Monthly Archives: June 2018

Spaghetti! 29th June

Perry Bar Top Lock to Minworth Arm, Birmingham and Fazeley Canal

Alarm set this morning, not too early but with the hope of setting off at 8am so as not to be doing too much at the full heat of the day. Our yellow water tank needed emptying before we left, holding us up a touch, which was maybe a good thing!

P1350296smWe got ourselves and Oleanna ready, opened the top gate of the lock in front of us at about 8:15. A C&RT van arrived with the two chaps we’d seen yesterday at Ryders Green, one hopped straight out with windlass in hand, walked over and lifted a bottom gate paddle on the top lock, Mick was just closing the gate, we were instructed to stay put whilst he walked down the flight to check levels. Oleanna began to lower in the lock, Mick opened a top paddle as we realised they were letting water down the flight.

P1350299smP1350300smA quick look into the pound below and the level was obviously down by a couple of feet. This was also the case down through the next few pounds in the flight. Paddles and gates had been left up at every lock in the flight by the chaps who came past late last night. Maybe they couldn’t read the big signs telling you to close everything up behind you! Yes there is a case of leaking gates not helping, but an extra minute per lock to close up would have saved a lot of water being lost overnight! Today because of the dry weather some canals around the country have put into place time restrictions on lock flights to help preserve water levels, the fellas last night certainly wouldn’t help.

The chaps in blue were on the case, they must have known before they arrived with us. They’d been to open up at Ryders Green letting the guilty boat through at 8am, the chaps on board had said that they had just bought the boat and were new to boating. The Lockies laughed at the thought of them trying to reach Kidderminster by the end of today when we told them, no chance!

P1350308smOne chap went ahead closing gates and paddles where needed and lifting others to let the water down in a controlled manner whilst we sat in a lock with water flowing past us, all being let down through the paddle gear. This stops the build up of silt which would stop you from being able to close gates if they’d been left open. Once the pound ahead had recovered enough for us to get over the cill we were locked down to repeat at the next lock as the pound below filled up. This gave us plenty of time to chat with one of the Lockies. They didn’t blame us for not having walked down to close up last night in the dark, apparently we could have called the Hit Squad out who would have turned up with torches

At the end of May the level on the Wyrley and Essington Canal had dropped, this is a huge pound possibly over 40 miles. The two chaps who were with us today set off on foot to walk the towpath to see if they could work out where the plug had been pulled. They both could see the direction the water was flowing and walked towards each other until they came to where there was a collapsed culvert, this was the culprit. The culvert is one belonging to Severn Trent water so they are in the process of sorting it out. We asked if the canal was likely to reopen in a weeks time as hoped, or did they know if works would over run. We didn’t get a yes or no, most probably because it is out of C&RTs hands and Severn Trent are needing to do other things at the site other than just the culvert.

P1350312smThe chaps gradually worked us down one lock at a time constantly letting water down the flight. At lock 5 we were given the go ahead to carry on on our own, one pound was still a little low but we should be fine to get over the cills. They waved us goodbye and headed off to check further down in case last nights boat had left every lock to happily drain overnight.

P1350319smWhen we reached Lock 10 we could see that the bottom gates at Lock 11 didn’t leak that much as the long pound here looked more like a lake in an ornamental garden of some stately home, full to the brim it was.

P1350332smSure enough when we arrived the top gates were open and both paddles up. The next two had closed gates and one had nicely drained as a paddle had been left open just enough. On leaving every lock today we made sure gates were closed and paddles were where they should be, closed.

P1350380smUp ahead behind a canal bridge we could see the start of all the concrete bridges that make up Spaghetti Junction.

P1350433smP1350412smCurling around each other, layer upon layer above our heads cars and lorries wove themselves in directions they hoped were the right ones.

P1350425smP1350438smI’m not sure I’ve ever driven this stretch in a car and now that I’ve been under it I’m not sure I ever will! Some of the roads are held up so high by so little structure and other sections have so much scaffolding beneath them. Quite an amazing sight which my photos don’t really do justice to. Link to video

P1350458smEmerging out the other side we reached Salford Junction where the Grand Union Canal meets the Tame Valley, both joining with the Birmingham and Fazeley Canal . The Birmingham and Fazeley towards Birmingham is the section that is closed at the moment, so we were surprised to see a boat coming down that way.P1350462sm At the junction he was able to turn straight onto the Grand Union as his boat was only short, this would have taken some negotiating for us.

P1350480smP1350486smAs the roads over head subsided a large electricity sub-station takes over followed by a factory which was built over the canal. This creates a kind of tunnel but with light coming in from one side thankfully as our tunnel light is still out of action.

P1350496smHot and hungry now we sought out a shaded mooring for some lunch. Bollards appeared under plenty of trees and we pulled in just before Butlers Bridge. We still wanted to get further, even the Lockies had suggested getting through Minworth before stopping for the day. So with a second coat of sun cream we pushed on down through the next three locks and then started looking for some shade. We’d hope to reach the Dog and Doublet today, but the sun was too strong for us to work our way through the remaining locks. A few canalside pubs with moorings came and went but none had shaded moorings. Then there was a length of armco with several big trees, time to pull over, there was just enough depth for us.

Here there were trees, she took her time in letting me out! Freedom at last in what looked like a good outside, lots of trees, sideways trees and friendly cover. The only problem was getting to it! There was a big green mesh fence that was hard to see from the towpath, how rude to have such a playground and then put it out of reach like this! It took some time, but I found a way through. Climbing began, both up and down as I was joining the trees halfway up, unusual. There was lots to explore on the lower level and this kept me busy for quite sometime, no friends though.

