Autumn Tints 2022 Ep 4

 

Monday 21st November - Oozell’s Loop Visitor Moorings

We have decided to stay here again today as it is non stop rain all day.  We went for a walk to New Street Station to do some shopping, but apart from that we spent the day on the boat.  

Tuesday 22nd November - Oozell’s Loop to Alvechurch

We woke to a much better morning and decided to move on and begin our journey down the Worcester and Birmingham Canal.  Coming out of Oozell’s Loop we turned right and then right heading for The Cube.

This is the location of The Worcester Bar, as a result of a dispute between the two canal companies, it was decided that a physical barrier would be built preventing the boats getting any closer than 7 foot to the next canal.  This meant that cargo needed to be unloaded, carried around the bar and reloaded onto the waiting boats, and an assessment made for the fees payable.  This continued until 1815 when a stop lock was inserted meaning that fees would still be paid but goods could stay on the same boat.  Today you can still see where the stop lock used to be and the buildings beside it were the toll offices.

Heading down towards the Cube where we take a sharp right turn and head out towards Alvechurch.

We passed through Wast Hills Tunnel and moored up just ahead of the village.  We were quite surprised to see great clumps of Floating Pennywort on the water.  Introduced to the UK in the 1980s by the aquatic nursery trade, this fleshy-stemmed plant grows into floating mats of lush foliage.  This highly invasive plant is a real problem for our waterways. It grows very rapidly in late summer, up to 20cm per day, and is responsible for swamping waterways, blocking water flow, crowding out native plants and taking oxygen from fish and insects. It's becoming more and more of a problem across the country, blocking canals, rivers and other waterways.

11 miles, 0 locks, 3 hrs 48mins

Wednesday 23rd November - Alvechurch to Tardebigge Top Lock

A lovely start to the morning, cruising slowly past Alvechurch Marina, with all the new boats being finished off ready for the new season.

Unfortunately the rain soon set in and it was heavy enough to warrant an umbrella!  Toby doesn’t appear to be bothered by the rain though! 

Shortwood Tunnel, which has a very leaky lining, is 613 yards (560 metres) in length. It is wide enough for boats to pass each other.  We were lucky and haven’t had to pass any boats in tunnels this trip.  

We went down towards Tardebigge Top Lock and found that there was a boater setting the lock.  He was very generous and let us go down before him, as he was towing a boat and it would take them ages to get both boats down the lock.  We moored up below the lock and Dave took Toby for a walk and found Tardebigge Dry Dock now incorporated into Crafted Boats Ltd part of J.L. Pinder family, Jason Pinder runs the dry dock at Diglis and services and maintains our boat.  The boat in the dock is NBGalene owned by our friends Dimitrios and Carine.

4 miles, 0 locks, 1hr 48mins

Thursday 24th November - Below Tardebigge Top Lock to Tardebigge Bottom Lock

So, we made an early start today, there are 29 locks downhill and a forecast of heavy rain by 12 noon, so we were aiming to be moored up before we got dreadfully wet.  Dave had arranged for some help from the Tardebigge Volunteer Lockkeepers and we planned to meet them as they walked up from the carpark half way down the locks.

After 3 locks we came across the boat that was being towed, they had moored up for the night in one of the pounds.  NBDaisy is the fourth boat donated to the charity Forces Vets Afloat project which restores donated boats and gives them to veterans of the armed forces in order to get them off the streets and into floating homes.  She is currently on her way to Tewkesbury where she will be refitted at Tewkesbury Marina, work that will take about a year to complete.  

Tardebigge Reservoir, with more water in it than we have ever seen.  That’s good news!  Tardebigge Reservoir was created in 1827. The 25 acre feeder reservoir supplies water to the Worcester to Birmingham canal and is part of the world famous Tardebigge Locks. The lake is up to 40-foot (12 m) deep at the dam end, shelving off to around 15 feet (4.6 m) at the inlet end.

