Birmingham New Line – Narrowboat Firecrest

Moving swiftly on

We have mixed feelings about being in built up areas, sometimes they appeal and other times we yearn for the countryside. And having explored Birmingham last January the busyness of the Easter Bank Holiday encouraged us to move on after only one night.
Last year we had travelled into Birmingham on the Old Line, so this time we decided to explore a new route and leave on the New Main line

The two lines run parallel to each other for quite a stretch,

The advantage being that the improved new mainline tackles the summit with a tunnel instead of 6 locks, making it a much quicker and easier passage for the barges.

And also reducing the workload for the Smethwick pumping station

And whilst I’m sure they weren’t built at the same time, the M5 motorway provides a canopy over the Old line for quite a section, whereas the New line creeps underneath the two, although you cant see it, there’s also a railway line crossing at the same point.

Duck, going under the Old line and the M5

Last January we had taken 3 days to do this journey on the Old Line it was cold and bitter and section’s of the canal were still frozen. This time we had reached the Netherton tunnel branch in 3 hours.

And we were able to moor up in the very pretty and peaceful Bumblehole

The Midlands March, looping the loops

If we had a penny from everyone who told us that Birmingham has more canal than Venice, we’d be very happy. I wonder how many Venetian’s would claim something different. I think the truth depends upon where you draw the boundary line. Certainly the Birmingham Canal Network has well over 100 navigable miles, with about 35miles within the city itself. We were currently moored on the Old Line, built by Brindley c1770. It follows the contours and for the commercial barges has time consuming locks, but we were enjoying our journey so with the sun shining we set off down the 3 Smethwick locks.

Under Popes Bridge. We had to wonder who this warning sign was aimed at, or perhaps it’s an instruction

And shortly after we merged the New Main line.

As the sun was shining we decided on a short detour around the Soho Loop, which served the prison, lunatic asylum and sanitorium. Thankfully we weren’t detained although it was slow going, shallow and full of debris. I don’t think we’ll bother with any of the other loops on this trip.

We had also lost the sun, which doesn’t make for enjoyable cruising. We were unsure what mooring would be available in the centre of town, and whether it would be noisy or safe.

But we struck gold and spotted the rings at Ladywood wharf, right on the edge of the central hub. We had arrived. The middle of the Midlands March.

The Midlands March, Blue Sky at the Engine Arm

Having escaped the scumbags disturbing the tranquillity on board Firecrest and travelled along the M5 at 2.6 mph, we found ourselves briefly cruising along another surprisingly quiet and peaceful stretch. But although we had blue sky it was still quite chilly. We had earmarked the old Pump House as a place to moor.

Nowadays, it houses the Galton Valley Heritage centre, but in its heyday it was a pump house., Brindley’s original old main line(c1769) was 18 feet higher as the canal climbed up the hill and then back down again, thus requiring locks both up and down and 2 steam engines to pump water back up to the summit. However the amount of traffic transporting coal was sufficient to warrant a new cutting to be built at the lower level which in 1829 became part of Telfords efficient straighter and wider and lockless, New Main Line. Steam powered pumps continued to used on the old line up until c1930. During WWII two ex submarine diesel pumps were installed as the canal was part of the fire fighting water supply for the essential factory’s in Birmingham, thankfully they weren’t actually needed and the building fell into disrepair until the 80s when work began to restore it as a heritage centre.

Unfortunately although there are mooring rings, the centre is currently closed and there was a lot of fast food takeaway trash next to the bin and bench indicating a congregating place for thoughtless people. And we didn’t want to risk a repeat of our Oldbury experience. Quite odd standing on a Towpath looking down onto another canal.

We only needed to cruise a short distance before we arrived at the Engine Arm junction

The short branch takes the old line over the new line on an aqueduct onto what is now mainly residential moorings, but must have served a wharf at some point in the past. The aqueduct itself is a beautiful iron structure