Up above I could hear her calling for me, so I replied. I looked around. How had I got here? She was up there and I was down here! MUM!!! MUMMMMM!!!!!! I walked this way and that shouting all the time so she could hear me. She then walked the wrong way, could she hear me?! Was I going to be stuck here?! It had seemed interesting to start with, but now I didn’t want to stay here the rest of my life!

All she kept saying was ‘You got in there!’ ‘Numpty bum!’ Not helpful.

Then I spied a tree, quick calculations for a climb, jump, scrabble up a bank avoiding the fenced cages, a bit more tree and was that a gap in the fence? It was worth a try, my calculations were correct and I popped out of the friendly cover as if nothing had happened, she’d never know that I’d got quite concerned down there.

P1350507smRelived to have a cat back, and not have to find a key holder for a factory that had closed for the weekend, we had a quiet evening in the shade over looking a field that stretched off into the distance as the sun set. We like big cities for a while but it was nice to be back in the countryside with the summer breeze rustling the branches.

no go pawDSCF7114sm16 locks, 7.82 miles, 2 straight ons, 24367 unders, 5 pounds way down, 2 heroes in blue, 1 tepid tea, 2 shady spots, 0 pub, 1 stuck cat, 1 challenged cat, 1 panicked cat, 1 communicative cat, 1 tunnel light bodged together, 1 big field, 1 sunset.

https://goo.gl/maps/vDx4ZGEqBnD2

Moving Goal Posts. 28th June

Sheepcote Street Bridge to Perry Barr Top Lock, BCN Tame Valley Canal

Yesterday an email changed all our plans for the rest of the summer, this years goal posts had been moved, we’re not sure where/when to yet. But the next few months we are free to cruise where we want. The question now was where? Last night we’d talked about routes  but not come up with a definite plan. Overnight whilst Mick snored away in bed the canal planner in his brain had got to work, he awoke with an idea. With the forecast set to continue being hot for at least the next week, did we really want to be in Birmingham where all day long the heat reflects off the concrete surfaces whilst also soaking in only to be released overnight? Or would we rather head out into the countryside where shade is easier to find, cats can pounce to their hearts content and barbecues are easier to have sitting on green towpaths. Our cruising is limited to the midlands as I’ll still need to able to get to Chipping Norton and London for meetings every now and then and would rather not spend too much time on trains. Mick’s canal planner had come up with the idea of heading to the Ashby, the canal we’ve passed many times but not had enough time to turn into.

P1350270smOver breakfast he set about finding us a suitable mooring for tonight. Getting out of Birmingham no matter which way you go involves locks, lots of them and areas you wouldn’t really want to moor up. Our most direct route has a closure on it, we could head round the closure one of two ways. One way meant few miles but a lot of locks, the other fewer locks but more miles. It was already getting hot outside and we still needed to go to the Post Office, so we opted for the fewer locks and some new water.

P1350266smSadly neither of our parcels were waiting for us at the Post Office, we may have to have a day trip back for them. The Victorian Street was no more, having been brushed aside now for the new tram extension.

DSCF4505smIt was rather hot outside, setting off or waiting whilst we had lunch wasn’t going to make much difference so we had a quick butty, slapped on the sun cream before rolling back the covers and pushing off towards Pudding Green Junction. We’ve come into Birmingham quite a few times along the New Main Line but we’ve never left this way and we’ve never been along this stretch when it’s been so green and sunny! There are 2,000 miles of waterways to explore, but then there are four seasons to see them in, there and back again, so that’s 16,000 miles to cover.

DSCF4526smUnder the Engine Arm.

DSCF4550smUnder the M5

DSCF4559smPast Spon Lane Locks, all familiar sights to us.

DSCF4568smAt Pudding Green Junction we turned right onto the Wednesbury Old Canal, the atmosphere of the cut changing almost instantly, new water narrow and reedy. We refrained from trying to carry on up to the terminus and turned left onto the Walsall Canal where Ryders Green Locks waited for us. A chap moored at the top said the locks had been chained earlier in the day, they were open now and in our favour. The penny didn’t drop with either of us until we met a battered cruiser being bow hauled up the flight, they mentioned something about the flight being locked at 4. Ryders Green has had a spate of vandalism over night, so now it is locked from 4pm to 8am. We knew about this but had forgotten, it was now 3:30pm and we still had at least four locks to do!

DSCF4590smDSCF4591smNot the most picturesque locks, with flattened warehouses to one side with barbed wire fencing we didn’t mind not taking our time and tried to be as efficient as possible. Below at Lock 7 we could see a couple of C&RT blue t-shirts, paddles were being wound up to fill the lock for us and we were still one lock away, it was 4pm and there was still lock 8 to go. We apologised to the two chaps who helped us into the lock and then they vanished through a hedge to go and unlock the bottom lock.

Chatting to the Lockies at the bottom lock they said that they are playing Cat and Mouse with three youths at the moment, regular drinkers at the previous lock have passed on information about what the kids get up to, they are all known by the Police. But sadly emptying pounds, breaking antivandal locks and lifting lock gates out from their seating causing thousands of pounds worth of damage isn’t worth following up. So the Lockies are hoping that the youths tire before they do. As soon as Oleanna was in the lock the top paddles were chained shut and the chaps headed off only twenty five minutes late.

DSCF4603smNot quite a mile further on and we reached Ocker Hill where the Tame Valley stretches off to the east. Far straighter than the Walsall Canal the Tame Valley was built around 50 years later, a long stretch on the flat built on embankments and through cuttings.

