Birmingham Main Line/Birmingham Canal Navigations 5.4.14

Birmingham Canal Navigations and The Birmingham Main Line

On Saturday 5th April by 12.45pm we were ready to leave Birmingham..... we pulled up the ropes, started the engine; we were outta here!

Leaving the Birmingham & Fazeley Canal, Gas Street Basin to our left, but we head right...

It was dry, grey and breezy today. Not ideal but we wanted to move, desperately! We headed out of Cambrian Wharf, turned right at the roundabout at Brindley Place and were on the Birmingham Main Line. 

We leave the city centre behind, the new Birmingham Library in the background

It wasn't pretty, but it was pleasant enough. 

Old factories still dominate the cityscape...

Islands of bricks appear in the centre of the canal...

.... and another weird island appears, wonder if these may be old bridge foundations?

There's all sorts of ways to go, loops and arms head off in all directions... we head off  to Wolverhampton

The Wolverhampton Levels runs higher on the right hand side of us... weird thinking there are two canals together!

There's two canals side by side here, the Birmingham Main Line that we're on and the Wolverhampton Levels, and a canal aqueduct that goes over the canal too! 

A narrow boat passes over the aqueduct above us as we carry on out of Birmingham

It's grassy, very straight and there's a train line runs right next to it. 

... and the trainline runs alongside the canal for quite a distance

Old factories, long since working, all covered in graffiti and derelict now sit beside new modern industrial warehouses that line the canal banks here.

This is Rotton Park Junction!

And you can see why! Here is one of the loop bridges at the junction! Nasty!

We've still got islands of rubbish floating about...

We go through the tiny tunnel, looks modern and new too!

Walls of factorys line the canal here, road and rail bridges zig zag over the canal too.

A Virgin train speeds overhead...

This old pump house used to control the amount of water needed in the canal, its now a museum

We travelled 8 miles in a 'more or less' straight line, lots of bridges, lots of different arms and loops and junctions, straight bits and wide open bits, all quite interesting but not at all worrying. The water is a bit clearer, the people seem a bit less dodgy!

We cruise under this massive bridge...

... and Mr Heron does a little dance for us! The water must be getting cleaner now... the herons are about 

This is where the two canals meet.... the bridge shows the canal meeting point

Looking back at the Wolverhampton Levels (left) with a lock in the distance, and the Birmingham Main Line (right)

Another island in the canal, but the trees hadnt been cut back and I managed to scrape a lovely line all the way down the side of the boat!

Its so long and straight it seems to go on forever before we get to the locks

It wasnt long before we reached the three Factory locks leading on to Factory Junction. They were all deep locks, but still single in width. 

The three Factory Locks were all deep, but still single locks... we went up them easily and smoothly

Entering the bottom of the Factory Locks

We got to the top, we're now on our way to Dudley Tunnel!

The Birmingham Main Line meets the Wolverhampton Level, we take a left detour for the night to moor up at Dudley Tunnel entrance, the Black Country Living Museum, we learned its safer there!

We soon got to the top where the Wolverhampton Level joins the Main Line, we did a sharp left at the junction and we were on our way to Dudley, to the Black Country Living Museum. 

We navigate round twists and turns the mile or so to the Dudley Tunnel 

... at least we know we're on the right route!

It had been recommended to us that we moor there, it's a couple of miles out of our way, but it's safe there. It's another BW gated locked mooring. 

The sign says turn right, but we nearly missed this one!

After a 'twisty turney' couple of miles we turned off the Wolverhampton Levels and went towards the Dudley Tunnel (we couldn't go through the tunnel because a normal height narrow boat won't fit, it's too high!). The museum is right by the tunnel entrance, so are the 48hr moorings! 

Moored up near the Dudley Tunnel entrance (too small for our boat to get through there) opposite the Black Country Museum, the tall chimney of the museum in the background.

It was now 4pm, I turned the boat round, heading the way we'd just come and moored up. There were plenty of spaces, fenced in with a bit of grass Jack could play on but it was right near a busy road. It's going to be pretty noisy here, but it's safe!

The especially adapted trip boats that take you into the tunnel have been lowered because of the headroom!

Jack had a nice bit of grass here to play on...

We went off to explore the walks, and as you can imagine there wasn't a lot!

We found a woodland area, was a stunning area but unfortunately it was really littered up. 

.We took Jack into the woods above the tunnel....

... looking back over Birmingham

Could have been a lovely place but it obviously served as a motor/bike track, drinking place and hang out to the people from the huge housing estate on the other side of the woods! So we weren't there long, and as we made our way back to the boat it started to pour down.

