Away from Stourbridge

We had driven up from Cornwall yesterday with Alice and Jess, the two younger grandchildren who had been staying with us for the past week, and slept overnight at their house in Windsor.

This morning we set off from there, with Alice, to drive up to Stourbridge where we had left the boat for the last few days, arriving there in good time just a little after mid day. A quick look at the boat and we returned to the car to visit the town centre shops - there is a pleasant collection of small shops including several independent butchers. We also stocked up from Waitrose - we should now have enough for several days, apart from milk.

We moved down from the mooring to the nearby Waterways water point where we could also conveniently unload the car whilst filling up with water and having a late lunch.

Water lilies near Stourbridge

By three we were ready to depart - Alice enjoyed being able to sit on the stern seats alongside Mike as he steered his way back along the arm into Stourbridge. Although this area is known to others for its concentration of glass factories, to boaters it is known for the pretty water lilies which grow well with little traffic to disturb them.

Wordsley Junction Bridge

Soon we arrived at Wordsley Junction and turned down the Stourbridge Canal - the other way lay the Dudley Canal which we came down a week ago.

Stourbridge Top Lock

Another pleasant level stretch brought us eventually to the top of the four Stourbridge Locks which took us down to the Staffs and Worcester. Alice opted to get off the boat to help Mike with the locks although at the second lock we were also helped by a young boy and girl who were out cycling with their Mother. They had not seen a lock worked before so were pleased to 'have a go'.

Stourton Junction Bridge

At the bottom lay Stourton Junction - soon after turning left we encountered Stewponey Lock which has a Toll House dating back to 1772.

Stewponey Lock Toll house

Dursley Tunnel may be one of the shortest on the system but clearly was originally hewn out of rock. A short while later we moored up for our evening meal and a chance for Alice to practice lots of reading and to write up her diary.

Dursley Tunnel

4 miles - 5 locks

Stourbridge

Mike set off in good time as today we had to retrieve the car from Teddesley. We also had the Stourbridge Sixteen to negotiate first. The top lock needed some clearing as the entrance was obstructed by quite a bit of timber, including an estate agent's For Sale sign. That cleared we set off down the flight.

Stourbridge Top Lock

Locks 9 and 10 are very close together - just a couple of metres between them, almost a staircase.

Locks 9  and 10

Once we had started it took us just over the two hours to complete the flight and arrive at Wordsley Junction where we turned up the arm to Stourbridge town centre. We had previously arranged to leave the boat here (The Old Bonded Warehouse) for the next week or so as it is a secure site - we stayed here overnight on our Canal 40 trip)

Stourbridge Bottom lock

Whilst Christine sorted out the exact mooring space that was reserved for us, Mike managed a quick 'service' although we left filling the water tank until we return with Alice.

A quick change and Mike was off to the station - the trip involved four trains, taking just a little over an hour. The first train, from Stourbridge Town station to Stourbridge Junction is the shortest train we have ever seen on the main rail network - but it shuttles to and fro every ten minutes.

Stourbridge Town Shuttle Train

The connections worked well - Mike managed a slightly earlier train than planned from Smethwick Galton Bridge to Wolverhampton which meant that he had time for a cup of tea from the station cafe.

The plan had been to catch a bus from Penkridge to Teddesley but as it was at least 45 minutes wait, Mike opted to walk which took just about half an hour.

Meanwhile, Christine had been cleaning the boat ready to leave tomorrow - we are not making an early start so as to allow most of the holiday traffic to be ahead of us.
 
After Mike returned Christine looked around the town centre and identified a locally recommended fish and chip shop we shall probably return later! (We did - the portions were ginormous!)

3.8 miles - 16 locks

Netherton

By the time we were ready to set off a very heavy shower arrived and so were delayed a little. In fact, once that short shower passed, the rest of the day was dry and the evening turned sunny and warm.

