday
Date : 7 October 2019
Start : 1000
Finish : 1500 Plum Pudding Armitage

IMPORTANT NOTICE All comments made to this blog are checked before being accepted. Comments made anonymously are accepted but if you leave even just your first name I could say thanks.

Just for a change it only rained most of the night off and on and we have had a few showers during the day. The first hour was busy meeting lots of boats, 2 at Colwich Lock. The canal is slightly restricted at the railway bridge above the lock for repairs.

The Trent was quite high all the way down to Rugeley with it just spilling onto the banks in places.

Coming into Rugeley this wee dog was more than happy to stand head and shoulders through the railings to watch the boats go by.

We stopped in Rugeley to do a bit of shopping at Tesco, while Diana was doing that I gave the stern gland packing another slight nip, its dripping slightly faster than I like. Thankfully she wasn't too long but as it was just after mid day we decided to have a bit of lunch before leaving.
On our way again we were only heading to The Plum Pudding at Armitage. We only met one boat during the afternoon and that was Dave who we know just after the bend by The Ashtree Boat Club, I normally meet boat on the bend, but this time it was the straight. We didn't meet anyone in the old tunnel which was handy and have moored right outside the back door of The Plum Pudding. When we arrived it was all shut up, but checking their Facebook page we could see they have changed there opening hours on a Monday and Tuesday to evenings only for food and the bar afternoons and evenings

Today's Journey 7¼ Miles 1 Locks in 3 hours

Note:
All of the above is my personal opinion and does not represent those of any official body or notices.

Shugborough Hall Sunday 6 October 2019

Day : Sunday
Date : 6 October 2019
Start : 1010
Finish : 1450 Shugborough Hall

IMPORTANT NOTICE All comments made to this blog are checked before being accepted. Comments made anonymously are accepted but if you leave even just your first name I could say thanks.

The meal at the Thai restaurant last night was very good, we went for the cheapest set meal for two, last time we had the more expensive one, so didn't want to repeat it. I get lost trying to chose individual dishes from the menu.
Last night tuned out to be not the best of moorings and we were both woken in the early hours by what sounded like a generator and that was after the rain finally stopped.
This morning it was fine when we set off but a coat was soon called for, we waited at most of the locks ether for the boat ahead to go down or in one case for a boat to come up. They were bit of a case, the chap was teaching the girl how to do locks, First he had her close the bottom gates, so Diana suggested it might be a good idea for the boat to come in first, then he had her crank the top gate paddle fully up, this was with the boat in the lock but both bottom gates fully open, I couldn't workout what they were up to leaving the lock but it resulted in the boat leaving the lock and then reversing back in. Interesting to say the least, I am sure the girl will do well with instruction like that.

We passed a field of cows where there was just one Long Horn watching the world go by.

As it started to rain we met two chaps in a canoe coming towards us, it looked like that also had their camping kit onboard, not the nicest of days for it.

I think Salt Bridge must be one of the prettiest brick bridges on the system, unfortunately due to being a semicircle it suffers a lot of strikes to the brick work on the off side. To try and reduce this CRT have just installed what they call fendering to the off side, its actually two chevron boards and wouldn't fender anything because before the hull of a boat touches it the cabin will have hit the brickwork, so basically just a keep left arrow. In my opinion they would have done much better to put a 2 to 3 foot wide fender at water level all the way under the bridge to physically stop boats making contact, but time will tell, the one on the other side is already hidden with foliage.

I can't quite get my head round why a boater would rather use a mooring hook, which normally clanks and rattles when boats go by, to a mooring ring installed by British Waterways specifically for mooring to.

On the offside there is a field with 3 Narrowboats moored, the field often has living wagons or horse drawn carriages in it, as well as a couple of horses and some geese, today there was this very smart Romany stile horse drawn caravan there, I do hope I have described this using the correct terms. It looked quite splendid.

We stopped at Gt. Haywood junction to fill with water and dispose of rubbish, looking over the bridge I spotted a rather iconic Narrowboat Whitfield, you can read more about at https://www.canalboat.co.uk/canal-boats/boat-tests/fernwood-a-a-white-1-2257916

We carried on down through Haywood lock to moor for the night overlooking Shugborough Hall and the flooded fields around the River Trent.

Today's Journey 10 Miles 5 Locks in 4¾ hours

Note:
All of the above is my personal opinion and does not represent those of any official body or notices.