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.
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