To Crick: Day 14

Cloudy and chilly again to start.  We set off at about 9, and Adrian worked the two Cape Locks to see if his injured arm was up to it.  It was a bit painful, so I’ll be doing the locks up the other side of the hill.  In Warwick, the former Kate Boats site is now Warwickshire Narrowboat Hire, with some smart-looking boats.  The new development opposite is now finished, and looks good.  We liked the way they’d made the houses facing the canal look like warehouses.

We stopped just before Bright 46, because a Tesco shop was called for.  It turned out the moorings right outside were also free, but you can’t see that until you’re through the bridge, by which time it’s too late if they’re full.  We did a decent sized shop, then when everything was stowed away we set off to walk to the home of my former colleague Judith in Leamington.  It’s about a 15 minute walk, to her lovely house in a small development near a converted water mill on the Avon.  Judith and her husband, Phil, provided a nice lunch, then showed us round the extensive grounds shared by the houses there, including a lot of woodlands.  That leads out to fields along the river, and we passed the spooky-looking Guys Cliffe House,  it was really great to see Judith, Phil, and their girls — a really lovely day.

It was about 3.45 when we got back to the boat, but we wanted to get out into the countryside for the night so we set off, now in warm sunshine.  We crossed the Avon on the aqueduct, into Leamington Spa.  We made a brief stop opposite Morrison’s, so Adrian could collect more hayfever medication from an Amazon locker, then we carried on to Radford Semele, where we picked a spot on piling, with the church across the canal up the hill.

We don’t seem to have telly, maybe because we’re a bit low, which is a shame because it’s Eurovision tonight!

4 miles, 2 locks.  (87 miles, 96 locks)

To Crick: Day 13

A funny thing happened just as we were getting ready to set off.  I was trying to take a side fender up, when a man walking along the towpath checked I was who he thought I was.  It was Richard Parry, the chief exec of CRT, on his way to a meeting at Hatton.  We had a chat about various things before he continued along the towpath.  I followed a couple of minutes later with a windlass, while Adrian brought the boat.  I had set the top lock by the time he arrived.

The second lock was full with a gate open, but the next two were empty.  

As I filled the fourth lock a volunteer lockie on a bike turned up, and offered to go down and set ahead for us — which is the sort of offer that makes a huge difference.  We were soon going past the CRT building, and then into the thick of the flight, with the tower of Warwick church in the distance.

The volunteer kept a couple of locks ahead, and was later joined by another.  Then, more than half way down, we swapped with a boat going up.  The lockie with the bike joined them on the way up, while the other one, who’s based at the bottom of the flight, continued to set ahead for us.  I asked him if he’d thought about getting a bike too, and he said the other guy used to be an RAF pilot so needed a mechanism for everything, while he’d been in the infantry!  They’ve worked on the flight together for nine years.  The bottom half of the flight has the locks much further apart, so having them set makes even more of a difference.  

We were soon at the bottom, and had done all 21 big locks in two and a half hours — which we thought was pretty good going.  We continued round the corner to the Cape moorings, where you often wonder if you’ll get a space.  Today, there was just one boat immediately beyond the bridge, but the rest of the length was completely empty.  We chose a sunny spot, with a bit of grass beside the boat rather than concrete.  It was only a little past 11 o’clock.

After lunch we decided we’d have a walk into Warwick, as it’s a long time since we’ve been to the town.  We had a good look around at some of the buildings, including the Lord Leycester Hospital.

The Market Place was full of people enjoying a drink in the sunshine.

At St Mary’s Church, we paid £5 to go up the tower, for great views in all directions, including across Leamington, towards the Cotswolds, and of course Warwick Castle.  Having paid, they take you out to the porch and unlock a secret door where the stairs start.

We spent quite a lot of time trying to work out where Hatton Locks were, and we might have identified the general area!  The 160 steep spiral stairs seemed worse on the way down than the way up.

We walked a slightly different route back to the boat.  Another couple of boats have joined us on the moorings, but it’s still very quiet.

3 miles, 21 locks.  (83 miles, 94 locks)

To Crick: Day 12

Quite chilly and overcast today, which came as a bit of a shock.  We set off at 8am, with me walking down to the lock while Adrian brought the boat.  A couple of boats had come up yesterday evening, so the locks were full or just needed topping up.  Lapworth is a very pretty flight.

Around the middle of the section where all the locks are close together, we swapped with a boat coming up.  The pounds here are very short, but at least this was a short boat, and one of the straight pounds.

