The Birmingham & Fazeley Canal 28th March 2014
We turn right by the newly painted red building onto the Birmingham
and Fazeley canal .....
 |
| Turning right we notice this corner has been tidied up a lot since we last came here... |
 |
| ... there's even been a kingfisher and a robin painted on this wall! |
Were on our way! This corner used to be dreadful, run
down and derelict, but now there's definitely signs of improvement. The collapsing
walls are now joined onto buildings, its tidy and someone's even painted two
lovely pictures on the once graffiti filled wall! Looking good!
As we go sharp right under the bridge Paul goes up the
front to get a better view round the corner. All clear and we get on our way.
 |
| This huge old factory is still running... it definitely dominates the landscape here! |
There's a massive factory that still seems to be
working on our left and modern new houses on our right. We cruise past the
Fazeley marina and the countryside opens up with flat open fields, all planted
and sprouting up for spring.
 |
| This swing bridge was open for us as we travelled under the 'big' little bridge |
We go under a small but very different looking
bridge, it's got these amazing but seemingly useless turrets on either side!
Probably a little bridge trying to pretent to be a big bridge!
 |
| Looking back at the turreted bridge |
The road follows us for the next three miles till we
come to some gravel pits, and then the little village of Drayton Bassett and
then we head out into the open countryside once again.
 |
| Open countryside looks grey and dismal as the rain threatens.... |
 |
| Its a reedy trip up this section |
We get as far as Fisher
Mill Bridge and there's a load of lakes all around us here. We decide this
would be a great place to stop, Jack would love it here! So we pull over and
tie the boat up.
 |
| Our little mooring spot by the gravel pits, now a nature reserve |
After a good explore of the area we discover that dogs
can only go round the lakes if they're on leads as it's a huge nature reserve,
busy all day with twitchers all with cameras with huge lenses and massive binoculars!
A 'no go' area for us as Jack loves to chase anything with feathers!
 |
| All you can hear here are the birds.... what a wonderful and safe place for them to be |
We do find a great stubble field and an empty sheep
field to walk, and the stream in the woods was a great favorite of Jacks!
 |
| Jack loved running through the shallow stream in the woods |
 |
| ... and he just kept running!! |
 |
| The twit chers were out in force this weekend |
At the weekend of the 29th March the surrounding area became really busy
with bird watchers, they were everywhere, like flies round pooh!
 |
| And they just kept on coming! |
But we kept
ourselves busy too, we did some paint preparation on one of the gunwales, put a
first coat on too just before it rained! Waste of time hey, the rain wrecked
the new coat of paint!
 |
| We managed to paint the gunwale on the towpath side... for it to rain straight after! Bugger! |
We collected lots of wood after dark so no one saw us,
and Paul chopped and sawed it up.
We found more water under the bilges, hopefully
condensation, and Paul soaked it up.
 |
| Such a beautiful peaceful place to be... sun going down in front of us |
But it was so quiet and peaceful here, just the sounds
of the birds, and when it was dark, silence!
 |
| We left as the fog was just clearing |
Tuesday 1st April and we woke to fog, leaving our
little spot by the lakes we set off, Paul and Jack walking the mile to the
first of five Curdworth locks and I set off on the boat. Just as we got there
there was a boat leaving the lock, so they were all set ready for us! Bonus!
Paul and Jack carried on up the flight opening all the bottom gates ready for
me to take the boat straight in.
 |
| Trees filling up with their leaves and blossom make a shield around a corner |
 |
| Making our way up the flight of locks... |
The busy M42 now runs along side the lock
flight, but were in another world over here!
 |
| ... and waiting to leave the lock |
We met a couple of hire boats coming
down, and we got stuck for a short while waiting for some C&RT workers to
finish what they were doing in lock no. 4.
 |
| ... and navigating round the C&RT work boat... mind the placcy boat on the left! |
A tricky manoeuvre between them and
a placcy boat followed, but with inches to spare we were on our way. The fog had lifted now and it was a cloudy but warm
and humid day.
 |
| Under the M6 Toll Road Bridge... and the last lock is up ahead |
We went under the Toll M6 road bridge and through the tiny 52 metres
long Curdworth tunnel.