DSCF4632smRoads cross over and then pass under the canal. The M5 splits here and lanes pass under the canal heading to meet up with the M6 which runs along almost level with the canal.

DSCF4641smDSCF4649smThere were views back towards Birmingham to where we’d started, the BT tower not even four miles away, we’d done a big loop round. Then we were into cuttings with bridges high above again, a great mixture reminiscent of the Shroppie, just far more urban.

P1350281smP1350287smPerry Bar Top Lock came into sight, we decided to top up with water before pushing over to the 24hr mooring saving us time in the morning. Apart from a couple of motorbikes that sped up and down the towpath once our mooring was quiet. At around 9:30 we could hear noises, a boat was coming up the locks. Mick went out to check we’d left them enough space to moor, not imagining they would be pressing onwards at that time. A request for a Nicholsons guide to show them the way to Stourbridge. They were delivering the boat for someone and they needed to be in Kidderminster by the end of tomorrow! They were without a guide and hoping to negotiate their way around the BCN where there seems to be a junction every mile or so. They pressed onwards to moor below Ryders Green Locks so that they could be there when they open in the morning, not a place we’d moor.

Mick came back into the boat as the chaps said thank you for his help. We then heard a paddle being dropped and the boat came past us. Only one paddle had dropped, what about the other? It was still wide open for all to see along with the gate! Mick wound the paddle down and closed the gate, it was too late to walk down the flight to see if all had been shut up, here’s hoping we’ve got water in the morning.

DSCF7114sm8 locks, 12.92 miles, 3.73 miles as the crow flies, 2 goal posts moved out of view, 1 big change of plan, 0 parcels, 37 minutes before they lock up, 25 minutes late sorry chaps, 2 motorways, 1 over and under, 1 alongside, 7 straight ons, 3 rights, 1 left, 2 unders, 3 professional drinkers, 5 practicing drinkers, 0 shore leave! 1 armchair, 2 coconuts, 2 motorbikes, 9:30, 2 men, 1 boat, 19 hours cruise!

https://goo.gl/maps/YQNgPg3Nuws

Why Are They All Dead? 27th June

Sheepcote Street Bridge

Our post hadn’t arrived this morning, so we decided that staying put another day would make sense. What to do with ourselves though?

P1350146smVictoria SquareOn leaving the post office there was a crowd gathered by a netted gap in the hoardings around the building site in Victoria Square. I’d noticed the gap yesterday and that there was what looked like an old cobbled street that had been revealed during the works. Was this possibly Roman? Today high-vis clad people stood around, one with a camera as a digger scraped away at the stones and surface. Surely if this was Roman a digger wouldn’t be being used? Every now and then the digger was stopped for someone to have a look and take photos, the crowd joined in clicking their cameras. Later on I found an article in the Birmingham Mail which says that the road/path dates back to Victorian times. Various items were recovered from the surface, clay pipes, porcelain which all date from post medieval times. We left them to it and decided to go and see something older!

P1350220smAt the Museum and Art Gallery they currently have Dippy visiting. Dippy is a full skeleton cast of a Diplodocus and he is standing tall and long in the Gas Hall of the museum a rather wonderful setting for such a dinosaur. For a chap so big, Dippy looked weightless with his neck stretching out towards the entrance and his tail sweeping round at the other end of the hall. He’s well worth going to see and will be continuing his tour for the next two years. Details here.

P1350165smP1350210smP1350197smSurrounding Dippy the museum has put together a display about modern day dinosaurs, birds and how they evolved into 10,000 species.

P1350181smP1350186smA large range of different shaped and sized eggs are on display.

P1350169smP1350214sm

P1350215smNumerous stuffed birds ranging from the smallest Hummingbird to an Albatross, along with skeletons including one of a Dodo.

P1350167smThere was a lady who’d brought her grand daughter to have a look. They were having one of those conversations, as she put it ‘interesting yet difficult’. as they were looking at all the stuffed birds. ‘Why are they all dead?’ In days gone by the answer would have been easier but today stuffing an animal or bird for scientific study and accessibility to all isn’t quite what it once was, conservation and filmed footage are more suitable for todays youngsters. The exhibits could be flying around in their natural habitat accompanied by a David Attenborough commentary. To show scale a Hummingbird could be shown buzzing around the head of an Albatross or Ostrich even though the two would never meet in nature. We left Granny trying to explain.

P1350226smP1350230smWe then had a wander around the rest of the museum. There’s a lot to look at, so I shortlisted rooms that I thought would be interesting. The top floor hosts an exhibit on the history of Birmingham. We skimmed through this, stopping to press buttons. The history of trade in medieval times was amusingly re-enacted around the modern day markets, selling cloth in bubonic times in short films. Local industry such as pen making and buttons (not silk covered like in Macclesfield) and of course chocolate. An interesting display worth more time.

P1350236smP1350238smAcross the top galleries we passed through the ages to the Egyptian gallery, interesting for me at the moment. A beautifully wrapped mummy lay on it’s back in one display, the wrapping more important at that time in Egypt than the embalming. A cat also sat bound up below, it’s ears pointing upwards suggesting it was happy to be passing into the next life.

800px-Edward_Burne-Jones_Star_of_Bethlehemedward-burne-jones-study-for-the-garden-court-1889Last judgementThen on to look at the Pre-Raphaelite paintings and the Edward Burne-Jones room. The gallery has the largest watercolour in the world The Star of Bethlehem, however I prefer his designs for the stained glass windows Last Judgement and his studies for Briar Rose.

0 locks, 0 miles, 0 parcels, 1 ancient Victorian road, 20,000kg, 26 meters, 155-145 million years old, 4 dippy feet, 20 dippy toes, 2 heron chicks, 101 by 152 inches, 1 bound cat, 2 Egyptian chairs, 1 frustrating email, 1 more hot day, 1 porthole removed.

