Showing posts with label Dudley Canal. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dudley Canal. Show all posts

Monday, 1 February 2016

Catch Up

Well I'll pick up from the beginning of December when we were making our way into Birmingham. We had a couple of days spare so stopped off at Merry Hill and managed to get a bit of Christmas shopping done there. We moored up on the embankment, which was a first for us, we had a great view over the shopping centre and were the only boat there, although there were three others round the corner in the wide part opposite Wetherspoons.


Overlooking Merry Hill Shopping Centre

We then continued our journey into Birmingham stopping for a night or two at Windmill End. I had a few more pen orders to post off and James was continuing on making stock for the market.

Blowers Green Lock


Windmill End / Bumble Hole Nature Reserve






We arrived in Birmingham on the Wednesday, giving us Thursday to organise everything before the market started on Friday. It was good to catch up with our fellow traders, we hadn't seen most of them since September.



We set up fully on Friday and had a great day, trade was good despite not many people around. However, Saturday and Sunday the weather took a turn for the worse and was windy and raining, all we could do was set up a display in our pram canopy by the window for those brave enough to venture out, we did have a few knocks on the boat and managed some sales. It was also lovely to see some friends and previous customers, some who had come especially to get some pens for Christmas gifts. We ended the weekend with six pens in stock so really can't complain at all.

After the market we stayed around Birmingham, finishing our Christmas shopping before heading back out to Tipton then off through the huge Netherton tunnel, the small Gosty tunnel (which we had to take our roof boxes off for) and down into Hawne Basin where we were leaving the boat for our Christmas trip to Poole to Jess and Lee.




We spent a lovely few days in Poole, it really is never long enough, before heading up for a flying visit to my Mum and then over to West Wales for another flying visit to James' Mum and Dad. Then back to Hawne Basin and LJ. Dudley coped well with the journey although he didn't enjoy it at all, I think he preferred our train journey earlier in the year than the car.

We got back to the boat late on the 30th and left Hawne Basin on New Years Eve, we moored up outside the Black Country Living Museum at Tipton and in the evening caught up with friends in the Fountain Inn to see in the New Year.





34 miles and 10 locks
TOTAL FOR 2015 - 772 miles and 612 locks




Friday, 4 December 2015

Stourton to Merry Hill

It certainly was another day of locks today.

We were off early again leaving our mooring spot at Stourton Top lock in the dark, I'm pleased we got these locks done yesterday as it meant it wasn't straight into locking this morning. It wasn't long before the sun rose and and it started getting chilly. We were soon at Wordsley Junction and the bottom of the Stourbridge locks. We made great time up the 16 locks, only a couple were against us, it did help having no other boats around. I had a bit of help on the last two from a CRT guy who was checking and clearing the locks.



New housing estate, they had just started work on these when we came by earlier in the year


Good to see the old Warehouse being converted

Looking down towards the Redhouse Glass Cone
At Leys Junction we turned right and continued on our twisty turny journey to the bottom of Delph Locks and where the Stourbridge Canal ends and the Dudley No 1 starts. The Delph flight was opened in 1779 and there were originally 9 locks but due to subsidence they had to be re-built, the top and bottom locks are the original ones but the 7 in the middle were re-located slightly and re-built as 6 so now there are 8 locks in the flight, but they are quite deep ones. The flight is now a designated conservation area and has unique high waterfall style overflows.







That's an old sign

Guess this is how stoppages were announced before the internet
It was then another short run and we had arrived at Merry Hill and moored up on the embankment overlooking the shopping centre. Our journey today took just over five hours a lot less than we thought, when we set off this morning we were expecting another full day boating.

5.5 miles and 24 locks

TOTAL 738 miles and 602 locks

Sunday, 5 April 2015

Birmingham, Merry Hill, Tipton Catchup

Going back to Monday 23rd March we met Jess at New Street Station and headed into China Town as it happened to be lunchtime. After a lovely lunch we had a quick wander through the shops, unfortunately the markets were all closed on Monday so we bought a few supplies at the Tesco Metro in New Street. In the evening we met up with Kirsty in the Prince of Wales where we also met a couple of the resident boaters at Sherbourne Wharf, 

We headed off early on Tuesday morning as the forecast was dry in the morning with rain later, the destination was Bumble Hole/Windmill End and to get there we had to go through Netherton Tunnel again, now Jess hates tunnels even small little ones that aren't much more than a bridge so she was not too impressed with Netherton and to say she was really pleased to get out the other end is a bit of an understatement. We moored up shortly after just before the forecast rain came down.



On Wednesday we negotiated the only lock of Jess' trip this time and that was the one at Blowers Green, Jess and I worked the lock and we continued on our journey to Merry Hill. We went off for a mega trip around the shops and retail parks there and got all our supplies ready for our new arrival. Quite funny really that the supplies for Dudley were bought in Dudley.

Jess feeling a little chilly working the lock
Thursday came all too soon and it was time for Jess to head back to the South Coast. We walked the mile and a half to Cradley Heath Station where we all got the train back to Birmingham, a quick bit of lunch and back to New Street Station for Jess to get the train direct to Bournemouth, luckily the works on the landslide near Banbury had been completed the week before so she didn't have to faff around getting the replacement bus to by-pass it. James and I got the train back to Cradley Heath and then cheated and got on a bus to Merry Hill as there was a massive hill to walk up to get back to LJ.