 |
| Approaching the tiny Curdworth Tunnel |
 |
| And leaving the tunnel on the other side! |
The area is good, nice countryside all around at the moment,
but we can see Birmingham in the distance, great tower blocks along the horizon.
 |
| Approaching the outskirts of Birmingham... tall tower blocks on the horizon |
Industrial units have started to appear now as we approach Minworth, the
rubbish is getting worse in the canal and along the towpaths. The water is thick
black and smelly and we approach the first of the three Minworth locks.
 |
| Our first of the Minworth locks, water hides a lot of rubbish just below the surface |
At the
second lock there's a boat grounded at the entrance of the lock.
There's room
to get in and we discover they've got masses of rubbish around their prop .... hopefully
not a sign of things to come!
 |
| We call out to see if they need any help, but they seem to have things under control... so they say! |
We get to the top of the locks and the area gets worse.
The rubbish is horrid, there so much just under the surface of the canal you
just know this will cause you a problem!
 |
| Rubbish dumped from factories... its shocking! |
The graffiti is everywhere, people
sitting about on benches drinking out of cans and it's still the morning.
 |
| This is just the surface.... there's so much crap below the surface... all a challenge! |
With disused factories and rubbish filled canals now
the norm, we knew we were getting towards the heart of the city.
 |
| Rubbish, Rubbish everywhere... |
We made slow
progress for an hour, going under traffic laiden bridges and under old disused
warehouses.
 |
| ... all the factories and business seem to use the canal as a rubbish tip |
 |
| This old warehouse used to house 'idiots' in the community! |
 |
| We make our way eeriely through the underground world... |
 |
| ... once this was a madhouse! |
All built up and rough looking areas, we just hoped we wouldn't
have to stop here for a prop clean!
 |
| We travel up towards Spaghetti Junction, this huge power station you can see from the M6, just to the left |
 |
| We continue onwards... the M6 directly above us now! |
 |
| This is where we make our left turn, onto the Grand Union once again... such a desirable area.... not! |
 |
| We've just come from the Tamworth/Minworth direction, heading towards the Bordesley Village/Digbeth direction |
We eventually made it to Spaghetti Junction
and followed the M6 for a while. Between the tall pillars supporting the road
high up above we made a sharp left turn, ploughing through all the rubbish and
the even thicker blacker sludge they call the canal here. Leaving the Birmingham & Fazeley canal we joined the Grand Union once again, rough.
 |
| We leave the Birmingham & Fazeley under the M6 ... we have no idea what lays ahead! |
 |
| We leave the junction, only a short distance to Star City |
Just a few hundred yards on was the huge Star City
(also referred to as Stab City, we found out later), a massive complex with all
the wonderful eateries, casino, rock climbing wall and a fair ground!
 |
| 24 hours only at the Star City Moorings... thats quite enough! |
But what
it also had was secure moorings, with a C&RT keyed padlock at the gate. We
were recommended to moor here, we decided we'd had enough today and were ready
to stop, so we pulled in on to the floating platform and tied the boat up. We'd
travelled 10 miles and had done 14 locks today and it was now 2.15pm.
 |
| And we're moored up now, locked BW gated fence all around, much nicer than we thought! |
It's fairly noisy here but we find a bit of green
grass to throw a ball for Jack. We've also got a fenced in piece of grass too,
so Jack's happy!
 |
| Well we're here, at Star City... |
 |
| The canal is at the bottom of this pic, we found a bit of grass for Jack to run off some energy |
We venture off to Star City for the evening and choose from
the multitude of places to eat, deciding on Oodles n Noodles, only to find
after we'd ordered they didn't serve beer! It was a lovely meal, one of the
best Thai meals I've ever eaten! There's so many places to choose from, we can even gamble in the Casino or go indoor rock climbing, or to the pictures!
But we decide to go back to the boat, there's people every where, it's so
busy here!