This hidden gem of a lake is set in rural Worcestershire, near Tardebigge Village. It is stocked with genuine British Old School carp. This fishery is totally unique.

Our team of helpers after 3 hours  and 20 minutes of lock filling, gate opening and closing and walking.  Many thanks as always for their time and effort and for turning out to help us down this set of locks.  Two of them were new recruits waiting to take their test to become fully fledged Volunteer Lock Keepers, in the meantime they need to work alongside an experienced lock keeper.

We moored at the bottom of the flight before the rain really set in and treated ourselves to an evening in the Queen’s Head with fish and chips and a pizza.

2.25 miles, 3 hrs 42 mins, 29 locks.

Friday 25th November - Tardebigge Bottom Lock to Hanbury Junction

Woke to a lovely dry day and sparkling sunshine, the wind had dropped and cruising was idyllic.  Dave worked us down all the locks today, here I am waiting in the middle of the canal for a lock to be ready, just sitting still quietly in the middle of the canal.

Heading towards Stoke Prior at the Anglo Welsh hire base. Here we were able to use the Canal and River Trust facilities before descending the lock. 

Our mooring for the night, Hanbury Wharf and the junction with the Droitwich Canal on the left under the bridge.

4.25 miles, 12 locks, 3hrs 42mins

Saturday 26th November - Hanbury Wharf to Perdiswell

A favourite mooring place opposite Oddingley Church and the farmhouse.  Looks as though there is some work being done to the farm house at the moment.  

Passing the Worcester Rugby Club grounds which are permanently closed now.  All very quiet and sad.  

Passing down through the Offerton Locks which are usually quite low of water, but today there is so much water, Dave had to wade through it to get over the gate.

Cadbury’s once had a large plant at Blackpole in Worcester, making cakes - the site had its own light railway, and was turned into a munitions factory in World War II   The site is now a retail and industrial estate.  This was where the chocolate crumb was loaded onto the barges.

We moored up for the night opposite the Leisure Centre at Perdiswell which meant we had a short cruise back to the Marina tomorrow and time during the rest of the day to unload and tidy the boat.

6.7 miles, 8 locks, 3hrs 24mins

Sunday 27th November - Bilford Top Lock to Diglis Marina

Woke to a dry, grey but very calm morning and began our last trip of this cruise.  We passed Lowesmoor Marina where a lot of the hireboats come from.  I always marvel at how novice boaters are expected to reverse their boats into this Marina, but that’s what they tell us they are expected to do!  

Just before Blockhouse Lock Canal and River Trust are putting in new piling to the edge of the canal, that will make mooring up easier if you wish to stop and visit the city.

Final lock of the day, Sidbury Lock with The Commandery at the side.  The Commandery is most famous for being the Royalist Headquarters during the deciding battle of the English Civil War – the Battle of Worcester 1651.  

We continued round to the Marina, in through the swing bridge and I was able to moor the boat in backwards as it is easier to get on and off the boat that way round.

2.25 miles, 6 locks, 2 hrs 6 mins.

Autumn Tints Cruise Ep 3

 Monday 14th November - Roseford Bridge to Penkridge

This week we have to decide which way we will be returning to Worcester.  We can either return exactly the same way we came, heading south to the River Severn and down the river or turn left up the Wolverhampton 21 and head into Birmingham.  It depends on the amount of rain in the next few days and the effect it will have on the river. 

This is the boatyard at Teddesley, there didn’t seem to be any new boats being worked on, but evidence of boats on dry standing having work done to them.

Passing under the M6, it really is a very noisy road! We continued into Penkridge, stopped at the services and filled up with water, then moored up opposite Tom’s Moorings.  We took a walk into Penkridge but as it was Monday, everything was closed apart from the large Coop, which we didn’t want to visit.

4.5 miles, 5 locks, 2hrs 30 mins.

