Monday 11th May - Warings Green Wharf
We are spending one more day here so that we can wash the side of the boat and make sure she is ready for our adventure around the Birmingham Canals.
Tuesday 12th May - Warings Green Wharf to Oozell’s Loop Visitor Moorings
This morning we set off on the last leg of our journey into Birmingham. Toby is sitting in his favourite position watching the world passing as we cruise along.
These flats front onto the canal at Dickens Green and it is good to see that the water feature is running beautifully down the centre.
As we approached Shirley Drawbridge, the ranger who had been walking along the towpath cutting back overhanging branches, stopped to operate the drawbridge for us. It isn’t a favourite of ours as you have to hold up the traffic whilst the boat passes through and it is a very busy little road. So we were very pleased that he did it for us!
This is the portal to Brandwood Tunnel, you can see the other end as the tunnel isn’t very long. The stone work is quite elaborate with carvings of heads at both ends. They are believed to be of a Mr Hancock who was associated with the promotion of the canal. There was another boat ahead of us and I think they were cooking bacon as there was a lingering smell of bacon as we followed them through!
Just before we reached Norton Junction, we came across this handsome heron, quite unperturbed by the boat and the dog that was being walked along the canal.
The final lock on this canal is the guillotine stop lock which has been tidied up and looks good. The lock is no longer used, but it used to keep the Worcester and Birmingham Canal higher than the Stratford Canal. There was no need for paddle gear to fill or empty the lock. With such a small difference in water level a guillotine gate could easily be lifted to let water flow in and out. It is the only guillotine gated stop lock on the canal system.
The toll house has been beautifully restored after being badly damaged by fire in 2019. It is now available to rent as a canalside dwelling.
Gas Street basin as we are coming into Birmingham. This is the historic meeting of the Worcester and Birmingham canal and the Birmingham Canal navigation. The area was initially packed with warehouses, factories, and wharves, acting as a crucial industrial inland port for coal transport in the late 18th century. Now a mooring spot for private boats. The name originates from Gas Street, the first street in Birmingham to get gas lighting.
The Worcester Bar (1795) was built to protect water supplies. The Birmingham Canal Navigation refused to join the new Worcester & Birmingham Canal, forcing a 7ft strip of land—the Worcester Bar—to be built. Cargo had to be manually transferred, or transhipped, across this barrier until 1815 when a stop lock was finally installed. The stop lock is no longer there, just the narrow channel.
Our favourite mooring just inside Ouzell’s Loop and we were pleased to see that the moorings have been changed to 4 days which suits us nicely.
13.5 miles, 0 locks, 1 lift bridge, 2 tunnels, 5hrs 54mins
Wednesday 13th May - Oozell’s Loop Visitor Mooring
Today we are going to have a wander around Birmingham City Centre, not to buy anything in particular, but just to have a wander. This is Black Sabbath Bench, a tribute attraction to celebrate the Birmingham heavy metal band, Black Sabbath. It is located on Broad Street, above the bridge on Canal Street, also named after the band. Also where fans flocked to pay tribute to Ozzy Osbourne after his death last year.
The Birmingham Library with the Rep theatre to the left of the photo. The Library of Birmingham in Centenary Square opened in 2013 and features over 31,000 square meters of space. It is celebrated for its impressive contemporary design, rooftop secret garden, and massive archives, including one of the world's most significant Shakespeare collections. It is the largest public library in Europe.
This fountain in Victoria Square is called ‘The River’ and known locally as ‘the Floozy in the Jacuzzi’. This is the first time we have seen it as it has always been closed for restoration due to repeated vandalism.
We also wandered into the station and were delighted to see the commonwealth games bull in the atrium. Ozzy the Bull is a 33-foot mechanical sculpture originally created for the opening ceremony of the 2022 Commonwealth Games, which was initially known as The Raging Bull. It was the first time we had seen it moving and roaring!
In the evening we met up with Barbara and Stephen in the Prince of Wales pub for a pre-dinner drink. They are the people leading the Explorer Cruise and it was good to meet them and have a chat.
Thursday 14th May - Ouzell’s Loop Visitor Mooring
Today we decided to go for a walk around the Jewellery Quarter and look at the history of the place.
We began our walk by heading along the Farmer’s Locks on the Birmingham and Fazeley Canal. The contemporary bridge over the canal is being repaired and will look very impressive when it’s finished.
Built between 1777 and 1779, St Paul’s Square is Birmingham’s only remaining Georgian square. The
fashionable Georgian houses allowed prosperous people to escape from the noise and dirt of the city centre and enjoy a better lifestyle. Having the church in the centre of the square makes a grand piece of town planning. We were too early to see inside but will definitely visit another time.
Birmingham’s industrial growth was built on the manufacturing of metal, usually of objects much bigger than jewellery. An example here of one of the many cast iron road names that can be seen all over Birmingham.
This building at 58-59 Caroline Street (the building with the large access arch) is a purpose-built manufactory, dating
from the late 19th century. The large arch to the right would have allowed a horse and cart to be loaded to
the rear.
These buildings next door look as though they were built as houses but were in fact a pair of factories built in the residential style.
Another example of the ironwork of the area, the bracket half way down the post would have originally held the gas lamp.
A local pub The Jewellers Arms. Dating from the 1830s, this Hockley pub once traded as the 'Goldsmiths and Jewellers Arms', serving generations of metalworkers in the Jewellery Quarter.