But we felt safe behind our locked gate and had a nice quiet night.
 |
| Moored up in Star City, the M6 motor way right behind us |
 |
| Jack finds a tasty bottle, there's lots to choose from here! |
 |
| We were moored here right next to busy carpark but never heard a thing! |
 |
| We got told off for playing ball with Jack in the empty car park in the morning.... security have nothing better to do |
On Wednesday 2nd April we headed towards the city centre bright and early. We had 25 locks to do today and several miles, we knew it was not going to be pleasant!
 |
| Loads of big bridges all covered in graffiti |
 |
| ... it covers every vertical surface.. |
 |
| Under all the bridges there's rubbish everywhere... looks horrid... not what we're used to! |
And we were right! There's old factories everywhere,
old derelict buildings full of graffiti, burnt out houses, people sitting about
drunk and peeing under the many train and road bridges, (every bridge smells of
pee) evidence of fires under all the bridges.
 |
| I hate these people who do this to our wonderful canals. |
I've never seen so much rubbish laying
on the banks of the canal as we have today! And under the water too, floating
about just hoping for a chance to cling on to your rudder and really mess up
your day! There's a huge recycling building, that stinks rotten! And that was
in the first mile and a half of our day.
 |
| And this is our first lock|! What a state! We were disgusted. |
It didn't get any better ... we got to the first of
the 6 Garrison locks and there's a burnt out lock cottage, evidence of people
sleeping here, cider bottles, lager cans, needles and aerosol cans strewn about
everywhere.
 |
| This is not a place to hang around longer than you have to... |
 |
| Leaving the first lock this huge derelict warehouse sets the tone of things to come |
The water in the canal is black and smelly, oily silt comes to the
surface as we make our way up the locks. Always looking around .... watching
and listening.
 |
| ... our second lock |
 |
| ... a discarded bundle of carrier bags pulled off someone's prop. When this happens it can stop your engine totally. |
 |
| Last lock and we just want to get out of here! |
 |
| Arriving at Digbeth Junction, still no change in the landscape then |
But as we get higher up the locks there is evidence of
some building work and smartening up of the area, looks like they've got a long
way to go yet, but it's a start!
 |
| Building work is all around us, but I wouldn't want to live here! |
It's still a terrible place to be, were on
edge all the time.
 |
| Inside the Ashted Tunnel, the left hand side of the tunnel scraped all along our handrail, the towpath rail to the right of the picture shows there's just no more room in this tunnel. |
Just before the last lock we entered the very low
sided Ashted Tunnel, scraping our way along the low roof, taking a lot of paint
off the hand rail in the process.
 |
| Leaving the delightful Ashted Tunnel and entering the last of the Ashted Locks |
Into the last lock, and we were through! We'd
done 12 locks and three miles of the worst possible area to cruise and we still
had more to do.
 |
| Moored up for crumpets and coffee, and for a breather and a pat on the back! But we weren't there yet... |
We pulled over at a 48 hr mooring near a nursery
school. Jack came out for a play, we can't let him out at the locks in an area
like this!
After our brief stop for tea and crumpets we continued
our journey onwards into Birmingham City. It's really windy now, and cold too. It's
supposed to rain by 12 and it's now 11.30am. So fingers crossed.
We've still got 13 Farmers locks in a mile and a half to
do, the worst ones yet apparently!
All day we hadn't seen anyone about, no boats moored
or moving, no joggers or cyclists, just a few drunks staggering about.
 |
Ashted Junction, we came from the right on the Digbeth Branch.
The Birmingham & Fazeley canal continues to the left... |
We cruised on a little way and we were at Ashted
Junction where the Birmingham and Fazeley canal joins the Digbeth branch. We
saw our first boat of the day as it disappeared into the first lock of the Birm
& Faz canal. But what it did mean was that all or most of the 13 Farmers
Locks should be empty and in our favour! After a cheery wave we turned left and
carried on the half mile into Birmingham, back on the Birm & Faz canal.
 |
| The first of the Farmers locks.... not a pleasant place to be |
We soon came up to the first of the Farmers Locks, drunks drunk on benches as I dropped Paul off to get the first lock ready.
