Brewood Park Farm Saturday 17 September

Last nights mooring was secure but it certainly wasn’t peaceful with the sound of the city and boy racers on the ring road. As I said our mooring was very secure with only water access to it.

We picked just the wrong time to leave, the Wolverhampton flight of 21 locks start just 5 minutes from where we moored and as we arrived at the top lock a hire boat was just going out the bottom so we followed them all the way. We did meet some boats coming up, but it didn’t help much as we ended up waiting for them to come into the lock ahead each time, so it took us about 2¾ hours to do the flight. Last time I was this way I asked for information on this strange piece of brickwork at lock 17 and was told it was the remains of an old accommodation bridge, now replaced with the metal footbridge. Lock number one, the bottom lock has the paddles turned through 90° for some reason. Every paddle on this flight is fitted with an anti vandal lock to prevent unauthorised opening of the paddles and draining/flooding the flight, it has happened in the past. Every single one of the 84 locks worked well, a most unusual result.

At the bottom of the flight is Aldersley Junction, the junction with the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal. here we turned sharp right for about ½ mile before turning sharp left at Autherley Junction on the Shropshire Union Canal. Just through the junction is a stop lock that drops the canal level by about 4” , again like most other stop locks this is to prevent water loss from one company to their neighbour. Diana nipped into the local boat hire base  shop and bought a new Anti vandal key as hers is getting worn.

A short way along the canal we passed under the new number 4 bridge, the remains of the old on are about 100 feet away and of course they are not in line. I bet that can be fun for a full length boat.

A little further on we pass under the M5 Motorway again, but unlike the day before yesterday this time it is a right angles with the canal.

We carried on for about another mile before mooring for the night at the 48 hr moorings at Brewood Park farm. The reason for using the visitor moorings is that on this canal the edges sloop, in lots of place you are aground and still 18” from the bank, here there are mooring rings and a reasonable depth of water right to the edge.

Today’s Journey  5½ miles, 22 locks, 2 junctions, 3 canals in 4¾ hours

Birmingham Thursday 15 September 2016

After all the humid weather today started off a bit thick and was still misty when we set off. The weather forecast said due to the high humidity and that it would get very hot later we could have thunder. It didn’t get hot and we didn’t have thunder. 

There wasn't a breath of wind and a spider had spun some very smart cobwebs on our anemometer, it surprising how strong they are as even when we were moving the web stopped them turning until the breeze picked up.

When we arrived at Hockley Heath drawbridge we found a hire boat tied up on the bridge moorings, I think they had been there all night as the ladies were still in dressing gowns. Once we lifted the bridge they asked us to leave it up for him. This bridge is hydraulic and the hand pump is on the off side so if we left it up it would be like it until someone crossed by boat to lower it, so I replied they could come through now or Diana would lower it as someone may want to cross the canal. So he followed me through and moored just ahead of us.

We  passed the Wharf Tavern with its adjacent arm, you would think people would want to make more use of these.
It was midday before the sun finally managed to break through and warm things up a bit. As you can see that this is also where the cycle speed track has been laid all the way to Birmingham.
We didn't manage to stop any cars at Shirley lift bridge but 4 arrived between me passing under the bridge and Diana lifting the barriers, there were also 4 bikes in the queue, do they count? Where the towpath is not tar and pea shingle it brick weave and by bridge 5 they were raking the joints of weeds and pressure washing it. 

Lyons boatyard now have a nice cantilevered cover to work on boats under. Its not a real person by the welding cylinders but a dummy in protective clothing, maybe boaters slow down when they see him?   
Brandwood tunnel is not very long and nice and dry which makes a change from getting water down your neck. There are two niches in the south portal very similar to the ones in Sapperton Tunnel but not so big, I wonder what use to stand in there, a bust of the Engineer perhaps? The centre stone is completely eroded on the south portal but on the northern end there is still a bust in relief stone work.
The guillotined stop lock was displaying its normal amount of Graffiti, in the back of my mind I have a feeling one of the gates was moved when they rebuilt the road bridge, but I can't find any reference to it. The lock was built not to change the level of the water, but to stop one canal Companies water flowing through to another. Canal water was highly prized in those day, today they just switch on another electric pump.

At Kings Norton junction we turned right on the Birmingham and Worcester canal and headed towards Birmingham. There were no boats at all moored at the Bournville secure mooring which is most unusual, but there were a couple just after it. The notice against the bollards on the towpath side suggest you use the secure moorings for overnight, we did think about stopping there but the trains run late and start early.

A long section of the towpath is closed because they are excavating beside bridge 82 and by the look of it also piling the bank. They had a small digger on the towpath and a hopper and tug moored in front of the works. A little further on they had a large machine on two flats joined together, this was moored by the University where the hydrogen boat is normally moored. We continued into town. There was a mooring near the services at The Mailbox but it's bit of a wind tunnel so we went round to try the back of the Sea Life Centre, but that was full. I could see one place down towards Farmers Bridge so we reversed down there only to find reserved notices on the bollards for Birmingham's heritage week. Nb. Swift would be moored here and the Antiques boat just ahead of her. There was already a boat moored where the antique boat should be  he said they weren't using the moorings overnight, we will see what time they turn up in the morning.