Pound A Bowl. 26th June

Sheepcote Street Bridge

Bananas! Bananas! Sadly not ‘Picked fresh this morning!’ as a vendor used to shout at Surrey Street market in Croydon in my college days, no-one believed him but it brightened up your day. At the Bull Ring Markets the sellers are not quite so imaginative.

P1350134smThe market legally began in 1154 when a local landowner, obtained a charter from Henry II. It initially began with the trade of textiles and over it’s first hundred years the area developed into a leading market town and a major cloth trade was established. By the early 18th Century the trade of spices and meat was starting to take over from that of cloth. By the late 18th Century properties were being bought and demolished to create a central market area. Small streets such as The Shambles, Corn Cheaping and Cock Street were demolished, The Shambles having been predominantly butchers shops close to where Bulls were slaughtered. By the 1830’s a grand facaded sheltered market was being built which housed some 600 stalls. 1869 saw a fish market completed followed in 1884 by a sheltered vegetable market.

P1350110smP1350119smDuring WW2 some damage was done to the buildings and in the 1960’s new buildings rose from the ground. An outdoor market and a new indoor shopping centre, the first in the country with a submerged indoor market area. At the time it was considered the height of modernity, but high rents in the shopping centre meant that traders went elsewhere. It did not age well and soon became regarded as an example of 1960s boxy grey concrete architecture, isolated by ringroads and only connected by pedestrian subways, part of Birmingham’s concrete jungle.

P1350122smAfter numerous proposed plans to redevelop the area work began in 2000 with most market traders moving to the Rag Market. The new design mixed both a traditional market and modern retail units. Selfridges, John Lewis, Debenhams now sit high above the markets with St Martin’s Church half way up the hill in between.

P1350105smP1350108smToday the area was filled with people. I had a good wander around the three areas of market. The first selling your standard market tat, but the lower half of the building filled with butchers and fish mongers. Here you could buy Pigs feet, two types of Tripe, just about any fish you could imagine. I wish I’d known what half of them were and what to do with them. Four fish for £10, but no freezer space. I so wish my Mum had been with me she’d have loved it and would have insisted on buying enough fish for a least one meal and more for a fishy soup.

P1350113smThe next building was full of textiles, braids, ribbons, wool. I was tempted, but I have no space for anything at the moment. Each stall groaned under the weight of everything for sale, one hardware stand beating the stall at Newark market hands down.

P1350120smFurther on in the outdoor market was the fruit and veg. Just about every stall was covered in plastic bowls full of one type. I wanted bananas, so got a bowl of slightly green ones for £1, but the blueberries looked past their best. Other things I only wanted one of, not six, so it took some time to find a stall selling items by weight rather than bowl. I’d hoped to get everything I wanted for some new salads at the market, but ended up having to fill the gaps on my list with a visit to Tescos.

Next time we are in Birmingham I’ll be back and have done some research on fish before I go.

Meanwhile Mick headed off with a bike to get some oil from Halfords, which turned out to be near Warwick Bar on the canal, so instead of wiggling his way back through the streets he followed the canal back to Oleanna in the midday sun. He just needs filters now before Oleanna gets a service.

P1350142sm0 locks, 0 miles, 1 bike sherpa, 10 litres oil, 5 nectarines, 2 apples, 9 bananas, 1 pomegranate, 0 fish, 0 chickens feet, 0 (most definitely) tripe, 9 drawing pens, 1 parcel not 4, 1 more sketch, 1 email sent , 1 designer hat back in the cupboard for a while, 1 boating hat back out, 1 wilting cat.

I Think I’m Going To Cry. 25th June

Cambrian Wharf to Sheepcote Street Bridge

The sun was up early it was going to be a hot day. At Cambrian Wharf there is no shade offered from buildings or trees, the solar would do well, but we might keel over inside. Our jaunty angled mooring was not a place we wanted to stay. If another boat came and moored along side the lock we would then be stuck, not having enough space to swing the stern out and extricate the bow from it’s cosy position behind another boat. Decision made early, we’d move and head back to where we’d come from yesterday.

So before breakfast we were out Mick pulling Oleanna backwards, she moved much easier than we’d thought off the silt and I was soon able to push the bow out from behind our neighbour. The chap from NB Hakuna Matata then took the stern rope and gave Oleanna another pull enabling Mick to be on the back at the helm. We were free, and only just in time as other boats were coming in to find space to moor.

P1350101smWe made our way back to where we’d come from where there was a big gap. We pulled up and tied to the same bollard as the boat ahead leaving a good sized mooring behind us.

I got their number, they have only moved the pants outside to the other side of the boat! Why can’t we go back to the Stratford Canal it was good there, none of this Birmingham outside with walls too smooth to climb. I stayed inside, no point in venturing out. Anyway this outside had become very hot and made it’s way inside so I had to spend much of the day being a long cat, trying to keep cool behind a hanging t-shirt.

As the morning progressed school parties came along the towpath all amused at us sitting inside with the hatch open. We did a lot of waving! Some were lucky to see Tilly which caused another distraction only to be totally upstaged by the sight of the lego giraffe across the way.

P1350079smSince being in Birmingham the furthest I’ve ventured has been to Pizza Express due to working. I needed a few things and wanted to see what the big building site outside the theatre looked like. You are funnelled through the site with colourful hoardings either side. From what I could make out two new buildings are going up and the tram system is being extended to here. The sun was high and baking the buildings, work men and office staff stood in what little shade there was out of the sun all studying their phones.