We did the first nine locks in an hour, then went round the corner to the next few.  The next lock was empty and there was a boat about to come up the one below so we waited.  It took about 15 minutes before we could go into the lock, but I had a nice chat with some of the crew of the boat, an Alvechurch hire boat with four couples on board. A volunteer lock keeper had also appeared, and he would a paddle or two.  He also advised that the water point just before the bottom of the flight wasn’t up to much, and the one at the junction was better.  So when we got to the point where there are two locks to choose from, we took the one towards Stratford, which was full, as opposed to the one pointing to the Grand Union, which is the way we were actually heading.

Below that, we stopped on the service point just beyond the cottage.  I wondered out loud whether this meant we could say we’d travelled on the South Stratford Canal this year as well as the North.

Once we had watered up, got washing on, and disposed of rubbish, we reversed off across the basin and went through the Lapworth Link.

Then it was a right at Kingswood Junction onto the GU towards Warwick.  Shrewley Tunnel, which has a horse tunnel alongside which leads up to the road, was very wet inside.

A boat who was coming the other way for some reason decided to wait for us to come through, rather than  passing inside.  We moored up on the piling just before Bridge 55, where it’s a bit more open than the gloomy visitor moorings immediately above Hatton Locks.  It was about 12.15.  Then we walked down the first few locks, as we were meeting Bob and June for lunch at the cafe.  They had with them the Guide Dog puppy they’re looking after for a week, so we sat in the covered outside area — where it turned out to be pretty chilly.  We had a great catch up though, and it was lovely to see them.

Tomorrow we have the Hatton Locks to do.

6 miles, 15 locks.  (80 miles, 73 locks)

To Crick: Day 11

A very long day by our standards these days!  We set off at 8am, turning right at Old Turn Junction and going under Broad Street, or Black Sabbath Bridge as it’s now been christened.

Then it was through Gas Street Basin and the narrow of Worcester Bar, which is the start of the Worcester and Birmingham Canal.

We stopped at Holliday Wharf for water and to get the washing machine going, and then set off again about 20 minutes later.  The next section is accompanied by the railway, with mostly West Midlands Trains going to all sorts of places, but also Cross Country services, including one from Plymouth to Edinburgh.

At Edgbaston you get glimpses of the University with its tower, and it’s been interesting to follow the rebuild of University Station, which was just a shell when we passed a few years back, and has developed ever since.

Nature has also disguised the new aqueduct just beyond here, and today a heron was sitting on one of the railings and stayed there as we went past.

When we got to Selly Oak, we moored up opposite the Sainsbury’s.  The moorings are in a kind of winding hole (there’s actually another one a hundred yards further on).

We did a shop for the next few days, and also picked up a new smart tv we’d ordered from Argos.  It’s smaller than the current one, which fits better, and the smart aspect means we should be able to stream things without having to download them.  When we had brought everything back to the boat, it took two attempts to get out of the mooring.  The first time, the stern got a bit caught in the mud on the offside, and the wind blew the boat pretty much back to where we’d started.  The second time, I knew not to go so far back.  Before long we were at King’s Norton Junction, and turning sharp left onto the Stratford Canal.

The first feature is the old guillotine lock, which nowadays you just go straight through.

Then come Brandwood Tunnel.  The sign at the portal says it takes 16 minutes to go through; we did it in four.

While there are miles and miles without locks, there are lift bridges, including the electric one at Shirley.  A boat was coming the other way, and the lady said she’d stay there while we went through too.  So they came through and then it was our turn.  Probably because of a road closure nearby, no cars were held up.

The North Stratford always seems like a bit of a slog.  It’s pretty slow going and there aren’t even that many bridges to tick off.  And today, lots of the canal had big branches floating in it.  It looked as though someone had done a lot of cutting back and just dumped everything in the water.  I managed to get one branch off the rudder while we were going along  but we also made a brief stop so I could get more off the property.  We had lunch on the move as the miles ticked by, and eventually we reached the two lift bridges at Hockley Heath.

We got to the top of the Lapworth flight, with plans to do the first four locks and stop in the long pound.  at the second lock, there was a big log in the lock, and although i tried to keep an eye on it and Adrian brought the boat in very slowly, the swirling water meant it disappeared and the boat stopped, seeming wedged.  Using the pole, I knocked the log loose, and then Adrian reversed out while I pushed the log out of the lock and kept it to the side while he went back in again.  We have reported it.  Things were simpler and the next couple.

We moored up at gone 4.30 — and have got a chicken in the oven for a midweek roast!