On our travels today we met friends on two boats coming towards us, one we hadn't seen for about 5 years, so we had to stop and catch up.

Today’s Journey 

16 miles in 7 hours

Hockley Heath Wednesday 14 September 2016

After last nights rain we set off at at about 9 40 am.to a fine day but with thunder forecast for later, which never materialised. A boat that we had not seen for some time was moored at the MWYC. That is the Mid Warwickshire Yacht Club, I didn’t see many yachts moored there but there was the Fibre boat, this is not painted but printed vinyl film.

Shrewley tunnel was dry for the first half and then very wet for the remainder.Well we have had a lot of rain in the last 18 hours.  You can see the sun coming in behind us, boater coming towards the tunnel in the opposite direction where having to shield their eyes.

The old wooden hotel pair are still floating, just. I understand one had gone right under last week and a chap was seen bailing her out. Old wooden boats need lots. los of time, enthusiasm, skill and finally money. If they are not all available in the right measure then it ends in tears.  I think they are Mable and Forget Me Not, but they have been there so long I am not sure.

The smallholding at Tom O Wood now has even more goats than last time we were this way. Just the other side of the bridge we stopped for water, although there has been a tap there for some time, for quite a few years it didn’t have any water in it.

We arrived at Kingswood junction at 11-30 and turned hard left through to the Stratford canal and then right to go up the North Stratford Canal towards Birmingham. The finger post was supplied and is maintained by the Inland Waterways Association (IWA) I don’t know if they also supplied the one at the other end of the short link channel? 

It had the makings of a good run up the Lapworth flight of 21 locks, meeting boats in the first 4 locks and then most were with us, but it went pare shaped before the end.

There are new houses being built beside the 48 hr. Moorings below lock 14. I wonder if the visitor moorings will remain.   As we made our way up there was a boat following us, they were well crewed and setting well ahead, the lock wheeler (chap setting the locks read for the boat) was only one lock behind us at times. I don’t like being chased or holding people up so we decided to stop for lunch below lock 5 and let them pass. Turned out this was not only unnecessary but also a big mistake, it was some time before they passed us, so not as close as we had thought and if we had stayed ahead we would probably been in Birmingham 2 hours earlier than we were.

The lunch stop is where  it started going wrong. I tried to fired up the lap top computer and nothing, not a flicker on the screen, only the blue power light came on and it stayed like that for 2 days, hence the lack of blogs.
After lunch we set off and met a boat coming out of lock 5, looking good we thought and another boat behind them. As we passed they told us that lock 4 had "dropped a paddle" when we arrived the near side paddle rack was out but not a problem as we were going up. Wrong, we couldn't fill the lock, the bottom paddle wasn't dropped it was right out of its guide, so we emptied the lock again and fitted the rack back into the winding  gear, me lifting from below. Then the paddle came into view, not dropped but out of its rack, so we are going nowhere fast.
Once we could see the problem I rang CRT who had already had it reported and someone was on their way. Two CRT operatives where soon on the scene looking at it, another chap was coming to fix it. I backed out of the lock and down the next one so they could drain the lock to get to it. I then "assisted" them to disconnect the rack from the rod ready to put it back in the runners. Once the lock was drained it was obvious how it had come out, the frame holding the runners was hanging down at an angle.
Once the third chap arrived he was in there with his dry suit refitting the runners with the aid of some 6” nails, so I am not sure how long the “repair” will last. A couple of coach bolts and large washers would have been better than clenched over 6” nails in my opinion.  The paddle was run back into its guides and the rod reconnected to the rack. Once this was done they started refilling the pound, luckily it's only a short one. I went Down and put Harnser into the lock 5 and let the lock fill as the pound level came up. Once I felt there was enough to water I opened the top gate and made my way up the pound. I left lock 5 for the second time today some 2 hours after I rand CRT to report the problem, so it was quite a fast response. As I reached the lock 4 they dropped the top paddles so that I could enter and we were away. One of the CRT operatives walked up the flight letting a bit more water down and opening the gates for us.
We continued on to  opposite Swallow Cruisers were we moored for the night at about quarter to six and as the weather was so good we had a BBQ, probably the last for this year. The IWA had even thoughtfully provided a table and chairs for us to sit on.

    

I do wonder if they intended to spell Welcome like that, carved into the back of the seat in the far left photograph.

Today’s Journey   
7 miles, 20 locks a funny junction, 2 canals in 5½ hours

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Wolverhampton Friday 16 September 2016

In case you are wondering why there has been an absence of Blogs, a couple of days ago I switched on the laptop and all that happened was the power on light illuminated. Tried several times and the same thing happened, Got it out this afternoon and it worked again, so here we go. I will post the two missing blogs when I can.

Last night it was such a nice evening that we ate outside at Strada, a canal side Italian restaurant. It felt as if we where in the Mediterranean, but there was no mistaking where we where this morning.