P1350088smI ended up going further than planned to a couple of art shops and back to have a look at the shiny exterior of Grand Central. Wibbly wobbly reflections down onto the railway were quite good, but the reflection of the tables and chairs outside All Bar One were the best. I had a good couple of hours out exploring and left myself more to do tomorrow. Mick in the mean time walked to Sherbourne Wharf to see if they might have a chandlery there where he could get some filters for Oleanna’s next service. He had to negotiate a locked gate and a security guard only to find out that they don’t.

The afternoon was spent doing some more work, I’m now at a point where the director needs to see what I’ve been up to and make his comments before I can do much more. A few anomalies on the theatre plans need to be sorted before I can go much further.

P1350098smSome boats have moved on, not willing to put up with the building noise from the arena car parks, others have arrived. Today we have watched a master class in the creation of git gaps. Not one single boat across the way has been willing to share a bollard with another. Sometimes the bollards are not in the right position for the length of your boat, we know that, but these bollards all seem to be evenly spaced, so any bollard is as bad as another.

Tilly must have been sat on the Houdini shelf shortly before we turned the bedroom light out. A group came past and spotted her. They all cooed at me and chatted away. I turned to show them my best side and maybe a little tear in my eye, it always gets them! I think I’m going to cry now’ said one lady. My cuteness work for the day was done.

P1350075smP1350077sm0 locks (Water Explorer says 1 lock), 0.25 miles before breakfast, 1 hard days cruise, 1 familiar mooring, 27 sketches scanned, 300mm out! 9 cartridges ordered, 1 reluctant cat, 2 hours of freedom, 0 filters, 1 gate, 1 disinfectant smelling fountain display, 47C in the pram cover, 5 git gaps, 0 space for two more boats, 1 set of heart strings plucked, 1 black and white floozie in the window!

Five Nil. 24th June

Sheepcote Street Bridge to Cambrian Wharf

P1350016smWe’ve been thinking of mooching around the back streets, as it were, of Birmingham for the next few weeks. This morning we looked at our maps and considered going up Oldbury Locks to the Titford Canal. Along with Waterway Routes’ suggested moorings we printed off the BCNSociety moorings list so that we’d have all possibilities at our finger tips. However we are also waiting for some post to arrive that will come to the Post Office here, yes we could come back in a few days or just stay put. It being a sunny day, a weekend and the next England match this afternoon, we thought that the big screen through the bridge would attract large crowds. So we decided to head for water, do our chores and see if there might be space for us at Cambrian Wharf.

P1350019smAfter an interesting cooked breakfast (who ever thought turkey bacon was a good idea!) we pushed off waving goodbye to Blackbird and headed to the slow tap above the Farmers Bridge flight.

P1350028smWith a load of washing on we knew we’d be there for some time. Yellow water tank, Tilly’s pooh box and all rubbish dealt with it was time to move on. Where we’d moored Lillian a few winters ago was free on the pontoons and there was a gap alongside the top lock. Should we go in forwards or reverse in, which side would it be good to have the hatch, these are all important considerations. Mick paced out the gaps, we should just fit.

P1350034smP1350036smWe winded and then reversed in towards the available spaces. A chap from a shareboat gave a hand. Our stern was too low in the water to enable us to moor by the lock, the bottom being too near to the top. So we swung over to get the bow in behind another boat at the end of the pontoons. Oleanna’s bow fitted nicely and there was enough room to swing the stern round, sorted. Well except the bottom was still to near to the top! Mick hopped off with a rope and tried pulling Oleanna over to the pontoon, the prop not wanting to help us. She moved a touch, but not much. We’d heard that the level of this long pound was down by some four to six inches, so this wouldn’t be helping.

At our jaunty angle we decided that as we were in no-ones way we’d tie up and consider our options. Mick checked the weedhatch and found only a few bits around the prop, so it was the depth that was our problem. Maybe we should head back to where we’d come from? Or should we stay put and leave dragging Oleanna off the bottom to when it would be cooler?

P1350043smThis outside had potential. Trees, grass even! Tom was washing his hands so I took the opportunity of the open hatch to have a scout about. This outside had very little side to it, water surrounded Oleanna. Just what were my crew thinking of?! It didn’t matter as it was a very simple calculation to reach the bank. She soon came out and disturbed my calculations for scaling a wall. Back inside in no time, but this outside was so good. I settled down again resigned to another boring day, when they changed their minds, I could now go out!

P1350061smI’d just about worked out where I wanted to explore fully when a man came along on a Honeysuckle, two wheels are scary, one is terrifying! That was it for the day, I decided that this outside was as bad as the last one.

P1350064smP1350067smWe stayed put. Moored up before the match started the world seemed quiet, then we could hear what the score was likely to be from the crowds in the pubs, I suspect this would have been even louder back at Sheepcote. Once the match was finished the general hubbub noise increased, everyone pleased that England had won. Inside Oleanna we were pleased that we’d moved away from much of the noise, along with England having beaten Australia Five Nil in the One Day Internationals.

P1350049smblack pawDSCF7114sm0 locks (we didn’t notice doing the two Water Explorer had recorded), 0.3 miles, 1 left, 1 wind, 1 full water tank, 1 empty wee tank, 1 clean pooh box, 2 attempts, 1 cosy bow, 1 stern surrounded by water, 1 whirligig full, 1 incredibly large fish, 1 quiet afternoon, 6 cheers, 1 groan, 1 escaped cat, 1 poor mooring, 1 hot noisy evening, 1 set of watercolours drying too quickly, 5-0 to England.

https://goo.gl/maps/Ep8zzuqJpnC2

Topless Boating. 23rd June

Sheepcote Street Bridge, Birmingham

Whilst having our morning cuppa in bed we could see that Mandy and Andy were getting ready for the off. When we heard voices by Blackbird we quickly got dressed and popped out to say goodbye to them. All boats now are heading separate ways, some sooner than others. Mandy and Andy were heading towards Lapworth today. We waved them goodbye as they cruised off under the numerous iron bridges spanning the centre of Birmingham, maybe our paths will cross later in the summer, who knows.

