We finally arrive in Birmingham

Soon after setting off on Friday we met the M5.  We hadn’t realised that the motorway runs right over the top of the Old Main Line canal for about ½ mile.

At Oldbury junction the Titford arm runs off to the south.  This was the canal that we were too long for as it is too shallow at the summit to turn round.

We passed over the top of the New Main Line on an aqueduct.

About half way along the M5 section a ‘slip road’ off the New Main Line joined us from a flight of locks.

The rubbish in this section was awful; the worst we have ever seen and we were constantly stopping to remove plastic bags etc. from the propeller.

Ironically we saw our first kingfisher for a week or so in this grotty section.  Also a heron was happily fishing in it.

We passed the Engine Arm branch which runs on an ornate viaduct over the New Main Line.

Three mies from the centre of Birmingham the Old Main Line and the New Main Line merged into one.  We had to descend three locks before the junction.

Reminders regarding the closure in the centre were posted on each balance beam.

This pumping station has been nicely restored at Smethwick.

 

Such a shame that the restored toll house has been so badly vandalised.

On the way into the city we passed numerous old canal arm entrances.

On the way into the centre we also saw our first boats on the move for four days.


There are three loops in the centre, the longest, Soho loop is a mile long.  The other two do not have tow paths.  We will investigate these with my Dad on Monday.  The loops were part of the Old Main Line and were created by the New Main Line cutting through in a straight line.

Contrary to what we were expecting there were plenty of places to moor, although the two popular basins, Cambrain and Gas Street were both full. Here are some shots of the canals in the centre.

We are currently moored just down from the Sea Life centre opposite the indoor arena which is currently hosting the athletics grand prix.

We walked around and investigated all the preparatory work that was being carried out before the leak in the Gas Street aqueduct is fixed.

In the evening we went out for a meal.  It was really odd wearing ordinary shoes; we have been in walking boots for months it seems.

Bumbole Hole, old clothes and bags

On Wednesday we had fancied going on the Titford canal but as it is the highest in the Birmingham area you have to ring CRT first to make sure there is enough water.  They said we could get to the end of it but unfortunately the water is currently too low in the terminus basin for a boat of our length to turn.  So it was back to the map to plan our day.   We decided to head to the current end of Dudley No. 2 canal.  It used to link up with the Worcestershire & Birmingham canal over at Edgbaston but near the end the two mile long Lapal tunnel collapsed in places and is unlikely ever to be restored.

Here is a schematic of the major navigable Birmingham canal navigations (BCN).  Today we covered the right hand green line in the south west of the map.

This is where we were moored on Tuesday evening (Coseley tunnel on the red line on the left side of the map).  We were warned not to moor in these parts of Wolverhampton but we had no issues, in fact it looks rather rural.  When I took Buddy out for his first walk it reminded me of the other thing that he is unaware of each morning.  Not only does he not know where we are, he doesn't remember which side of the boat is tow path side.  It's so funny watching him get up on deck first and then go the wrong way but stop himself before falling off into the water.

 

We got to Factory junction at Tipton Green where the Old Main Line goes off to the south.  

The New Main Line was built in the early 1800s and takes a more direct route into Birmingham than the Old Main Line.  It has many deep cuttings, far fewer locks and is 6 ½ miles shorter.  In several places the Old Main Line crosses the New on an aqueduct.  Also, the two canals run parallel in places with the Old Main line looking down 40 feet to the New.  We will have to investigate these places.

Just after Factory junction we descended three locks.  

After the top lock the bridge was so low that we had to remove the bikes to get through.  The last time we had to do this was at Osney bridge in Oxford.

Karen had read about a boat that had been stolen last week and had been found in Birmingham minus quite a bit of stuff.  It was rescued and temporarily moored here at Craggy’s yard which, coincidently, we went past and it reminded Karen of the story.

This is Dudley Port junction where we turned right down the Netherton branch.

Here is  the Old Main line going over the branch on an Aqueduct.