As we were moored on a reserved mooring overnight we were about early and on our way before there was any sign of Swift. We started off the same time as the rain started, half eight. There had been a few boats moving around but it was pretty quiet when we left to go up the Old Main Line.

There were several routs we could follow to get to the Wolverhampton Level but all involve climbing three locks. The most direct route would bee follow the New Mainline all the way but we had heard that the locks at the end were closed. The final decision on route would be down to the weather. As we approached Smethwick Junction the rain stopped so we decided to leave the New Mainline there, turn right and go up the three Smethwick Locks to join the Old Main Line.
At the top of the locks is a restored Toll booth, its been restored several times but the local louts find it too much of a temptation and as you can see have burnt the roof off. 

The windows were bricked up and imitation frames fitted with nice drawings behind them after the last time it was vandalised. 

The Old Mainline is quite twisty threading in and out under the M5 motorway, in places the canal had to be rerouted slightly to accommodate the motorway legs, it is much quieter travelling under the motorway than beside it.

Once clear of the motorway we soon found the canal had a large coverage of Waterlilies, if they all flowered this year it must have been quite a sight, they are well over now. In the Birmingham area nearly every bridge has a door in it for the fire brigade to lower their fire hoses into the canal to collect water, this one had a roller mounted by the base of it to make life easier for them.

As we passed through Tipton it was obvious that something was happening this weekend, the canal was lined with trading boats, everything from doggy  and pirate accessories to sweets and home brewed beer, There were also marquees being erected on both banks. Full details HERE. Passing through Tipton the canal water is gin clear, the first we have seen on the BCN this trip.

Just after this we come to Factory Junction, to our right were Factory Locks, the ones we would have come up if we had stayed on the New Mainline, but we were now turning left along the Wolverhampton level, soon we would do through Coseley Tunnel, this was quite dry for boaters but if you were on the towpath you would get wet. It is one of the tunnels that the Trust now allow unpowered boats and canoes to use. At this point I am pleased to say the sun was coming out. We carried on only stopping to remove the polly ( that is like in bags, not parrots)  that was wrapped around my prop. A hire boater who was going very slowly kindly pulled over and waved me past, putting himself aground in the process, which didn’t seam to bother him at all.
Due to our early start we were in Wolverhampton by 2 pm so we decided to fill with water before mooring up, the water point is in Broad Street Basin, the door you can see to the left of our bows is an old warehouse where boats would go in below and their cargo hoisted to the upper floors all undercover.  The basin is over a 90° turn from the direction we were travelling but at our length the turn is not to bad, a lot trickier with a full length boat. Once topped up with water we reversed back out and up the canal to moor on the towpath for the afternoon so that Diana could wander into town. When she returned about 5 pm we moved to the other side of the canal where there is a landing with mooring rings, but there is no access to the outside world with the road being about 20 feet above us.

Today’s Journey  14½ miles, 3 locks several junctions in 5¾ hours

Hatton Tuesday 13 September 2016

We were in bed by 10 last night so were about a bit earlier this morning. Even with the light rain we still had a reasonable sunset last night.

This morning started bright and warm with no wind. We needed to get a few things in Leamington Spa and luckily both Jewson and Morrison’s are close to the canal. I had just moored up and this was the sight ahead of me. As you can see her bow is right out of the water. For the life of me I can’t remember her name. 
          ( I have just been told its Collingwood)
Shopping done and we pushed on, much to our surprise there was only one hire boat moored outside Tesco and a CRT boat a bit further forward. Most unusual. We had just cleared the bend and bridge passed Tesco and this pair were coming towards me in the next bridge hole. Thankfully a nice wide section to hold back in. The butty was an old BCN boat .

We stopped for lunch between the Saltisford Arm and the bottom of Hatton flight. Our original plan had been to stop here overnight and hit the flight of 21 Hatton Locks in the morning, however while we were having lunch it clouded over a bit so we decided to push on and it was a good decision.  As we untied we met a boat and when we arrived at the bottom lock another pair where almost down. Above the lock 2 more waiting boats and above the next lock yet another was coming towards us. The whole flight was with us except for one lock that had filled. It was lock 36 when we met another boat coming down, he had been assisted by a Volocky who then walked back to the CRT offices opening the bottom gate of each lock as he went. We met another boat at lock 42 plus one at Lock 43, after that for some reason the locks where against us to the top.

CRT have fitted boards in the void between the lock beam and the top of the gate on the bottom gates to stop boats hanging up on their front fenders, as you can see some of these have been hit quite hard.

Just as we left the top lock I heard a rumble of thunder and the sky’s started to darken, I decided that once passed the trees we would moor up, The thunder got worse and then the lightning. We had just reached the winding hole when it started to rain, so I reversed back and moored up, I was just putting the stern rope on when there was a flash and almost instantaneously a loud crash, I almost jumped into the air. Within seconds it really started to rain, so proper tying up was left and I scuttled inside. This was the view out of the back door.  In half an hour we had  6 mm of rain followed by more sunshine.

The Hatton flight of 21 locks had taken us 2 hours 50 minutes.

Today’s Journey  7¾ Miles, 23 locks in 5½ hours