P1350010smStorm very kindly offered to pick us up our Saturday newspaper from a local shop. Today our choice was available but theirs was absent from the shelves.

Tilly was allowed a bit more freedom this morning, as she’d not ventured too far yesterday we thought it would be safe. The wall in this outside looks interesting, it is taking a lot of calculations to see if I can climb it. So far I haven’t come up with a mathematical route to the top yet, still work in progress.

DSCF4488smI continued with my work, starting to get things ready to send off to the director. As Panto will have a twist towards Indiana Jones, I have bought the box set (I thought there were three films, not four!). Mick isn’t too bothered about watching them, so in the afternoon Tilly (now bored of here) settled down with some crocheting and my old camera to watch the first one. Mick meanwhile headed off to John Lewis to get a new mobile, one with more memory. He also took my camera to see if someone could look at it as it has developed a grating nose whenever the lens opens up. This of course didn’t happen until the fifth attempt in the shop! It is most probably dust that needs cleaning out. Our tardiness of keeping receipts safe (I did hunt round for it as I know we kept it) means that if we don’t find it my camera will have to be returned to Sheffield before being sent off to be mended. A plastic wallet is now on the shopping list for such receipts.

DSCF4494smDuring the afternoon more and more trip boats came past, most with large parties on board, drinking and enjoy the sun. One Stag Do, although not obvious, the others all Hen Dos. I did wonder if Mick had actually gone to work this afternoon instead of shopping. The first boat came past with a party of loud girls wearing sashes and two topless men. Was one of them Mick? A bow tie and his pecks out? I couldn’t see below the high gunnel so who knows how much costume wasn’t being worn. A second look and I realised that both chaps had too much hair on their heads to possibly be Mick!

P1350012smDespite there being no England match on today, the football fans were enjoying themselves at The Distillery on the other side of the bridge. We certainly knew when Sweden scored a goal against Germany. Mick isn’t bothered about watching the game tomorrow afternoon, so we may move on to pastures new.

0 locks, 0 miles, 1 wave goodbye, 1 newspaper boy, 1 new phone, 1 old camera brought out of retirement, 0 receipt found, 456 x 642 / 62.6 claw factor x – 0.143 + 542267 / tail 3 swoop = hmmmm, 12 sketches inked in, 1st film, 7 sheets of reference, 1 new baseball cap, 1 stag, 3 hens, 2 topless crew, 2 bow ties, 1 inflated groom, 1 noisy evening.

Old Neighbours 22nd June

Sheepcote Street Bridge to the other side on the cut
It’s great when someone decides that they should be heard in the early hours of the morning and such people tend to congregate around city centres. The chap last night didn’t seem to be shouting about anything of great importance so I decided not to wake Mick up. However by 6am boats were starting to move. Gearing up their engines, that obviously needed to warm up for a good fifteen minutes before setting off. Was it really worth trying to go back to sleep? Well in the end I succeeded for a while longer. I have no problem with people moving off early, we do it on a rare occasion. But we tend to prepare ourselves and the boat so that all that is left to do is start the engine up, untie and push off, taking our noise with us.
By the time we’d had breakfast the moorings had thinned out somewhat, we decided that we’d rather be moored on the other side of the cut so that we could open the hatch without too many folks having a good nose inside. So we untied and pushed over. The bollards here are just the wrong spacing for our length, too close together to do innies and just a touch too far apart for comfortable outies. We nudged up to the next boat, not wanting to leave a git gap and tied our ropes at their extremities. We’ve been here once when some boats were untied during the night, so Mick added a cable tie around our T studs to make this not such an easy jolly jape for someone.
P1340989smI got on with more sketching whilst Mick had a look at our tunnel light. He checked the bulb which was okay, then found some dodgy crimping of cables. This was then followed with the discovery that the plug had suffered from weather damage and fell into pieces when he undid it. Was it best to replace the plug or rewire the lamp bypassing it. The horns have the same set up. It was decided to find a replacement plug and see how that goes, if it happens again then it will be bypassed.
P1340993smLate morning a familiar looking black boat poked it’s bow under St Vincent Street Bridge, a black long eared dog ran up and down the roof, NB Blackbird. Our meeting had been arranged on what may be their final cruise on Blackbird. We’d hoped to be able to help them down Lapworth, but their delayed departure from Chester meant we’d meet in Birmingham instead. They pulled in behind us where there was plenty of space. Hugs all round.
Bridget and Storm have been travelling with their friends Andy and Mandy for most of the last week, having put Blackbird into turbo cruising to catch them up (Turbo cruising doesn’t mean they go any faster, it’s just they keep on going and going and going when we would have long since stopped for the day). Around an hour after they’d arrived Mandy and Andy pulled up too, having had a more leisurely start to the day. By mid afternoon the moorings were full including a few git gaps!
P1340997smMick headed off to try to find a new plug whilst I chaperoned Tilly out the back. This side of the canal is more interesting to her, but the foot fall meant I wanted to keep an eye out for her safety. Thick sideways trees that are hard to tunnel through, the odd (and I mean odd) tree. It’s okay but smells too much of woofer round here. She needed to be kept company so after a good nosy around I sat in the pram cover and had a snooze whilst keeping the mop warm.
Mick had no success, so a new plug and socket (just in case) have been ordered to be delivered to the nearby Post Office that does Post Restante.
P1350003smIn the evening we all gathered and headed to Pizza Express where there would be more room for the six of us than on one of the boats. After moving to a quieter position in the restaurant we all ate and chatted away the evening. Andy and Mandy retired early whilst the rest of us went on for a pint. First we tried the Prince of Wales a pub highly recommended by Storm, but sadly no lights were on and the premises are awaiting someone new to take over the beer pumps. The Malt Shovel was second choice but had a selection of beers to choose from and comfy chairs, so we settled down for the rest of the evening.
black paw0 locks, 60ft across the cut, 1 solar panel staying in the sun for most of the day, 6:15, 12 sketches, 24 egyptian statues, 1 tunnel lamp in pieces,  1 corroded plug, 1 black boat, 1 black dog, 2 friendly faces, 2 new boater friends, 6 pizzas, 1 bottle of wine, 6 pints, 2 glasses of wine, 1 big catch up with Blackbird.