We then went into the 1 ¾ mile Netherton tunnel which is a nice broad tunnel allowing two way traffic.  We were really pleased that Steve and Amanda bought us a nice new replacement headlight for my 60th - at least we could see where we were going.

 Just after the tunnel we came to a canal crossroads at a place called Bumble Hole.  Dudley No. 1 canal was straight on, Boshboil branch to the right and we turned left onto the Dudley No. 2 canal.

This pump house stands at the junction. It used to pump water out of the coal mines below.  Apparently the seam in this area was 30 feet thick.

We came across another bridge where we had to remove the bikes so we left them in the cratch as we knew we were coming back in a few hours. As it turned out it  was a fortuitous decision. 

We stopped six times today to remove stuff from the propeller.  This sports bag practically stopped us dead.  It’s such a shame that there is so much littering in these areas.  It’s no wonder the children do it as they must see adults throwing away things like beer cans.

Gosty Hill tunnel was only wide enough for one boat and quite low and as you can see here after a while it got lower.

Then it got lower still.  Just as well we didn’t have the bikes on! We have never had to bend over whilst going through a tunnel.

In the days of horse drawn boats there was a steam driven tug that used to take the boats through.  On the left are the remains of the tug house that the tug used to be moored in.

The 2 mile long Lapal tunnel mentioned above was also a narrow canal like this but they used a steam driven pump to send pulses of water through to propel the boats.  Must have been pretty hair raising.

As with yesterday there were many derelict areas.

We turned at Hawne junction in Halesowen which is as far as you can go along the Dudley No.2 canal.  We went back the way we came and moored up after we went back through the Netherton tunnel.  We walked up to the Old Main Line and looked down from the aqueduct to where we are moored for the night.

We have both been amazed that we have not seen a single boat on the move for the two days since we have entered the Birmingham area.

Over dinner I asked Karen how she would like my hair if I had it cut - she said the same colour as it was when she met me! 

Church Eaton (left Birmingham and back on the Shrpopie)

Saturday was a long day for us.  We left Gas Street Basin in the middle of Birmingham, travelled 18 miles and went through 25 locks and ended up on the Shropshire Union in the countryside on the way to Wales.  We had told Kevin and Diane, who were moored alongside us, that we wanted to leave at eight and they said Kevin would be up at that time so no worries.  I went out earlier to get our Saturday paper and walked under the ornate aqueduct that was leaking when we were here in February.  A section of canal was drained to the east of Gas Street Basin for several weeks while the leak was fixed.

The red fire hose doors are helpful for Birmingham canal historians because, although all traces of a canal may be lost on the ground, these doors are a giveaway that there used to be a canal underneath the road.

We were heading north west to Wolverhampton and the first mile from the city centre has many junctions and loops – we explored all of these with my Dad earlier this year but here is a crossroads where the Soho loop (with Winson Green prison on it) is on the left and right is the Icknield Port loop.

This is Smethwick junction where the Wolverhampton level comes in on the right and the Main Line continues straight on.  These two routes run parallel for a couple of miles but the older Wolverhampton level has six locks whereas the Main Line was cut through without the need for locks.  We hadn’t taken the Main Line route before so this was new to us.  


The Engine Arm branch turns of the Wolverhampton level and crosses over the Main Line on this beautiful iron aqueduct.  We are desperate to get a picture of a boat on each level but even though we have been through several of these around the country we have not yet succeeded.

This engine pump house pumps water from the lower level up to the top level.

Galton tunnel is on the Main Line and avoided the need for locks.

Galton road bridge is an amazing structure – it was the highest single span bridge in the world when it was built.  It is now a listed structure and restricted to foot traffic.  I did wonder if the bridge was put in place before the cutting was dug out.

The Wolverhampton level crosses the Main Line here but once again no picture of a boat going over.  The whole structure is rather dwarfed by the M5.

Many canals on the Birmingham Canal Navigations used to have toll houses built on islands in the cut; although the islands remain nearly all the toll houses have disappeared.

This is Bromford junction where we have come down the Main Line on the right (M5 bridge in background) and to the left is a slip road upto the Wolverhampton level.

