Birmingham to Croxton Flash

On Friday 11 August Sarah caught a train home and we sailed out of Birmingham on the Birmingham Main Line Canal.  A heron watched us pass from it's perch in a tree.  

The heron watched us from a tree

We were sailing on the 'new' canal constructed to reduce the travelling time by cutting across the loops of the old main line canal.  There were several junctions where remnant loops of the old canal left and then rejoined our waterway.

One of the many junctions with the old main line canal.

There were also a couple of aqueducts linking the old main line to canals heading south. 

One of the aqueducts.  In the background the canal narrows down to allow one boat through, out of sight is a similar channel on the right hand side.  We assumed these islands where built for toll purposes as there were several on the canal.

We found a place to moor away from the industrial areas and the nearest houses were 200 yards away behind some trees on the opposite bank.  What we didn't notice was the large marquee in one of the back gardens and all was quiet until the party started.  The very loud bass vibrated through Brent III and through our heads for most of the night until 11pm.  

The next day we sailed up to Tipton Green Locks where Kev picked up a passenger, 3 year old Josh who clearly thought steering the boat was more fun than walking the dog with his Dad.  Josh rejoined his Dad after the third lock and we continued on a narrower, shallower canal.  We pulled up for the day at Wolverhampton at the top of the 21 Wolverhampton Locks.  

Moored up at Wolverhampton with the top lock in the background

I had a walk around the town and found Wolverhampton had a trail of decorated wolf statues and a collection of smaller versions in the museum. 

Some of the wolves in the museum

On Sunday we were up early to go down the locks.  After the second lock we had an empty pound which didn't take much filling but then a walker told us the long pound between locks 16 and 17 had drained out.  We had to let water down from the locks above it before we could continue and finish the flight.  At Aldersley Junction we turned onto the Staffs & Worc canal heading north and when we moored up it was well away from any houses or marquees.  

During the next 2 days we continued to sail north using early morning starts to avoid the queues at locks.  This section of canal seemed to be very popular with hire boaters sailing in a ring from the Shropshire Union.  

Early morning mist near Tixall

On Wednesday we turned onto the Trent & Mersey at Great Haywood Junction and sailed on to Weston-Upon-Trent where we enjoyed an excellent lunch in the Saracens Head.  The next day we were back in the pub car park, meeting Shaun who was dropping off some deliveries and Little Ted who is going to have a boating holiday.   It has to be said Bess and Brinny weren't overjoyed to see Ted but, unfazed, he soon settled in.

Little Ted enjoying a walk on the towpath

Our journey continued through Stone and on Saturday we arrived at Stoke-on-Trent where our early start enabled us to pull onto the Toby Carvery moorings and enjoy one of their breakfasts.  

On Sunday we sailed up to the Harecastle tunnel and waited for the first passage at 8am. The tunnel is 2926 yards long and is narrow so has one-way traffic.  Before entering the tunnel we had a run through safety and emergency procedures with CRT staff who advised we would be in the tunnel for 40 minutes.  

Waiting for the first passage through Harecastle Tunnel.  The curved black and white bar shows the lowest height restriction in the tunnel.

We were the first in the tunnel with one other narrowboat following; when both boats were in there was a loud roar and rush of air as the fans were switched on.  In the lowest section the uneven tunnel roof closed in on us and I could reach up and touch it with my hand.  Kev doesn't dawdle in tunnels and when we came out at the other end the tunnel-keeper called out to us "that was a nice quick one - 31 minutes".

We almost immediately came to the first lock at Kidsgrove and 5 more followed in quick succession.  They were in our favour and the only boats on the move were travelling in the opposite direction so the locks would continue to be in our favour.  While the going was good we kept going and descended another 8 locks before pulling over. 

During the next 2 days we came down another 17 locks into Middlewich where we stopped briefly for some shopping.  We then continued out into the country and found a quiet place to moor near Croxton Flash.

Our journey from Birmingham to Croxton Flash

Leamington Spa to Birmingham

On Wednesday 2 August Sarah joined us as Leamington Spa and as soon as she was on board we set off.  It was straight into action because shortly afterwards we climbed the 2 Cape Locks and then reached the foothills of the Hatton Flight.  The weather turned against us after 8 locks so we called it a day but later on we were able to walk up the flight.  

The Hatton Flight on our evening walk 

The next day we made short work of those locks and continued on to the embankment at Rowington.  It has become a tradition that Kev sets us a drawing challenge and we had our pencils out that afternoon to capture a set of allen keys with tricky handles.  

On Friday we sailed to Kingswood Junction and started ascending the Lapworth locks.  Once again we quickly found a routine and flew up the flight of 19 single locks.  

Looking back down the Lapworth Locks

We stopped for the day near Hockley Heath, an unremarkable village except for a McLaren showroom which was next to a Rolls Royce dealer.  

The next day brought heavy rain and the canal took us north-west; the shallow water made it slow work and ominous bumps vibrated through Brent III whenever she struck something on the bottom.  We moored up near Brandwood, just in time to miss a thunderstorm.  Later large hailstones pelted down, covering the towpath and floating on the canal.  