We stayed at Merry Hill for a couple more days sitting out horrible wet windy weather before heading back to Bumble Hole for the day and then onto Tipton ready for the Friends of Tipton Cut Easter Gathering where we have just completed our first weekend of trading on The Pen Maker's Boat.

Saturday started out 'not as planned', I went to the Post Office to collect a package that James had arranged to be sent there Post Restante, when I got there I was told the package was delivered about 15 minutes before I had arrived but they had refused it as they didn't know who it was for, even though James had phoned to ask if it was OK and he had been in on Thursday to check if it had arrived. I then tried to get in touch with the Tipton Delivery Office on the phone, but no luck, we didn't want the package returned to sender as there were vital pen components inside. Instead I walked the couple of miles to the Delivery Office, knowing the package would still be out with the postman but was desperate for it not to be returned. I spoke to the most helpful guy possible in Royal Mail, unfortunately I didn't get his name, but later that afternoon we had the package delivered direct to us on the boat. I was most impressed and truly thankful.

A few of the old working boats turned up for the gathering and the music was playing at The Founatain Inn. It was fairly quite on the towpath for trading, there were only two trading boats, us and Sparks a lovely couple selling mainly plants and seeds, along with handmade bead jewellery, hats and mittens. We made a few sales and were fairly pleased with our first days trading. A photographer from the local paper turned up and James had his own photoshoot, would be great if it makes in into the paper.

All set up

The local paper took an interest



Today most of the gathered boats went off on their various ways and we thought trading would be non existant and even thought about not setting up, but the sun came out a few people were strolling past so we had nothing to lose and set up. We ended up being pleased with the result having more than doubled our unit sales from the Saturday. We even had a visit from Richard Parry, the head of CRT, who seemed geniuingly interested in what we were doing.

21 miles and 5 locks

Total 110 miles and 119 locks


Thursday, 12 March 2015

Windmill End to Tipton

After briefly moving to the opposite moorings to sort our other roof box, we set off for Netherton Tunnel which was only a short distance away. This tunnel has a tow path both sides and is double width so boats can pass and much more headroom than Gosty Hill Tunnel yesterday, but also it is much longer at nearly two miles.


Heading for Netherton Tunnel
Quite a lot of room in here, compared with Gosty Hill anyway
Quite deep though, this is looking up one of the ventilation shafts
And another one, this one was quite wet 
After what seemed an age we emerged into the brightness the other side of the high hill it goes through, and at the junction it was a left turn onto the New Mainline.  I went in and sorted a a bit of brunch, along with getting dinner slow cooking on the stove, before we got to the three Tipton Locks. We flew up these, a coal boat arrived as we were going up the first and we didn't want to hold them up.

Emerging from the tunnel, thats the aqueduct ahead carrying the Old Mainline 
We moored up at the end of the visitor moorings in Tipton, which are quite busy, just before The Fountain Inn.



5 miles and 3 locks

Total 80 miles and 111 locks

Wednesday, 11 March 2015

Hawne Basin

Today we had a trip down to Hawne Basin to top up with diesel and replace our empty gas bottle. 


This part of the canal is very shallow in places but it turned out to be an incredibly interesting journey as we saw Roy Martin along the way, he recognised the boat and James from some Facebook posts he had put on about our journey up the Stourbridge locks. Roy was telling us some of the history of the BCN and the changes that have happened over the years, I could have listened to him for hours. This part of the canal is now a dead end terminating at Hawne Basin but in the past it continued on and you could get to Selly Oak. The long tunnel connecting the two had collapsed and was never repaired therefore cutting off the through route. He also told us how busy it used to be with all the various wharfs and work boats. 

We left him at the entrance to Gosty Hill Tunnel, we had removed our roof boxes as we knew it was low in places and both them and the solar panels wouldn't have made it through.

Once we arrived we did the sharp right turned under the bridge and just managed to get through without hitting, again very low and very narrow. We made it over to the services wharf where we were assisted to the side. 

We exchanged our gas bottle and with diesel at 53p per litre James squeezed as much as possible into the tank. So we were quite surprised with our bill at just over £1,599,000, James hadn't realised until he put his PIN in but it was quickly cancelled and the correct amount entered. Some how I don't think our bank would have authorised that transaction anyway. We had a good journey back to Windmill End put the boxes and solar panels back in place on the roof and are ready to continue onwards tomorrow.

Hawne Basin is a great place and a great journey with lovely, friendly and helpful people when you get there, definately worth a visit.

I love these foot bridges

Entrance to Gosty Hill Tunnel

This is where the headroom lowers

And slightly lower again

Getting back into high headroom again

And emerging the other end

Bet this used to be a hive of activity

Looking back at the tunnel 

The canal is really wide here

Another lovely footbridge

In Hawne Basin, the entrance is the bridge to the left

These looked very interesting would love to know their history

Sign says it all



Back into the tunnel the other way

Wouldm't want to park too close to the edge



Cobb's Engine House

5 miles

Total 75 miles and 108 locks