18 miles, 4 locks. (74 miles, 58 locks)

To Crick: Day 10

Really sunny and warm today, and we were having a day off, with a bit of sightseeing and some boat jobs.  After breakfast we changed the bed and walked up to Five Ways to a dry cleaners, where we put the bedding in for a service wash.  We could easily wash it all on board, but we don’t have the drying capacity.  From there we walked down to the Worcester and Birmingham Canal, along to the Mailbox, and into town.  Among our discoveries was the Great Western Arcade.

We also went to see the well known bit of the Bullring shopping centre.

On our way back, we walked past the Floozie, who while having more water than when she was in a flower bed for a time, was in no way in a Jacuzzi.

We had lunch on board and walked down to the rubbish and recycling compound, and then decided to visit the Library of Birmingham, which we haven’t been to for a while.

Perhaps the best bit is the Secret Garden on the 7th floor, with great views in all directions.  Dominating the skyline these days is the Octogon building, which isn’t finished yet but is now the city’s tallest.

In the opposite direction, we could see the canal and Briar Rose.

We had an ice cream from a van outside the library, and then walked up Broad Street to get our washing.  Boats have been coming and going throughout the day, and the towpaths are busy with people.  We haven’t really seen signs of the Birmingham bin strike, except that all the streets seem a bit dirty.  It could be because street cleaning vehicles have apparently been redeployed to collect refuse.

Tonight, we have tickets to see a play at the Crescent Theatre, just a short walk away on Sheepcote Street.

0 miles, 0 locks.  (56 miles, 54 locks)

To Crick: Day 9

Mad O’Rouke’s Pie Factory last night was very good again — and very good value.  And we had a very quiet night on the moorings by the health centre.  This morning, a boat came past heading towards Wolverhampton while we had breakfast, and another followed just as we were about to leave.  We made a very short journey through the bridge to Coronation Gardens  where there’s a rather anonymous water point.  The park has a statue of the boxer, William Perry, the Tipton Slasher.

We got washing going while the tank filled, and then set off again at 8.30, through Tipton Junction without turning down to the museum, and on along the Old Main Line.  One thing we’ve noticed in the urban areas is the proliferation of coots.  Lots of them seem to have very small chicks at the moment, with the mothers sitting on nests with her wings over them.

There’s always plenty to see on the Old Main Line, including lots of old basins.

We passed Brades Hall Junction, where we had an unfortunate incident with the staircase locks a few years ago.

Before Oldbury Junction there are some new houses being built, sandwiched between huge warehouses, and with the M5 thundering overhead just a few dozen yards away.

Then it was our turn to head under the motorway.

There’s a huge new waste to energy plant being built alongside the canal.  In fact it turned out it’s right by the Spon Lane Locks.

We went over the Stewart Aqueduct over the New Main Line, through Summit Tunnel, and took the obligatory photo of Smethwick Pumping Station.

At Smethwick Locks, the pound between the top and the middle locks was very low, so we spent a few minutes running water through the lock to get some depth.  It was no hardship waiting in the sunshine.

I’d also opened a top paddle on the middle lock to fill it, so we could go straight from one lock to the other.  But then we spotted someone at the middle lock trying to empty it.  As Adrian was now heading out of the lock, he sounded his horn a few times until the guy closed the bottom paddle, and shrugged in the direction of his boat.  When I got to the lock I explained to him that we’d spent a while topping up the pound, and he’d just been emptying it again.  It may have been that the guy was a novice, because when Adrian had left the middle lock he closed the gate, before his boat had gone in!  Anyway, we then had the unusual sight of boats swapping between two locks on the Smethwick flight.

After the third lock we joined the New Main Line at Smethwick Junction.

The housing development at the Icknield Port Loop has now reached the Main Line, with one block of flats finished and lots more scaffolding going up.

We headed through the Oozells Street Loop, hoping for a mooring there, but the only space was under the bridge, which we didn’t fancy.  So we continued through, and reversed up the Main Line.  We are next to a garden in memory of Albert Rooke, apparently known as the Harbourmaster of Birmingham.

This afternoon, we wandered along through Gas Street Basin to The Mailbox to buy something for dinner tonight.  The actor, Simon Williams, was sat outside one of the restaurants there — he’s probably recording The Archers at the moment.  Since we’ve got back there’s been some thunder and a few raindrops, just as we’re heading out to meet a former colleague of Adrian’s for a drink in town.

9 miles, 3 locks.  (56 miles, 54 locks)