Tuesday 15th November - Penkridge

Today is a day of heavy rain and wind, so we have decided to remain in Penkridge for another day.  We took another walk into Penkridge in the afternoon once the rain had abated, but generally it was a quiet day on the boat.

Wednesday 16th November - Penkridge to Autherley Junction

A much better day today, however the wind and rain have left their mark on the roof of the boat, we have a carpet of leaves scattered all over.  I managed to clear the solar panels and some along the sides, but will need to wait until we moor up for the night before clearing the rest.  Here we are approaching Otherton Lock.

On the approach to Gailey we passed our first Christmas decorated boat this year, Toby and I got off the boat at Bogg’s Lock and walked working  the last two locks on the way to Gailey.

All the locks up to now had been in our favour, they were empty and ready for the boat to go straight in.  However, the lock at Gailey was full and I had to empty it before Dave could bring the boat in.  This photo is taken from the bridge hole directly in front of the lock.  Quite a snug fit!  

Passing through Pendeford Rockin’, the sun came out and Dave took this photo reflecting the sky, clouds and canal in the side of the boat.  Quite clever really!  

Just before we get to the junction with The Shropshire Union Canal, we have to go through a very narrow cutting known as Pendeford Rockin’.  It is where the canal meets an outcrop of sandstone and the navvies were forced to dig a shallow cutting.  It is about 600 yards long and about 10 feet deep but it is only wide enough for a single narrowboat.  There are three passing places where you can pull in to let oncoming boats pass.  Fortunately for us we didn’t meet any boats!  

This is Autherley Junction where the Shropshire Union meets the Staffs and Worcester Canal.  We have moored up just past the junction where we shall stay until Friday.  We have made the decision to turn left and climb the Wolverhampton 21 locks, because the amount of rain just recently will make the river flow very fast and we don’t fancy doing it again!  

10.5 miles, 7 locks, 4hrs 48mins

Thursday 17th November - Autherley Junction

Today it is forecast to rain most of the day, so we have decided to stay and go for walks during the dry spells.  We walked along the Shropshire Union Canal and over the foot bridge and back along the other side of the canal. This is the view down the canal to the junction.

As we got closer to the junction we found this boat floating out into the cut, it seemed to be tied but rather loosely.

We continued our walk down to the junction with the Wolverhampton 21 and had a look to see if all was well.  In the past three weeks, the flight of locks have been completely drained on 3 different occasions and Canal and River Trust have had to close the flight whilst they re-water it.  Today it looked to be fine, let’s hope it’s like this tomorrow! 

Friday 18th November - Autherley Junction to Black Country Museum

We made an early start this morning in order to get to the Black Country Museum in reasonable time.  The sun was shining as we made a start on the 21 locks.

A heron standing quietly watching us go past, I think he had chosen a good spot as the water in this pound was very low and we could see the bottom of the canal quite clearly.  We stayed in the middle of the canal and went very slowly but strangely all the other pounds were fine.

The sun shining on the trees behind us highlighting the gorgeous yellow and orange colours.  The reflections again show how calm the weather was after yesterday! 

We passed one other moving boat coming out of this lock, on one side of the canal it is rural and on the other side you can see the industrial side to Wolverhampton.

Top lock, 4 hours in total, a lovely trip and no problems what so ever!  We then carried on through Wolverhampton and on to the Museum.  There was one boat moored so we had a choice of spaces, we turned the boat and moored up ready to put water on tomorrow and head off in to Birmingham.

A view of the Black Country Museum, quite busy with school groups and guided tours.  In the evening there was a themed Peaky Blinders Evening with the Museum open until 10.30 with a live band and lots of lights.  

This is the mouth of Dudley Tunnel.  Engines are not allowed in this very low tunnel – boats are legged through by manpower alone. The tunnel passes through a dramatic complex of limestone caverns, which you can explore on a boat trip with the Dudley Canal Trust.

