This is becoming a habit, walking to the sound of rain. Some of the boats must have been away about 8-30AM as we were one of the last to leave being moored on the inside of two other boats and we were off at 9-30 AM.
The offside corner of Leys Junction is sliding into the canal and looks to be back to the building wall. I wonder if the owners know?
When I see buildings like this I often wonder what is in the overhang part they have gone to so much trouble to create.
Brettell Lane Bridge is part new and part old, the old section is quite low, one of the lowest we pass through, it may even be as low as the entrance to Hawne Basin but wider.
The towpath is quite a duck as well, you would be pushed to ride a bike under there or even jog.
Just prior to the Delph flight of locks behind the towpath on the edge of some new housing is this anvil on a plinth, I have no idea if its a real anvil or a hollow imitation.
It was here that we caught up with the others with still about 5 boat ahead of us waiting, a Phil, one of them was not only single handing but had just broken his alternator belt, this limited his engine running as it also drive the water pump. It was 2 hours before we left the top lock. There was one Volockie on duty who had been there yesterday and by the time we got to the top he looked warn out. This Heron or Harnser kindly posed for us as we worked our way up.
When we arrived at Merry Hills where we had moored on Friday night a small group were moored up supervising Phil fitting a new belt. A little further on opposite the pubs etc. Atlas and Malus were moored up. I am not sure if that was their destination for the night or they were having a lunch break.
We decided to carry on to Windmill End for the night so wished them all farewell
At Blowers Green Lock we found a top and bottom paddle wide open, CRT were letting water down to replace what we had all used coming up Delph, it was bit of a bonus as the lock was almost empty. When we came down this lock on Friday we saw a chap wearing a hivis jacket litter picking, it had the same symbol on the back as on this waste bin.
Over the years I have seen Dexion used for many things but I have never seen a fire escape made from it before, maybe that is why it has barrier tape and do not use, on it
A little further on and we met the Dudley Tunnel Trust trip boat full of people, they took our photo and we took theirs.
Along this part of the canal there are lots metal interpretation boards, it looks as if they have all been given a fresh coat of paint since last time we were this way. This one depicting the chain and anchor works that use to be so prevalent in this part of the Black Country
As we approached our overnight mooring we passed this one by The Fox and Goose Bridge, the area is known as The Bumble Hole
I have wittered on far too long for today, we only covered 5 miles, the same ones we did over the past two days.
Today’s Journey
5 miles, 9 locks in 5 hours
No comments:
Post a Comment