Ocker Hill Junction

Filling with water

A short run to Gospel oak junction and then Ocker Hill where we stopped to use the facilities. Just as we arrived another boat came down the Tame Valley line and turned down the Walsall ahead of us. However, by the time we were ready to leave they were nowhere to be seen in the flight ahead.

Ryders Green Bottom Lock

We had eight locks to work through at Ryders Green - the first lock proved a bit of a test: the bottom gate would not open quite fully and the boat became stuck half way into the chamber. At that point it refused to reverse as well until helped by a bit of a flow from the top paddles. Once we had managed move the boat back below the gates we set about clearing the blockage - a semi-submerged log and something unknown on the bottom of the lock.

Ryders Green Flight

Several of the pounds were very slow as a result of excessive weed - and one trip down to the weed hatch.

Main Line Toll Island

Eventually we reached the top lock and headed on to the junction with the main line. One of the features of the Main Line are the toll islands. Before reaching the turn to Netherton Tunnel we stopped for a good lunch break.

Netherton Tonnel North Portal

Off again and we were soon at the northern portal of Netherton Tunnel just as two boats came through in the opposite direction. This tunnel is about the most spacious on the system and has a towpath on both sides. About three quarters of an hour later we were through at the other end.

The canal from here is a mixture of obvious industrial development and other parts which are quite green. One section showed that re-industrialisation can also bring improvements.

Blowers Green Lock

At the junction with the line that heads back into Birmingham via the Dudley Tunnel there is a sharp bend, immediately into Blowers Green Lock.

Merry Hill Waterfront

Merry Hill is an extensive development of offices and eateries with a good number of moorings, both long term and casual. The shopping centre lies just below the canal - but we were OK for supplies so passed by the very close Sainsbury.

Delph Locks Stables

The flight of locks at Delph is known as Nine Locks although they were long ago re-built into eight locks - even so the pub at the bottom is still called The Tenth Lock! The former stables can be seen alongside one of the locks. The overflow weirs are quite spectacular.

Delph Locks

The locks are comparatively deep and because of the short pounds boaters are asked to set locks ahead to avoid flooding. This makes for a real exercise with two crew - the depth of the locks limits what the steerer can do to assist.

Even so, we completed the flight in just over an hour but were keen to find an overnight mooring as soon as possible! We did so just after a bridge called Seven Dwellings Bridge! At least we were able to find a satellite signal tonight for the first time on this trip.

12.3 miles - 9 locks

Walsall

We made a slow start this morning but were eventually off by ten o'clock.

Overnight Mooring Location

Despite the sometimes extensive weed growth in the canal, there is plenty of wildlife and we will include one or two pictures as we go along. We continued through the rest of the country park, under the motorway and on then to Sneyd Junction.

M6 Motorway

At one time, another canal joined in here and the remains of the first lock can still be seen.

Derelict Lock at Sneyd Junction

We stopped at the services to fill with water, clear rubbish and elsan and chat with locals. The buildings of the one-time maintenance workshop are now used by a canoe centre and workshop where they were making canoe - and the odd coracle!

Former Maintenance Workshops at Sneyd

Coracle For Sale

 Progress was still quite good (although a rain coat around the prop did have to be removed at one point) and shortly before noon we turned down the Walsall canal at Birchills Junction and soon after began the descent of the flight of eight locks. The former Boatmen rest and Lock Cottage stand alongside the top lock.

Walsall Top Lock and Boatmens Rest

A regular supply of onlookers helped with the locks so we made quick progress. There was a problem with the last pound which was flooding so much that Christine had to make what turned out to be quite a long diversion to set the bottom lock.

Walsall Town Basin

We turned on the Walsall Town Arm and negotiated the 'boom' (which we understand is to prevent rubbish blowing into the basin) and moored in an otherwise empty space on one of the pontoons. Time for lunch.

Mike went for a walk around the shops and failed to find what he was seeking in Waterstones and there was no newspaper at WHSmiths! He did, however, splash out a couple of pounds on some fruit from one of the market stalls and a couple of sticky buns from Gregg's for tea time.

