Bentley Arm

Well they say what a difference a day makes, last night the pressure started rising, the temperature overnight dropped to
–3.5°C we woke up to frost everywhere and bright sunshine, today its been well up in double figures but turned chilly this afternoon when the clouds blocked the sun out.
We said our farewells and headed off a bit later than normal past Windmill end and through Netherton Tunnel, her are the hanging brambles I trimmed back the other day, they still look low but are well above head height. 

After leaving the tunnel you come to the Tividale Aqueduct, this has two arches with a toll island in the middle, looking through I could see a fishing match the far side and the first fisherman was by the cottages, decision, which arch to go through, I picked the left and gently headed for the centre of the canal once through. They were a merry bunch enjoying a morning in the sunshine, only one a bit grumpy like they often are.

Down at Dudley Port Junction we turned left along the Main New Line, passing Caggy’s yard I spotted a weed cutter moored up, lets hope its put to work this year.

When we came down a couple of days ago the water was crystal clear, today it was cloudy so I wasn’t able to spot the sunken boat, unless its already been removed. Factory locks were with us and dry walled, we were probably the last to use them when we came down, in the middle lock we shared with a Coot, I didn’t see it as we entered the lock, it wasn’t until Diana started filling that I spotted it by the bows, I finally swam along the side of the boat and had the rest of the trip behind our stern.

We carried on along the Wolverhampton Level through Coseley Tunnel which was quite wet at the

far end, again I trimmed the brambles that were hanging low enough to catch peoples faces. A steady run to Horseley Field Junction where I made a right cock of swinging in, A chap standing by the bridge kindle pushed my bows round as my stern and prop were in sunken branches. The wall opposite the junction is collapsing and of course the bricks are falling into the cut. I managed to negotiate the narrow gauging lock at the end of the Wyrley and Essington canal without fouling the prop, that’s unusual for me, its normally full of crap. We carried on to our mooring for the night, the Bentley Arm by the Nickelodeon pub, but I don’t think we will be visiting there tonight.

Todays Journey

10¼ miles, 3 locks in 3¾ hours