Monday 15th August - Tom o’ the Wood to Catherine de Barnes
We left our mooring at 8am with a view to mooring up before the weather closed in on us, rain was forecast for the afternoon and we really didn’t want to get wet! This is the junction with the Stratford Canal that we came out of a few weeks back, we cruised passed this and we are now exploring parts of the canal we haven’t been on since 2017, all very exciting!
Yes, we are heading into Birmingham along the Grand Union Canal. The last time we were on this stretch we were heading out of Birmingham so it will be different because we are going the other way!
As we cruised past the Black Bouy moorings, this heron which had been flying ahead of us alighted on a boat roof and watched us go on our way. We also saw nbGranny Buttons which we had been leapfrogging all the way from Cropredy, always find that quite amusing!
There are 5 locks on this stretch of the canal, the Knowle Locks, all wide locks with large pounds beside each lock, they are high up and very exposed so therefore very windy with just enough space between each lock to blow you off course and make entering the lock an ‘hit or miss’ affair! The wide locks were built alongside the original single locks to speed up traffic along the canal. The single locks are no longer in use, but you can still see the remains of the original locks along the canal.
We moored up at Catherine de Barnes and had a walk into the village where we found The Boat and stopped for a drink and then had a walk along the canal. We went back to The Boat for supper in the evening, it has had a huge refurbishment and attracts many posh and well dressed punters from the local area. The food was very good too!
7.5 miles, 5 locks, 4hrs 12mins
Tuesday 16th August - Catherine de Barnes to Birmingham Oozells Loop Visitor Moorings
We made an early start this morning as we have a long day ahead of us. We waved goodbye to nbGranny Buttons and began the long 2 hour stretch to the first of the locks for the day. Most of this part of the journey was in deep cuttings, so dark and dismal with lots of noise from places you couldn’t see. I did find it quite unsettling!
We arrived at the top of the Camp Hill Locks to discover that this boat had been waiting because the pounds between the locks had drained over night, so we helped them through the first lock and followed on behind. It was the lady’s birthday, so we hope she had a good day!
We are definitely into the outskirts of Birmingham here, gone are the pastoral vistas and we find ourselves travelling alongside busy fast roads.
The old warehouses of Fellows, Morton and Clayton undergoing restoration.
Having completed the Camp Hill Locks we then passed under the railway lines into Birmingham and began the Ashted Locks, another 6 in quick succession. Dave had to wait in the dark to let a boat come down the first lock.
Lots of regeneration around the Birmingham university area, very busy and noisy, so not the bast place to stop even though there are some moorings at the top of this set of locks. We decided to press on and make our way into the centre of Birmingham.
Once we got to the beginning of the Farmer’s Bridge Locks we had a solo boater ahead of us and a large working boat behind us. This meant that we slowed down a little but it was all very interesting.
A good shot of the BT tower as the canal passes underneath it. The BT Tower Birmingham is a telecommunications tower and the structure is the tallest building in the city and well-known as a local landmark.
The building has been built over the canal with small passing places between each of the locks, it looks as though the boat is parked in an underground boat park, and there is more work going on at the same time. At this stage we met a boat coming down the locks, and at the same time it began to rain heavily! It was decided that the oncoming boat would need to pull over and let all the boats behind us pass as it wouldn’t have been possible to pass further down the flight!
After 8 hours of cruising we managed to find a mooring on the Oozell Loop Visitor Moorings and stayed put for the rest of the day, we were both exhausted and well and truly wet! However it was a brilliant achievement to get through all those locks and find a good mooring at the end of it.
11 miles, 25 locks, 8hrs 12mins.
Wednesday 17th August- Oozells Loop Visitor Moorings
We decided to give ourselves a days rest and started off with a late brunch in Brindley Place followed by a walk into Birmingham for a spot of retail therapy and finished off with an early supper at Mowgli’s in the train station!
We stopped to look at the bull from the Commonwealth Games, it really is quite enormous. Largely made of foam it was going to be dismantled after the games, but it has been decided to leave it in Centenary Square until the end of September and then to move it indoors after that.
We even spotted Claudia Winkleman in the station, not sure what was happening but the music was quite interesting!
Thursday 18th August - Oozell’s Loop to Black Country Museum
We made an early start this morning as we wanted to make sure we got a mooring at the Black Country Museum. We left our mooring and followed the loop all the way round to join the main canal heading towards Smethwick. It is the first time we have done this, we usually back out of the mooring and head off towards Edgebaston.