Tom from Waiouru has worked out what has happened with blogger and comment emails. He has also worked out how to fix it. For instructions on what to do go to his post here. Thank You Tom

1000! 21st June

Dickens Heath to Sheepcote Street Bridge, Birmingham Main Line

P1340881smI’ve just checked today and realised that Oleanna yesterday came through her 1000th lock. Water Explorer, a program we use to track our trips, occasionally counts locks twice, very annoying. It also counts flood locks, but we tend to only count locks that alter our height. So it is hard for me to pinpoint exactly which lock was her 1000th, but we have decided that Narnia Lock was most probably the one.

P1340912smToday was flat going all the way into Birmingham. We’ve done this journey now a few times, so I decided to spend the day sketching out ideas for panto, leaving Mick at the helm. I was available for crewing duties, but whilst we cruised I was to be below.

Working again is going to change our boating way of life for a while. If I was back in the house I’d spend five days out of seven working, unless I was waiting for a director to get back to me. Sometimes I had more than one project on the go, so days off became few until work ran out. Certainly during rehearsals for a show I was more than likely to be working a 10 to 12 hour day, often an hours drive away from home. Our lives have changed since then, we are boaters and I don’t want to be that busy again. So a balance between boating and work needs to be struck, so both can be enjoyed. Yesterday I decided that whilst there is work to be done, I will work three days and then we’ll have a boating day. Weather may affect this along with deadlines. Designing doesn’t just stop when you put a sketch pad and pencil down, yesterday I came up with some ideas whilst walking between locks, today those have been put on paper. I’m hoping that tomorrow there will be more ideas to commit to paper too.

P1340917smThe hatch slid open as we approached Shirley Draw Bridge. Mick slowed Oleanna as we approached, we’d not caught up with a boat that had passed us just before we set off this morning, but there was a boat at the bridge. A hire boat was just coming through towards us, but as the approach is narrow, only one boats width, we couldn’t pass them and take advantage of their key of power in the control pedestal. Cars were waiting anyway, so they did the right thing by dropping the bridge and letting the cars cross again. We swapped positions with them and I hopped off, key of power in hand. It took a while for the constant stream of cars to clear and a lady with a dog to cross before I could turn the key and press the ‘close’ button to set the barriers in motion, but all went as it should.

P1340920smDown below the occasional look up brought with it familiar sights, so I knew when we were passing the house that has been done up through the years by the water point. It has a very original name, Canal Cottage!

P1340930smThen as the canal narrowed I realised we were at Lock 1 the Guillotine Lock, an old stop lock before the Stratford Canal joins the Worcester and Birmingham. With a handy stretch of mooring bollards I checked with the helm if it was lunchtime, it was.

P1340935smP1340942smAt the junction we turned right to Birmingham. Passing the Bournville offside visitors moorings, I’m glad we didn’t want to stop, the whole length has been taken over by C&RT for dredging purposes. Skip boats and dredgers were dotted up the canal, making our progress slow. One of the skips hadn’t been tied up, so was pulled across the canal after we passed only for the bucket of the dredger to pull it back across.

When we came through Edgbaston Tunnel earlier in the year work was on going to increase the width of the towpath. Today it is all finished and with lights in the tunnel I didn’t even notice we’d passed through. Good job there were lights, as for some reason our tunnel light isn’t working.

P1340947smI noticed the boat turning and realised we were by the Mailbox, time to pause what I was doing until we’d moored. There were some places up to Gas Street basin, but we carried on hoping for a space at Cambrian Wharf.  But when we got there there was only one obvious space. Both of us knew it was too short for us, but we tried anyway. A lady came from one boat and said she could lift her stern fender if that would help, a chap came from in front. There was space behind him, but nowhere to tie to. The gap was about two foot too short for us, so we backed out and winded, a boat in the top lock of the Farmers Bridge flight kindly letting us go ahead of them.

P1340980smP1340981smNext we tried round Oozells Street Loop. The first section is visitors moorings, but was full. I could see there were gaps towards Sheepcote Street Bridge, so we hoped one would still be empty for us when we returned. Another space came into view, NB Waterways Routes’ mooring. Paul has recently set off to reach the opening of a new stretch of the Pocklington canal in Yorkshire.

Where Oozells Street Loop joins back onto the Birmingham Main Line it is too acute for most boats to turn right, so we had to carry on towards Monument Road Bridge where you can wind at an old side arm. The gusting wind helped with the start of our wind, but meant using the bow thruster to assist finishing our turn. We headed back towards Sheepcote Bridge. Just a couple of spaces free on the two day moorings, we pulled into the first one as another boat pulled into the other.

