Escape from Birmingham

 We are now moored on the Grand Union Canal at Catherine de Barnes which is often reckoned to be the first safe mooring coming out of Birmingham. We have cruised 10 miles and 11 locks today which is quite a lot for us these days. So this is the story of what we have been doing since the last update.

On Tuesday (8 June) we left our lovely mooring below the dam of Chasewater Reservoir and set off back down the Anglesey Branch to Catshill Junction. Leaving the reservoir, we passed two of these structures which we think were used to load coal into narrowboats when the mines were operating here.

This is the most northerly part of the BCN (Birmingham Canal Navigations) and the views confirm that we are now out in the country.

We stopped for a few minutes at Ogley Junction where the Lichfield Canal used to leave the BCN. Huddlesford Junction is on the Coventry Canal but between the two a lot of restoration needs to be done. We admired the forethought of whoever designed the sign as the word "being" can clearly be removed when the restoration is complete, leaving the spacing of the rest of the text looking perfect. No idea when we will be able to cruise this missing waterway. Many years we suspect.

Once we had turned south at Catshill Junction there was a narrows, so Helen nipped off to take this picture. The bridge behind is at the junction. We are now on the Daw End Canal which was constructed as a branch of the Wyrley and Essington.

At the end of the Daw End Canal is Longwood Junction which used to have an arm under the bridge to Hay Head but the arm is now just used for mooring boats. The unusual boat on the left is called Elizabeth and was built in the 1860s. We have seen her several times at different places on the waterways. We were told that she now has a new owner who is intent on restoring her, as she is now in a sorry state inside.

From Longwood Junction the Rushall Canal links the Daw End with the Tame Valley Canal. On Wednesday we set off down the 9 locks of the Rushall. The picture is taken at the top lock where we made use of the services on the right.

The Rushall Canal gave us problems in the past when going the other way when we simply ran out of water going up the lock flight and Helen had to cycle up the flight to let more water down. This time we had no problems and once down the locks we soon moored close to the Tame Valley Canal. For non boaters to get an idea of where we were, this was close to where the M5 and M6 meet. A distant rumble of traffic could certainly be heard from Leo. The photo was taken through the iron framework of a nearby bridge.

At Rushall Junction where the canal ends we turned left on Thursday morning onto the Tame Valley Canal. The picture shows the sign at the junction. We had come from Catshill Junction and were heading to Salford Junction.

The Tame Valley Canal was built late in the canal era and has deep cuttings, high embankments and is very very straight. This footbridge is called Chimney Bridge and gives a good idea of how deep are the cuttings.

From the embankments we could see right into the centre of Birmingham. The prominent Post Office Tower can be seen which is right beside the Farmer's Bridge flight of 13 locks (the old 13) into the city centre.

Well I said the Tame Valley Canal is very straight!

After a few miles of pretty boring canal we came to the top of the Perry Barr Locks. There are 13 (the new 13) of these which drop the canal over 100 feet. The first 7 locks worked well but after that we had a few problems - weed in the pounds, leaking top paddles, bottom gates that refused to stay closed and flooding the towpath below one lock when we let the water go.

Alongside the Perry Bar Locks the Alexander Sports Stadium is being substantially rebuilt to host next year's Commonwealth Games.

Having come down the 13 locks we soon came towards Salford Junction. This complicated canal junction lies underneath Spaghetti Junction where the A38 intersects with the M6. Underneath that web of motorway roads and links there is a railway, a junction of 4 canals and the River Tame. It's an amazing place.

Here we are weaving around the pillars holding the motorway.

Here is the sign at Salford Junction. We had come from Perry Bar and Tipton. Two canals turn right from here following different routes into the city and a fourth arm is the Birmingham and Fazeley Canal. We took the second turn on the right.

Immediately after making the turn we crossed an aqueduct over the River Tame shown here. Avid readers of our blog will recall that we last saw the Tame downstream at the National Memorial Arboretum at Alrewas several weeks ago.

We moored overnight last night (Thursday 10th) at Star City soon after Salford Junction. Though famous in the Midlands as an entertainment centre, its attraction to us as boaters is that it has a secure mooring only accessible from land by means of a CRT (Canals and Rivers Trust) key. Today we finally made our escape from Birmingham by first climbing the 5 Garrison Locks. This photo gives a good impression of the dreary nature of the surroundings with derelict factories alongside the canal.

An oddity of the Garrison Locks is that the paddles at the top gates have channels that mean the locks fill at both ends, not just the end by the paddles. This photo shows water bubbling up at the stern which is not usual. It does have the advantage of holding the stern of the boat clear of the bottom gates, thus saving any damage to our Yorkshire flag!

Above Garrison Locks and a plethora of bridges we came to Bordesley Junction where we turned left to immediately go up the 6 Camp Hill Locks. To the right leads up the Digbeth Locks towards the city centre. In the photo you can see an arched bridge below the lock. This crosses the canal heading for Garrison Locks. Some of the graffiti is quite artistic but there is a lot of it.

This picture was taken at the top of the Camp Hill Locks where we made use of the services which also provide a pretty secure mooring. The factory beyond the top lock has an awning which would have protected cargoes being unloaded from narrowboats.

We've enjoyed our visit to some of the more remote places on the Birmingham Canal Navigations but we're glad that we are now moving to better patronised parts of the waterways and some more countryside which we've missed. We are expecting our friend Maurice at the moment who has promised to help us with the Hatton Locks (foolish fellow!). So for the next few days we will be following the Grand Union south and east.