April 2023 – Narrowboat Firecrest

Reflections on the skyline, Birminham

Perhaps Easter Weekend wasn’t the best time to travel through Birminham- it was busy, but its when we arrived so off we set. The trip from King’s Norton Junction starts off depressing, with seemingly miles of graffiti,

Mindless graffiti, although the reflections ahead of us do at least look colourful

But it isn’t all bad as we made our progress north, “look at all those roof tops” Eric said

So I dutifully turned my head to the right to look, only to realise he was cruising as fast as he could (metaphorically cause 3mph isn’t fast) past what was on our left, a chocolate factory, and at Easter, but I suspect the Easter bunny was as busy as Santa’s elves so we didn’t stop.

Just imagine the smell, if you lived here

We’d arranged to pick up our friend James at Selly Oak, because he used to work at the University, in an office overlooking the canal. It was his dream to look up rather than look down. Of course we were too busy chatting to record the fantasy with a photo. But he enjoyed the experience. And Eric and I were still enjoying our lock free stretch, although this meant more tunnels

Seeing the light through Edgbaston tunnel

Edgbaston tunnel isn’t too long and as there is such a high footfall the towpath is always lit, which creates a rather weird impression that the the canal has run dry.

Many years ago Eric also used to work in Birminham, in the BT tower which we could see in the distance, although as an 18 year old I doubt he commanded a penthouse office with a view of the waterways.

looking up at the skyline -whilst we were being snapped by a gongoozler

We rounded the corner past one of my favourite buildings The Cube

And straight through Birminghams icon canal quarter

End of the Worcester and Birmingham canal and start of the Birmingham Old line canal

Where old and new seem to complement each other artistically,

Where we negotiated the giant plug, and tempting though it is to pull it out, who knows where we might end up if sucked down the vortex

And moored up just beyond St Vincent St Bridge. We prefer a quieter mooring, and we got full sun here.

Where the daffodils outshine the graffiti

And it was a good time to stop for a bacon buttie

Next time we’ll make sure there are some locks to work us through

29 lock free miles….almost

After completing 71 locks in 33 miles (out of 220 locks in 230 miles on our journey north) we are looking forward to a glorious 29 miles of locks free cruising through Birmingham, to let my achey muscles recover. Hockley Heath was a useful stopping off point with a fantastic, if expensive butchers, a good Coop and providing dreams of a faster mode of transport at the Maclaren garage.

If you cant see the price tag, you cant afford it.

Once we had passed Dickens Heath, a pristine new town created in the 1980s as a dormitory serving Solihul.

We noticed the amount of graffiti and debris in the canal starting to increase. When this fridge sinks its going to be a real hazard to boaters.

But urban areas always have the potential to surprise and interest us. We’re used to seeing Buzzards soaring in the skies but rarely get a chance to see them sitting watching us sail by.

Even more unusual is a Guillotine Lock at the end of the Stratford-upon-Avon Canal.

It wasn’t built to chop off the heads off any boater not paying their toll, but as a Stop lock to conserve water between the Stratford-upon-Avon canal and the Birmingham and Worcester canal. (And as a pinch point to force boaters to stop and pay their tolls.) These space-saving locks were quicker to opperate because they didn’t need paddles opening to alter the water level.

Goodbye Stratford-upon-Avon canal and hello Birmingham and Worcester canal

149 locks in196 miles still to go to reach Liverpool

Packwood House

We don’t take advantage of our National Trust membership as often as we should but Packwood House in Lapworth was a mere 20 minute stroll from our mooring. The sun was shining so off we set.

Moored just below the Drawbridge farm lift bridge

Originally built in the 1500s this grade 1 listed manor house fell into neglect until it was bought and restored by Graham Baron Ash in the 1920s. He donated it to the NT in the 1940s. Baron (his name not a title) continued to live there until he moved out to Wingfield Castle taking a fair bit of the best stuff with him. However, as with a lot of this magnificent old buildings the bathrooms remain and continue to fascinate us.

oh to be able to soak in a bath like that

Baron had been a keen traveller and great collector of things that pleased him. And nowadays the volunteers bubble over with enthusiasm to share their knowledge of the artefacts. We particularly liked this intricate lacquered chest.

And the great hall that had been transformed from the cattle byre into the party annex

But you had better behave yourselves because you were being watched

However Packwood is known most for is the Yew garden.

From the entrance its very imposing and formal , but once you’re inside, its quite surreal, we felt like characters from Alice in wonderland walking through a giant chess game. The oldest trees date back from the 1600’s, but alas they are showing their age and a lot of work is being done to restore and repair the garden.

impossible to capture without swiping a photo from the NT website

But grand though the yew trees were, you can’t beat a field of daffodils

Decisions, Decisions…

Decisions decisions
which way should we go to Birmingham,

Plan A- carry straight on up the Grand Union Canal via Knowle and Aston Junction exploring a new stretch of water

Plan A to carry on up the Grand Union canal

No, it looks like Plan B via Lapworth

Or Plan B turn left onto the Stratford Canal

We’d heard a rumour about a stoppage along planned route A so decided not to risk it. And besides, choosing route B cut 11 locks off our total journey. Despite the mindless graffiti on the bridge, Kingswood junction is a very pretty place with the Kingswood link branch joining the Stratford upon Avon Canal.

And the Stratford canal is all single locks

I know I’m a bit obsessed about the number of locks we’re doing, but that’s my achy muscles talking and I knew there were 19 to get to the top of the Lapworth flight. But as if to encourage me, the clouds dispersed and spring sunshine spurred us on.

This is the route we took last year coming south on our way to the Thames. And the Lapworth flight is where my phone took a leap in for a swim, never to be seen again, it didn’t stop me peering into the infamous lock 8 just in case I could rescue it.

surprise surprise the naughty phone remains in Navy Jones’s Locker. So we were able to marvel at some of the interesting historical structures instead. The bridges on the Stratford canal are metal and split to allow traditional horse drawn boats to pass through efficiently. On Bridge 32 there is a rotating wheel that helps guide the pulling ropes from one side of the canal to the other as the towpath changes side.

We made it up to Lapworth top lock and settled in to enjoy a few days of sunshine at Hockley Heath.

And the prospect of more than 20 miles without any more locks.