The Black Country Living Museum... taken from our front garden for the night!

We had a pretty good night, Paul spotted some drinkers under sitting under the bridge on the opposite side of the canal but we knew they couldn't get to us. The road noise wasn't intrusive at all except for a few sirens of emergency vehicles.

On Sunday 6th April our plans changed, we had decided to take a trip boat into the Dudley tunnel but the weather forecast for today was not great, but tomorrow it was terrible. So we decided to move off today, we've got 22 locks to do and we wanted a good start to the day. We were ready by 7.30am, Jack was walked and it wasn't raining yet but it was cold, and grey and windy. 

Heading off towards the junction...

We weaved our way round tight bends and slowly round the few moored boats that there were until we got back to Factory Junction. 

Looking back towards Factory Locks where we had come from the last night. We had come from the right today, we turned left and were rejoining the Birmingham Main Line, on our way to Wolverhampton

Where we came up from the right last night we swung a left and rejoined the canal heading once again for Wolverhampton.

It's not bad here, it's getting greener and more pleasant as we travel on

Heading towards Coseley Tunnel, short but sweet! With no tunnel light we had to improvise with a torch!

We head on through the short 360 yd Coseley Tunnel only to discover as we entered our main tunnel light didn't work! So quick thinking Paul sat on the front of the boat with a torch! Not quite the same but it's something! We travel on through industry, the canal twists and turns with bridges at all angles.

The bridges are all ugly....

... and on sharp bends

... but this is the ugly award winner... what on earth???

I can remember this place, it's Kingfisher Narrowboats, or was, 15 years ago. I stopped here and bought something...

... but Im not sure I'd be able to now, looks just like all the other derelict work and warehouses along the canal.

This bridge is obviously a multistory car park now!

It's very industrial here, but it's all modern working factories and warehouses that line the canal banks now.

We stay on the Wolverhampton Level and cruise on through half a mile of retail warehouses onto the top of the Wolverhampton flight of 21 locks. It's not too bad here, just lots of people and traffic about, it's a busy area. 

Yee har! There's a boat coming out of the top lock, hopefully the locks will all be full and waiting!

As we approach the top lock there's a boat just coming out of the lock, bingo! Hopefully all the locks will be full and ready for us, exceptions being leakage allowance!

Near the top of the flight is this huge recycling factory, the smell was rancid!

We started our decent of the 21 locks over 2 miles at 10am. We carried on steadily getting a good system going, Paul and Jack heading off with the bike, I'm left to finish the lock off. 

Railway lines overhead above the big huge arches

The gates are tough, the side streams are strong...

... and Paul and Jack go off to get the next lock ready while I cruise on under yet another railway bridge!

We got some piece of massive black polythene wrapped around the prop about five locks down, but soon that was pulled and cut off the prop and we were on our way again.

... and onwards the pair of them go...

... and back they come to help me down this lock.. Jack whizzing round every corner!

... and the countryside is getting greener, prettier, and noway near the amount of graffiti about now.

And the locks still keep on coming... but we're getting further and further away from Birmingham

Jack must have ran a 'million miles' up and down to me and Paul and back again .... he was having a great time! The surroundings now are getting greener and prettier as we go down the locks, trees in leaf and pretty paths and grassy areas. 

We finally reached the bottom! Lock 21! What a relief! Ahead was the Staffs & Worcs canal, and we were turning right

Just leaving now, we turn right and head towards Autherley Junction, our driveway to the Shroppie

Looking back at the Wolverhampton flight, bottom lock 21... We've done it!!

At 12.45 we finally get to lock number 21. 
We'd made it! We'd done the dreaded Wolverhampton locks and were soon to be on the Shropshire Union Canal.

We turned right, heading Great Haywood way, but only for half a mile

Aldersley junction was at the bottom of the flight, so under the lock bridge we went and immediatly turned right on to the Staffs & Worcs canal once again.

We were only on this canal for a half a mile, but it's the driveway to the Shroppie! 

The sign says to turn left, we're heading towards Chester and finally we've made it to the Shroppie!

After half a mile we were at Autherley Junction where the Shroppie meets the Staffs & Worcs and we turn sharp left, under the junction bridge and there's a tiny lock!

Very soon we came to Autherley Junction our gateway to the Shropshire Union

It's about 8" deep and it used to be used as a toll lock where charges were made to boaters when they were entering a different canal.

We wait patiently while a hire boat bashes its way in and out of the lock. We've made it, we're now on the Shroppie

Not any more tho, we go up, or is it down(?) through the lock and along the straight start of the Shropshire Union Canal!!
Now our cruise really begins......