Turning around to leave the basin was as difficult as we recalled from our previous visit - wind blows around the buildings quite fiercely. However, forewarned meant that we took precautions and used a rope on the end of the pontoon to avoid being blow totally out of direction.

Progress down the Walsall suddenly became very slow indeed with a lot of the weed which grows tough strings under the water. Mind you, the first of several forays down the weed hatch was again largely plastic, including some of the gift wrap string which did not want to break away!

Progress at times was barely 1 mile an hour with frequent attempts to de-weed the prop. We slowly progressed under the motorway once more, wondering how many of those driving overhead even realise that there is a canal underneath. We did eventually (some 26 hours after the last one) pass another moving boat!

We had to pull in at 5 o'clock to make a business phone call, after which we continued but soon picked up better speed as the weed seemed to clear. It was now too late to make our planned overnight objective as the eight Ryders Green locks lay ahead. So, we found a reasonably green location and moored up, even thought we were some distance from the bank - just close enough to jump ashore from one end, the other sticking out much further.

Overnight M|ooring

As we started to close up for the night, a passing walker told us that there was a 'proper' mooring just a short distance ahead. Christine set off with her mobile phone and deemed it worthwhile and summoned Mike to bring the boat on down.

8.6 miles - 8 locks

Wednesfield

We were off to a good start with the Wolverhampton 21 ahead of us. The weather was dry but dull and quite cool to start with. But first we had about an hour and a half cruising, passing Coven Heath and Autherley Junction as well as passing through the narrow Pendeford rock cutting which is quickly followed by a huge line of tall trees that shield a school playing field.

Pendeford Rock Cutting

It was just 10 o'clock when we arrived at the bottom lock but after half an hour we had only completed a couple of locks as a result of slow traffic coming down the flight.

Heron at Autherley Junction

Small boat people required?

Wolverhampton Bottom Lock 21

After the first third we seemed to have passed everyone that was coming down and only saw another couple much later.

Wolverhampton Top Lock and Cottages

In the end it was only ten minutes over the three hours before we pulled into Broad Street basin and tied up for lunch.

Broad Street Basin

We had planned to go shopping in Wolverhampton but by now we were beginning to get reports of disturbances in the town centre - along with so many other towns across the country. we were not desperate for supplies so opted to carry one but first we visited the BW basin just the other side of Broad Street bridge for the usual range of services.

It was nearly three o'clock before we finally set off again having had extended discussion about our route, further compounded by a forecast of very wet weather tomorrow. In the end we went back to Plan A and at Horseley Fields we turned on the Curly Wurly (or Wyrley and Essington to give it its proper name!)

Sculpture at old railway bridge

We had expected plenty of weed and after about half a mile we did indeed have to stop and open the weed hatch. However, it was weed of the polythene variety and thick with it! the water was actually very clear - it is very rare that it is possible actually to see what is around the prop, normally it is a matter of fishing around in the murk.

Polythene Weed

We could easily see that the canal is well stocked with fish - we are not sufficiently expert to be able to report on the variety - and in many places there are very pretty water lilies.

In Wednesfield Mike spotted a Sainsbury supermarket just across the road from the canal so, whilst he added a couple more restraining hooks to the cupboard doors (these we had sourced from the internet over the last break away from the boat) Christine went off, returning with several bags of shopping a little later. Alas they had sold out of papers - apart from the Irish Times and one or two other exotic publications.

Duck Castle

We trundled on, not quite sure where we might moor but with the possibility of Roughwood Country Park in our minds. Along the way we passed one very up market duck castle - no doubt someone's idea of a comment on MP's expenses. Quite a few people stopped to warn us not to go back to Wolverhampton - kind of them but there are precious few winding holes along here so it was not actually an option, even if we had thought about doing so! The views expressed about rioters were definitely very firm!

It was now a lovely sunny late afternoon and so we did continue to the Country Park although we were so far from the bank that it felt as if we had pulled up the drawbridge.