On the Birmingham Canal Navigations (BCN) Main Line the Smethwick Gauging Station near the Engine Arm Aqueduct was on an island, with a covered gantry in a centre channel where boats were loaded with weights, plated and calibrated. The channels either side allowed two-way traffic and possibly the collection of tolls. The buildings and equipment were demolished in the 1940s. We came up the three locks at Smethwick and then turned left into the Engine Arm as we had it on good authority that there were excellent facilities at the end of the arm. The Engine Arm was built as a feeder to carry water from Edgbaston Reservoir to the Smethwick summit. It also served as a navigable waterway for boats to supply coal to the Smethwick Engine.
Galton Valley Pumping Station first opened in 1892 with the purpose of pumping water from the lower Birmingham New Main Line to the high Old Main Line Canal. This was to replace the water lost from the higher level when boats went through the Smethwick locks. However the station only had a short working life, closing in the mid 1920s due to reduced traffic on the canals. Apart from a short period during the Second World War the building sat empty until it was restored and opened as part of the Galton Valley Canal Heritage Centre in the late 1980s.
This is the Sandwell Park Colliery wharf which connected to railway sidings and a coal wharf on the BCN Old Main Line canal. A billboard next to the canal marks the location of the concrete bunkers that were used to load narrowboats with coal.
For the last part of our journey we were travelling underneath major roads, the noise was deafening and quite intimidating, very much the new above the old, but eventually we headed away from the traffic and continued on the way towards Dudley and the Black Country Living Museum. We were fortunate to get one of the last moorings available and tied up for the night in front of a rather noisy road bridge!
8.5 miles, 3 locks, 4hrs 42mins
Friday 19th August - Black Country Museum to Compton
A lovely start to our cruise this morning, we waved goodbye to the Black Country Museum and headed for Wolverhampton and the 21 locks which take you down onto the Staffordshire and Worcester Canal.
The first lock of the day, we had to pull over to let a boat leave the lock and also to clear the weed hatch of all the weed we had picked up on our journey. We decided to work the locks in multiples of 5, swapping after 5, 10,15 and the last set of 6 locks.
The first 16 locks are spaced close together and allowed for the person working the locks to walk between them, it meant that the person driving the boat had time to practise hovering skills in suitable places!
We didn’t meet many boats, but here we had to pass a boat under a bridge, making sure they had enough room to pass safely. It did mean that the locks from here on were set in our favour and made it much easier for the person working the locks.
Love it when this happens, a train going over the bridge as you are descending the lock, traaaaiiinnn! At the bottom of the locks we turned left onto the Staffs and Worcester, down Compton Lock and moored up in the little town of Compton where we could stock up on supplies and treat ourselves to fish and chips!
10.25 miles, 22 locks, 7hrs 12mins
Saturday 20th August - Compton to The Bratch Locks
We made a reasonably early start today as we are only going a short distance to the top of the Bratch Locks. Dave worked the first two locks and Toby and I worked the next two. Toby the lock dog is making sure all is going to plan, he has really enjoyed being back out in the open and being able to run along the towpath free as a bird!
As you can see, this canal has no problem with lack of water, the by-waters are flowing freely which is good news for us.
All of the locks so far have been quite deep, around 9ft for each so the drop down to Stourport is quite a steep one. We continued on to the top of the Bratch Locks and moored for the rest of the day. We met up with friends Anne and Steve at Wombourne Railway Cafe and spent a lovely afternoon chatting and catching up with news.
4 miles, 5 locks, 2hrs 42mins
Sunday 21st August - The Bratch
At around 10am it was all go at the locks this morning. The Volunteer Lock Keeper, Cherie, was working non-stop and had been since 7am!
Boats were queuing above and below the locks, and as these are narrow locks you need to wait until a boat has completed all three of the locks before you can use them.
The octagonal building used to have access doors from the top lock and the middle lock, it was a toll house and became a chandlery and information point. Today it appears to be used as a rest room for the volunteer lock keepers. Whilst Dave was investigating the locks I rationalised the plants on the roof, getting rid of the ones past their best and cleaning down the roof on the towpath side.
Later we went for a walk up the canal to Awbridge Lock, this curious carving in the shape of a French man o' war is said to date from the time when French prisoners were used on the canal following the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805 and it is reported that the bridge and lock are haunted!
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