Happily the weather dried up and Sarah & I enjoyed an evening walk along the canal.  We walked up the footpath which took us up the hill at the eastern end of Brandwood Tunnel and were surprised to see a busy road junction and houses on top.  Finding the canal again was a challenge, it was hidden away down a side street. 

The western portal of Brandwood Tunnel

Our walk continued to Kings Norton Junction where the old toll house displayed the charges for transport on the canal. 

The canal tolls in 1894

On Sunday we sailed round to Bournville, the home of Cadburys.  The Cadbury family relocated their factory to the area and built housing and facilities for their workers in a village named after the local Bourn Brook.

Some of the original model village cottages with the factory in the background

Unfortunately a railway line runs alongside the canal and the next day we were woken up by the first trains.  We continued our journey into Birmingham and after some sailing round we found a good mooring on the Oozell Street Loop.  

Sarah & I enjoyed the sights of Birmingham including the new library and excellent museum.  This year Birmingham has a trail of colourful bears which are dotted around the city.

One of the bears on the towpath, in the background is the canal roundabout and behind that the Barclaycard Arena

The tour of the Jewellery Museum was enlightening and entertaining.  The owners of the Smith & Pepper jewellery factory closed the doors on their business in 1981 and it's just as they left it.  

The Smith & Pepper factory just as it was left

Later we walked down to the Bullring and as we looked down from a balcony a young starling landed on the barrier. 

The young starling

On Thursday we had the highlight of this trip - a day at the Festival of Quilts at the NEC.  To say it was busy would be an understatement but once inside the amazing display of quilts in a variety of sizes and colours was a feast for our eyes.  After admiring the designs and examining the techniques we looked around the trade stands and bought some lovely fabrics for our own creations.  

This striking quilt by Marjolien Paters was one of my favourites at the Festival of Quilts.  

Our journey from Leamington Spa to Birmingham

White Mills Marina to Leamington Spa

We left White Mills Marina on Friday 21 July and after climbing the remaining 8 locks on the River Nene we sailed straight into Northampton Marina.  The marina is owned by the Environment Agency and had a convenient footbridge over the Nene which shortened the walk into town.  

We stayed over the weekend and left on Monday morning.  Our first stop was on the moorings for a big shop at Morrisons, it will be sometime before we are near another supermarket.  We then sailed off the River Nene and through the CRT lock onto the Northampton Arm of the Grand Union canal.  5 miles and 17 locks later we moored up near Gayton Junction.  

The next day we turned north on the Grand Union and were surprised by how many boats were on the move.  On Wednesday we stopped at Fred Tarry's for diesel and a gas cyclinder before continuing on through Weedon Bec.  The drizzle turned to heavy rain and we knew where we wanted to stop.  Unfortunately we sailed straight passed it!  CRT have allowed the vegetation adjacent to the canal to grow up that much we didn't recognise the place where we'd previously moored.  We found another spot in sight of Buckby Locks and moored up for the day.  

On Thursday we had the bike out and made short work of the 7 Buckby Locks.  

The Top Lock at Buckby taken from the A5 road bridge

We sailed a little further on, passed Norton Junction, and moored up.  CRT had put up warning signs around a nearby wasps nest but that didn't stop Kev and he paid the price, 4 stings. 

On Friday we were up early to sail through Braunston Tunnel before boats started coming in the opposite direction.  As we came down the 6 Braunston Locks other boats were on the move and we found plenty of space on the moorings.  

The view from the bridge at Braunston bottom lock and yes that heavy cloud did deliver

We had a walk round to Midland Chandlers but they weren't carrying the stock they used to and we came away with only one of the items we wanted.  The Boat House pub was also disappointing, poor service due to a lack of staff and the meals were reduced to a bare minimum.  Perhaps we should have settled for a snack at the Gongoozlers Rest cafe boat. 

The Gongoozlers Rest cafe boat moored up outside Braunston Marina

By early afternoon all the moorings were full and boats were still streaming passed.  Heavy rain didn't deter them either and some were still coming through at 8.30pm.  

On Saturday we moved on from Braunston and found a quiet spot not too far away on the way to Napton.  

On Sunday we had an early start but not early enough, we were stuck behind a slow-coach who was going so slowly we pulled over for a while to let him go ahead.  When we set off again he was only a lock in front of us at Calcutt and he let another boat's crew do all the work while he enjoyed a a cup of tea!  

After we came out of the last lock another slow boat pulled out in front of us, it was even slower than the first and at one point stopped in the middle of the canal so the helmsman could put on a coat.  Luckily we weren't intending to go much farther and we pulled up just short of the Stockton Locks.  

The next day we set off at 6.30am and already some boaters were preparing to go.   We made good progress going down the locks on our own and pulled up at 9.30am having completed 14 locks in 3.5 miles. 

Moored up in a quiet spot after a good 3 hours sailing

On Tuesday  we sailed through the remaining descending locks on this stretch of canal, the next locks will take us uphill.  We moored up on the rural outskirts of Leamington Spa ready to pick Sarah up from the station the next day.  


Our journey from White Mills Marina to Leamington Spa