A mile further on we passed Pudding Green junction where the Wednesbury Old canal heads north to join the Walsall canal and other branches.

We continued along the dead straight Main Line for another two miles and at the end went up the three Factory locks at Tipton Green.  We were now eight miles from the centre of Birmingham.

Coseley tunnel was next and is fairly unusual in that it was built with a towpath on either side.

On the outskirts of Wolverhampton we passed Deepfields junction where the Wednesbury Oak loop heads off to the left in this picture.

The canal gets rather narrow in these parts, quite different to the wide sections in Birmingham.

Wolverhampton has a lot of derelict canal side buildings and we showed these in previous blogs but here is a good example of mixing old and new.

This is a railway-canal interchange site – derelict now but one of the few such sites left in the country.

Entering Wolverhampton is Horseley junction where the Wyrley and Essington canal (the Curly Wurly) goes off to the right.

In the middle of Wolverhampton we hit the top of the infamous Wolverhampton 21 – a flight of 21 locks that is notorious for the trouble caused by locals.  True, the locks are often maliciously opened and the canal drained but we have never run into trouble.  As usual, striking up conversations and showing interest always seems to help.  At one point a youth was showing off by leaping across the lock – not something we would recommend.

We know that pictures of every lock we go through are not of particular interest but it’s the best way for us to keep a record so that’s why we tend to leave them to the end of each entry.  The Wolverhampton 21 are at the bottom of this entry.

We followed our usual routine of Karen getting the next lock ready and I closed up the previous one.  Neither of us felt intimidated at any point which was good.  Although I didn’t fancy using the tunnel to get back up and close the gates after getting the boat out of the lock.

The last lock proved difficult as we couldn’t get the bottom gate opened – perseverance and boat hooks soon sorted it out.

We only had three trips to the weed hatch during the day – far fewer than previous trips here so maybe the regular clean ups are having a good effect.

At the bottom of the Wolverhampton 21 we joined the Staffordshire and Worcestershire canal at Aldersley junction and headed north.

This cheeky heron didn’t move as we went under it.  It must have known that Karen was trying to get a picture of it in flight.

After ½ mile just before the junction onto the Shropshire Union we passed one of our favourite boatyards at Oxley Moor.  It has its own bar but it has never been open when we have passed before.  To our luck it was open this time so we moored up and went for a pint.  It was more like a working mens club (two pints and two packets of crisps for £6.60!) and we got some cheap strong cheese and fresh eggs as well as our pints.

We went back to the boat and while Karen took all our empty egg boxes back to the bar I carried on to Autherley junction and turned left onto the Shroppie.

Immediately there is a stop lock and Karen caught back up by this point.

We carried on for a couple of miles and moored up in the country having left Wolverhampton behind.

Sunday

We continued our travels north on Sunday which was yet another sunny day.  We will have a few days on the Shropshire Union canal which is one of the more modern canals having been completed not long before 1850.  It runs from Authersley junction where we went for a drink yesterday to Ellesmere Port on the River Mersey.  Many boaters rave about the Shroppie but we don’t see it that way.  Because it is relatively modern it was built in straight lines with embankments and cutting rather than locks.  We prefer contour based canals which tend to be windy but also have more locks to get over the hills or across the valleys.  Having said all this it is a very rural canal with Market Drayton and Chester being the only large towns on its route.  

Soon after setting off we went through Brewood (pronounced ‘brood’) which has many residential boats. It was at Brewood that we had to replace one of our alternators last winter.

Here is an example of the transition between embankment and wooded cutting – the difference in temperature between the two was most marked.

Another feature of this canal is the narrows – these are where the rock was so hard that it was easier to carve a narrow channel.  It does mean that a crew member has to go ahead to make sure a boat isn’t coming in the opposite direction

At Wheaton Aston we went through our only lock of the day and again there were many residential boats moored on the offside.

We moored for the day after ten miles.  We finished early as we wanted to do some odd jobs and then settle down to the Ireland France match.  This is our view from both directions.

Here are the Wolverhampton 21 from Saturday.