Date: 24th July 2024

Canal: Grand Union

Direction: North West

Locks: 25

Swing bridges: 0

HS2, Birmingham

The cruise:

We knew that today was going to be challenging, the aim was to travel 10 miles and get through all 25 locks, into the centre of Birmingham in one (long) cruise. So, we left early and John had the boat moving by 7:30am. Fortunately, it was a warm day but mostly overcast, making for a comfortable cruise.

As we left Catherine-de-Barnes the sides of the canal were very steep with lots of well-established trees on both sides. This made the first part of the day quite dark and, although there was some blue sky overhead, the sunlight rarely reached us.

Over time the landscape opened up and slowly became more industrial. The wild birds, that we have become so accustomed to, were slowly replaced by a large number of Gulls tracking the boat in search of any food scraps that they could find. By the time we reached the first lock the city was beginning to loom over us.

The locks were split into 3 flights of 6, 6 and 13 giving us an opportunity to have a short break between each. All of the lock gates and paddles were in a very poor state and in desperate need of repair. The short tunnels that we had to travel under were narrow, dark and poorly lit. We only passed 2 boats coming through the locks, which was a shame because having boats coming towards us may have slowed the journey slightly but would also have reduced the workload. At one lock we met a working party of men who were doing Community Service, they were polite and friendly, and I would like to thank them for the work they were doing and their help with the gates (they didn’t need to be friendly, but they made what could have been an intimidating situation very positive).

As we entered the centre of Birmingham the canals became confusing, as there were so many different arms and loops to negotiate, not helped by the Trip Boats that frequently seemed to appear from nowhere. In the end we found a lovely mooring near the Sealife Centre and by 3pm we were securely moored up, just as the rain started to fall. I wouldn’t describe it as quiet, but we did feel safe due to the presence of security guards frequently patrolling the towpath and CCTV cameras everywhere.

On Friday we had a visit from family because our nephew had his graduation ceremony at the International Conference Centre. Well done Sam, it was lovely to get a chance to spend some time with you and to see you in your mortarboard and gown.

Brindleyplace, Birmingham

Mooring in Birmingham:

There are many different mooring spots available in Birmingham, so it can get quite confusing. But John had contacted some other boaters on Facebook and outside the Sealife Centre was one of their recommendations. Despite having some reservations about mooring in a city this spot felt very safe, was not too noisy and was amazingly central (making it easy to enjoy the delights of central Birmingham).

There were mooring bollards, so we were able to use our ropes to tie up.

The towpath was brick, flat and very well maintained.

There was shade in the morning and light (for the solar panels) in the afternoon.

The internet and TV signal was very good.

Newhall Street Bridge, Birmingham

Boat notes:

Some damage to the boat is inevitable when continuously cruising, after all we are always navigating through unfamiliar canals. However, today’s damage was very frustrating. Some of the bridges, that crisscross the canals, create dark and narrow tunnels and it was as we cruised beneath one of these that the corner of our Cratch Cover got caught on the rough concrete wall. To be honest the damage was not major (a small tear) but initially it was quite annoying.

Fortunately, we need to take the boat back to Dunchurch Pools in February so, rather than trying to patch this ourselves, we will ask AJ Canopies if they can do a proper repair at this time.

Although we were initially very frustrated, we have now made our piece with the damage. No real harm was done and it is nothing that can’t be fixed.

Links:

Upstairs at Cherry Red’s – Showcasing UK Jazz

Sam Casey – Jazz Musician