P1340954smWhat is this outside! They say I won’t like it, how do they know? They won’t even let me try it to see. There are plenty of people who stop to say hello to me, well that’s when I’m in a window rather than shouting at the back door. Tilly and I may fall out if she keeps up with her shouting. We may have to let her out when the towpath is very busy, she’ll soon understand and go to sleep!

P1340911IMAG0504smDSCF7114sm0 locks, 2 counted on Water Explorer! 1000 since launch, 12.43 miles, 1597 miles since launch (ish), 2 rights, 2 winds, 1 straightish, 1 left, 1 lift bridge, 10 held up, 25 sheets of plans not to scale! 1 website at odds with dimensions, 12 set sketches, 1 noisy day with Tilly! 0 exploring allowed!! 1st home grown salad, 1 slightly smaller green monster in the cratch.

https://goo.gl/maps/3WyNkTw9STD2

Narnia In Summer 20th June

Lapworth Lock 22 to Nearly Dickens Heath

P1340824smWith the car returned and enough water left in the tank to do some washing the engine was started and we watched boats come and go past us until we knew that the rinsing of our clothes was nearly complete. Lock 22 was in our favour so we quickly untied before another boat came up the lock below.

P1340825smP1340828smThe water point was slow to say the least, most probably not helped by the dishwasher having gone on as soon as we’d tied up. I made use of the time and strained the elderflower cordial and bottled it into suitable containers that I’d been keeping.

After an hour we were ready to push onwards and upwards towards Birmingham. But there was mizzle in the air, the sort that before you’ve realised it you are soaked to the skin. Normally we’d stay put until it dried up, we could go through the link towards the Grand Union, wind at the junction and then tie up on the moorings there, or we could push on through and get wet. We looked at each other, we’d been here too long already, ‘Let’s get wet!’ we said in unison.

The next lock up was full, I checked that a lady wasn’t wanting to come down, she was having some difficulty with a tap to wash her boat. I did ask if she could give the port side of Oleanna a spray as we went past as her boat looked very clean and she’d not even started, but she was having serious problems with her hose attachments.

P1340836smFrom here on the bottom gates revert to double gates. The single bottom gates are handy in that you don’t have to walk round to open or close the other side (unless you have long legs and can jump across) they are just quite heavy. Not sure which I prefer, the extra walk or the extra weight?

A boat was coming down so we paused for them to come past. This meant the next few locks would be in our favour, up to the long pound before the flight really gets going. The rain came and went, we really didn’t know whether it was best to wear a coat or remove it, which would keep us drier? After seven locks we decided to pull in on the rings and have some lunch before continuing up the next thirteen, other boats did the same including one coming downhill.

P1340840smOnce we’d fuelled ourselves we pushed off, the flight ahead was mostly empty apart from where the top gates leak. I walked up ahead to get the next one ready whilst Mick closed up behind. The rest of the flight was ours no boats ahead and no boat coming down to meet us between locks 7 and 8. This pound is shorter than most on the flight and has a bend. We’ve had to wait below lock 8 before for a 70fter to come through, but not today.

P1340842smP1340860smI chose to walk all the way, including the half mile pound to the next two locks. This is where a couple of years ago Tilly lost a collar in the sideways trees, a reflective one that didn’t reflect when a torch was shone around the area to try to find it. I didn’t bother looking for it. The last four locks were all full so my walk saved Oleanna waiting below.

P1340881smP1340887smAt around 3:30pm Oleanna was coming up Narnia Lock (Lapworth Top Lock). Our first journey through here on our shareboat was on a very snowy morning. The canal was covered in slush and the world looked magical in the snowy light. We’ve been through here now several times since, but today was by far the hottest, now the waterproofs had been abandoned and sun cream applied.

P1340890smNext through the lift bridges, the first being harder than the second. In fact the second was so easy I over wound it and it bounced back some! Through Hockley Heath with it’s strange expensive shops. The chap who gave Mick a lift back from Solihull this morning explained that the hot tub shop, Rolls Royce and McClaren show rooms are there because lots of footballers and managers live in the area.

P1340898smPassing under bridge 20 and we still didn’t stop to go to Wedges. Bakers don’t have the appeal they used to have, a nice crusty loaf just fills me with the thought of indigestion. After seeing so few boats on the flight it turned out they were all waiting for us at bridge holes! In quick succession we passed five.

P1340905smWe wanted to find a mooring to have a barbecue, even though it was a touch windy. Mick kept wanting to stop where there were boats moored on the off side, but I kept wanting to carry on to where we’d stopped on Lillian. On we went and found the mooring I’d been thinking of, just short of Dickens Heath. The towpath could have been a touch wider, but we weren’t going to smoke out other boats.

Why couldn’t they have sorted this outside sooner! Giving me two hours, my feet! Instead I came and went whilst they had their dingding, but then they left me to it. I made the most of it, climbing trees, digging holes, rolling around. The two hours became very long and I returned just before the lights dimmed. Apparently I’m not going to like tomorrows outside!

Once we’d eaten we retired indoors, the evening cooling down. But after a couple of hours the inside of Oleanna had also cooled down somewhat, so the heating was put on for an hour!

DSCF7114sm20 locks, 6.4 miles, 2 lift bridges, 1 soggy morning, 1 load washing, 1 dishwasher load, 0 rubbish left, 1 full water tank, 1 straight on, 1 boat in the flight, 5 on the flat at bridge holes!

https://goo.gl/maps/c9nGj7bBmh62