Moored at Northwood Country Park

10.4 miles - 21 locks

Gailey

Most of the morning was taken up with finishing off sorting out the inside of the boat following its re-paint. Although there had been much less dust that we had anticipated, everything still needed cleaning out - some of it probably did anyway! Not long after eleven o'clock we had unloaded the car and done enough to satisfy ourselves before setting off.


The first stop was about 25 metres from our start as we wanted to take on some more diesel for the engine and the arrival of a fuel lorry reminded us that Teddesley still sell red diesel. (They have scaled back the whole operation with the hire boats moved elsewhere and they largely undertake larger planned maintenance jobs - such as re-painting and major hull work.

By 11:30 we were off, working our way up the Staffs and Worcester, reasonably familiar territory and one of the canals we explored on our very first trip 44 years ago.

Penkridge Lock

Penkridge Lock was our first opportunity for services, including taking on water for our depleted tanks. Also there was an amount of rubbish from the unpacking activity! we were helped through the lock by two enthusiastic and interested young girls.



Filance Bridge

After a further lock, we pulled into a mooring near to Filance Bridge for lunch - a tasty sunflower bread had just been baked-off whilst we worked through the previous lock.

Below Gailey Lock

In the afternoon. the stretch up to Gailey had four locks reasonably close together and we worked turns as a steady flow of boats arrived in each direction. By now the weather was turning showery although until later its was rarely more than a dampness in the air. There was quite a group of onlookers.

Gailey Lock and onlookers

Above Gailey there is a long, level pound, passing first though the chemical works at Calf Heath. As we have probably remarked before, this is nothing like the sulphurous and mucky area that was here several decades ago. Pollution regulations have made a real impact in this sort of situation. Indeed, most of the canal through the works is now tree-lined.

Chemical Works Road Bridge

Hatherton Junction is where the Hatherton Branch joins - currently unnavigable apart from the first couple of locks which are used for permanent moorings. However, work is in progress on restoration and when complete will make a useful short cut to the north of the BCN and even perhaps through to the Coventry canal, missing out Wolverhampton and Birmingham altogether.

Start of Hatherton Branch

By now the showers were becoming heavier and the temperature was falling so by the time we had passed under Slade Heath Bridge we opted for a mooring - not necessarily the best but OK for the night! At least it meant Mike could shelter from heavy rain - but then the sun came out again.

8.7 miles - 9 locks

New Take Five

Well here we are again and with a rather different looking Take Five. We drove up after church, arriving here just after 4:30 and only a very brief stretch at Strensham Service Station. Traffic was far from busy and only on a few occasion did we have to slow down and there were no stationary sections. If only it was always like that!

Take Five new painted at Teddesley

After taking a good look at the paintwork and other items of work it seems that they have done as expected although one or two small items were left, for a variety of reasons which. seemed reasonable.

Then we set about cleaning the boat inside and restoring everything to its rightful place. In fact, it was very much less dusty than we had anticipated so that by 8 o'clock we had managed to deal with the majority, leaving just a little to finish off in the morning before we can set off.

To The Painters

We were up and about in good time as we had an appointment at 9 am with the boat painters! One lock and about 200 metres was all that we needed to travel by boat today.

Once through the lock, Mike reversed alongside the crane that will lift Take Five out of the water in a few days time in order to be put into the workshop for its re-paint.

Take Five alongside at Teddesley

We spent some time with the staff at Teddesley going through a number of minor points about the painting as well as one or two other jobs that need doing at the same time. In particular, we have been well-pleased with the new step on the starboard side of the stern area that we want to have the same on the opposite side. This should make it more possible for Christine to steer whilst sitting and also further access to the roof (for those of us with slightly less flexible joints!)

Last look at the old colours

After loading up the car and stowing away all breakables, we took some photos of how the boat has looked until now - hopefully it will be a bit different when we next see it. The it was time to head back down to Cornwall.

0.2 miles - 1 lock