Many of the buildings have these cast iron letter boxes attached to them, many of them carrying the name of the residents or company.
This grand building was built as a purpose-built jeweller’s workshop. It was occupied by W H Haseler Ltd, jewellers and silversmiths. Haselers produced a range of jewellery, silver and pewter designed by leading artists of the day. They went. into partnership with Liberty’s, the London department store famous for its cutting edge design.
The increasing tourist interest in this area has led to improved transport services. The Jewellery Quarter
railway station was opened in 1995, as part of the ‘Jewellery Line’ project. This was followed in 1999 by a new tram service between Wolverhampton and Birmingham.
We were amazed to find a Joule’s Brewery pub in the middle of the Jewellery Quarter. The Red Lion has recently been bought by the Brewery.
This is The Chamberlain Clock which commemorates the work Joseph Chamberlain did on the reconciliation between the British and the Afrikaans at the end of the Boer War. Joseph Chamberlain was an innovator of Birmingham and in 1873 became Mayor of Birmingham using his influence to improve the town and its services.
Senor Fattorini was an Italian who set up
a number of jeweller’s shops in Yorkshire. Demand for the products was so great that he decided to establish a factory in Birmingham and the business has flourished since. Among other things, it specialises in ceremonial insignia, swords, medals and trophies. The railings outside show bomb damage. This is a visual reminder of how the skills of the Jewellery
Quarter were put to work in the Second World War. Parts for armaments and Spitfire aircraft were made in the area. Just as in peace time, workers in the Jewellery Quarter could provide very large quantities of precisely-made metal parts for the war effort. This made the Jewellery Quarter a major target for German bombers.
The Argent Works was built in 1862-3 to make pens, but also included Turkish baths reusing steam from the works! There is no doubt that this was a building intended to impress. The multi-coloured brick detailing, with the corner towers, echoes the style of early renaissance Italian Villas in Florence.
And finally to round off our walk we returned to the canal where we spotted newly hatched goslings, beautiful!
In the evening we went to the Birmingham Rep to see ‘A Midsummer’s Nights Dream’. Traditionally set in ancient Greece, A Midsummer Night's Dream has been re-set in modern day Birmingham for a production at the city's Rep theatre. It included regional accents delivering Shakespearean dialogue, punctuated by hip pop music and original songs. An excellent night’s entertainment! We were rather bemused as we walked to the theatre as there were a lot of people walking to the Utilita Arena in fancy dress for a Premier League Darts evening and another group in black tie dress heading for the Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce Awards held in the International Convention Centre. Most amusing!
Friday 15th May - Ouzell’s Loop Visitor Moorings
Today we had booked a table at JuJu’s Cafe for brunch but when we arrived there was a sign outside saying they were closed. The door was open and Dave checked with them. Sadly we were told that Julia had passed away and the cafe was closed for now.
This photo was taken in November 2022 when we last met her, a wonderful lady full of life and laughter, may she rest in peace.
Saturday 16th May - Ouzell’s Loop Visitor Moorings
A quiet day getting the boat ready for the start of the cruise tomorrow. We got up early and reversed the boat to the water point just above the Farmer’s Locks, filled with water, emptied rubbish and then took the boat back to our mooring in Ouzell’s Loop.
We met up with the rest of the group for a history tour around Gas Street Basin. Barbara led the tour. This is the moorings at the top of the Farmer’s Locks, originally a wharf with warehouses and the canal continued under the bridge and down as far as the flats behind us.
I liked the street art here with the lovely painting of Bob Marley on the wall.
In Gas Street Basin the warehouse was a distribution centre (now a pub) and the boats moored in the background are moored against what remains of the bar that was built to separate the BCN canals and the Worcester and Birmingham Canal.
We finished off the day with a meeting in the distillery for a briefing before we start tomorrow and a light supper buffet.
Sunday 17th May - Ouzell’s Loop to CRT Bradley Workshop
The family of geese out for an early morning walk, lovely to see them again before we set off on our Explorer Cruise.
8 o’clock in the morning, the lead boat collects all 8 boats and we begin with a tour of Ouzell’s Loop.
Once a hub for distribution and warehouses, now redeveloped as waterside housing, cafes and moorings for leisure boats.
Toured the Icknield Port Loop and Soho Loop, both now being redeveloped and moorings being used below the reservoir.
We came up the three locks at Smethwick, assisted by a lock wheeler, Rob, who comes out most days because he enjoys working the locks. We moored up outside Galton Pumping Station and had a look around. A fascinating place, situated on the Birmingham Main Line Canal, the 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.
I tried on a boatwoman’s bonnet, this was made after Queen Victoria died, hence the black, and was worn for sun protection and to keep the hair dry and clean and the practical issue of keeping the hair safe when working locks and moving heavy loads.
Dr Della Sadler-Moore made this bonnet in the same style, she is a lecturer at the University of Wolverhampton with a specific interest in the history of the women on the waterways.
Wayne is also a character and is very knowledgeable about the pumping station and the BCN as a whole.
We followed the Old Main Line as far as Factory Junction, then joined the New Main Line through Coseley Tunnel to Deepfields Junction where we turned up the Bradley arm to the workshop at the end. A skilful piece of manoeuvring by Dave brought us in backwards to moor up alongside all the boats. A fascinating day, long and somewhat challenging, all 4 seasons in 1 day, but thoroughly enjoyable!
12 miles, 3 locks, 2 tunnels, 8hrs 30mins (including the stop)