8.5 miles, 21 locks, 6 hrs

Friday 19th November - Black Country Museum to Oozell’s Loop Birmingham

We made an early start this morning, beginning with pulling the boat back to the water tap and filling up with water.  We then returned to the Birmingham New Line and turned right and straight into the Factory Locks.  We are in the third and final lock which was closed last week because a car had been driven into the lock, it was craned out on Tuesday to the cost of several thousand pounds.

We then headed for Galton Tunnel, the tunnel would not be recognised by the old canal builders as it’s a modern addition.  Arched concrete segments were placed over the canal before being covered by earth to form the base for a modern road scheme.  Galton Bridge can be seen in front of the tunnel, it was built  in 1829 with iron castings from the Horseley Ironworks based on designs used for the Mythe Bridge and Holt Fleet Bridge built across the River Severn a few years earlier.  Telford’s bridge was the highest and longest single span at the time of construction.  It was named after Samuel Galton, a Quaker, who was a member of the Birmingham Canal Navigations committee.

This was fascinating, and it’s a shame the photo isn’t clearer, but it was a powered boat towing a smaller boat and a butty, they were a jolly crew, especially the little lad in the butty who kept having to jump off and push the butty away from the side! 

Heading into Birmingham under major roads, absolutely deafening, and quite daunting, when you compare us to the huge columns.

This is the New Smethwick Pumping Station, built in 1892 to pump water from new to old canal. Both canals took traffic into and out of the heart of the Black Country where mostly heavy metal bashing took place. Finished products were shipped across all four corners of the world.  The restoration was completed in 2000 and it now houses the Galton Valley Canal Heritage Centre.

This is Smethwick Junction where the Old Mainline and New Mainline separate, we have come along the canal on the left, in the summer we went down the canal on the right.

Along the New Mainline there are several of these narrowings of the canal with an island in the middle.  They were Gauging stations where the cargo carrying boats were measured and a toll paid according to the weight of their cargo.  The Boat Gauging House in Tipton was used for calibrating new canal boats in order later to ascertain the weight of cargo carried.

We have made it to Birmingham and we are going to turn right under the bridge and go along Oozell’s Loop to hopefully find a mooring at the other end of the loop…

…and yes we fit in nicely at the end of the visitor moorings, phew!  We are going to have a few days exploring Birmingham before returning to Worcester.

8.5 miles, 3 locks, 3hrs 24mins

Sunday 20th November - Oozell’s Loop Visitor Moorings

Today we decided to spend the morning having breakfast at JuJu’s and then go for a walk along the Birmingham and Fazeley Canal. 

JuJu has been running this establishment for 15 years after a career in industry.  She currently opens Friday to Sunday after having been closed for 2 years during the pandemic.  She relies on recommendations passed by word of mouth and her daughter promotes the business on social media.  Whilst we were there we saw many returning customers who were greeted warmly as genuine friends.  We were impressed with the food, the service and the general ambience and will be adding this to the places we will visit next time we are in Birmingham.

We then headed out for our walk, this is the island in the middle of the canal.  The island is situated at the centre of Old Turn Junction Link , where the Birmingham and Fazeley Canal joins the Birmingham Canal. Originally, this was the point where the Birmingham Canal split into its two eastern terminal branches, both just a few hundred metres away from the junction.  These are the Birmingham and Fazeley and the Worcester and Birmingham.
The island is much younger than the canals themselves, having been installed during the Second World War to enable the installation of flood gates to protect the railway tunnel beneath the Birmingham and Fazeley Canal, the western approach to New Street Station.

We then walked down the Farmer’s Bridge Locks and under the railway line in this huge arched dome reminiscent of cathedral proportions.

After walking through a cavern under buildings  we emerged to see the BT communications tower, towering overhead.

We continued walking down through the Ashted Locks and tunnel and then left the canals behind in order to walk back through the city returning to the boat just as the rain set in for the afternoon.  A fascinating walk. Just love the painting on the wall as we head into the city centre.