 |
| Rubbish surrounds us under the bridge on our approach to the first lock |
 |
| Yuck! This area is so disgusting... there's rubbish everywhere. There's too many dark corners about |
 |
| Under this massive ugly smelly bridge and into the next lock |
 |
| Looking back... still not pleasant |
 |
| Old and knackered... thats the locks not Paul! |
 |
| This lock took us under the big tower block here, it was on stilts in the water! |
 |
| Entering the 'lock under the block' |
 |
| Leaving the first 'lock under the block'..... |
 |
| .... and entering the second 'lock under the block' |
 |
| Straight out of one and into another, and it's raining now too! |
The locks were in tunnels, under tower blocks
on pillars, all very dark, the area smelt of wee, we had to just carry on
unable to stop anywhere here for a rest. The rain started about 12, right on
cue! It's horrid as the wind funnels down the locks under the buildings
bringing lashings of rain in a dark and scary place.
 |
| High buildings surround us now, but they're all mainly modern new buildings... |
 |
| ... this looks weird, the really old building on the left next to the modern blue 'Macarno' buildings to the right |
 |
| Although it raining now, things seemed to brighten up as we got higher up the flight of thirteen locks |
After 8/9 locks things started to improve. Everywhere
was monitored by CCTV cameras, there
were 'canal watch area' signs around, the towpath's clean and inviting to
tourists, new modern buildings all around us gave us confidence that the
neighbourhood was getting better!
 |
| Only a few locks left, we can see the NIA up ahead of us and know that's the end of our day! |
 |
| The rain came down and the modern buildings sprouted up... |
 |
| Looking back at the BT Tower as we enter the next lock |
 |
| Not far to go now... |
 |
| ... and we've made it! |
 |
| ... this is Cambrian Wharf, with the NIA in the far distance, our chosen mooring spot was empty... |
We eventually made it to the top, Cambrian
Wharf. It seemed like the longest day ever, it was windy, cold, dark, scary at
times but we'd made it to our destination for the next few days.
 |
| We were dead chuffed, it'd been a really tough day for all of us... |
 |
| ... but we were so happy to stop for today, to have completed the scariest part of our trip yet! |
We reversed into a 14 day mooring spot, off towpath,
but opposite a pub. There's 4 great big huge council tower blocks of flats
overlooking us, but there's other boats about and a bit of greenery about for
Jack to play ball.
 |
| This is our view for the next few days, it's actually quite peaceful here considering there are 4 great huge council tower blocks dominating the view from our little boat! |
There's CCTV cameras everywhere, we've seen 'bobbys on the
beat' too, there's no graffiti here and the only tramp has just been moved on!
So we'll see what comes. For now were just happy we made it in one piece, were
safe and the boats safe.
 |
| Jack's front garden, at least people arent wandering past like on a busy towpath... |
The rain still comes, there's horrid thick air here in
Brum, pollution has hit the country and were all suffering. We go for a wander
with Jack, it seems ok here.
 |
| This is Jack's playground for the next few days... not ideal for a country dog! |
Theres a little local shop nearby, just right for
bread and milk! We had a quiet evening in, not a lot of noise considering!
On Thursday 3th April we went for a wander into the
town much to Paul non amusement! We sorted some stuff out for our big day
tomorrow at the food joint and relaxed, knowing there's not anything more to do
for our wedding day tomorrow.
And what a day we had! We both slept well, quiet and peaceful.
Busy busy all morning, people phoning to say they'd arrived in Brum, over to the
party boat, to Jimmy Spices and finally to Donna's hotel room for my hair to be
done! She did an amazing job, plaited and curled and back to the boat, changed
and off we went. The wedding went quickly! We were in and out in about 10
minutes, all making our way to Jimmy Spices for lots of good food and drink,
then most people piled into the party narrow boat, Anson. We went for about
three hours, I think everyone enjoyed themselves, I know we did! It was an awesome
day, one to remember! We crashed out when we got home, exhausted!
 |
| We had an amazing day... we've only got these few photos of our day kindly forwarded on from Amanda. Im sure there are lots of other photos out there... if you have any you would like to share with us, please do email them to us! |
On Saturday 5th April we had lots of family and
friends come to see us to say goodbye, and after the last of them left, we
pulled up the ropes, started the engine; we were outta here!
 |
| Goodbye Cambrian Wharf, and thank you for being kind to us! |
No comments:
Post a Comment